Running : Common Failures on Race day

If there is a story for a sportsperson, then athlete would be on the top of the list and more or less every runner has a story. From being confident to overconfident, messing up on start line or finish line with premature celebration, making that one simple mistake that turned the entire experience into a bad race day.

After months of training, nobody wants a bad race day. Not only it can be extremely disappointing but also perhaps dashing your dreams of a new PR.

This article is about the awareness of the common failures that happen on pre-race day, race day and after that. I hope most of us have heard about Murphy law “whatever can go wrong, will go wrong.” . We need to avoid that as much as we can to have a nice race day and achieve our PR

Also Read : Running and Rest Day

*Failure*	*How To Avoid*
Logistics issues like misplaced bibs, timing chips, Not aware of parking areas, Miscalculation of time to reach start line from parking area, missing out race station for hydration etc	Plan everything a day in advance from clothes to transportation etc. Do not leave any small or big decision for race day. Be aware of your running route and planned breaks
Trying new foods on race day like a gel shared by a friend or pre-race breakfast by organizers. May lead to stomach upsets during race	Stick to pre-planned race day breakfast or mid run snacks tried and tested during practice runs
Going empty stomach to race. This is the other extreme and by the time you eat, drink from race stations, its too late and too little	Eat pre-planned race day breakfast 90 mins before. Try to avoid high fat, high fibre foods
Too Fast too soon. You start the race with full pace in excitement and gets caught with fellow runners momentum and then you hit a wall	Set a pace for your first 2 km of the race and then ease into race pace. Speed up as race progresses and finish with negative splits
Drinking too much water before race will lead to side stitches or bloated feeling. You might need a loo break in between	Start hydrating yourself 3 days in advance and increase the water intake on pre-race day
Arriving at a race Too Exhausted. You kept on training till last day to cover up missing days	Always follow a taper plan of 1-3 weeks depending on race distance and catch up on sleep. Generally we can’t sleep fully on pre-race night due to anticipation, excitement etc
You start the race without a proper warm up and then you finish with injured ankle or calf spoiling everything for next few days	Plan for 10 min time before race to do dynamic stretches, short strides or a easy jog to avoid injuries
You sign up for race in a different city and planned to roam around to see tourist places with your friends	You should plan to rest on pre-race day and avoid exhaustion. You can always roam around after achieving PR.
You are a social person and keep partying till late night before race day	Just hold your party for a day and see the enjoyment of a party with new PR in hand
Stopping immediately after the race and missing cool down. May lead to cramps, soreness, body pain	Walk for a while after the race to allow your heart rate to come down gradually and do some static stretches before heading for food corner. Your body will thank you for that
Last but not the least, you forget lubrication and struggle in the race with chafing, itching. Body chafing is most under known among new runners	Identify problem areas beforehand and lube up with Vaseline. Avoid wearing new clothes, shoes on race day to avoid chafing, blisters

Failures on race day and how to avoid them

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