Race Day Tips From The Pros: Everything You Need for a Perfect Half-Marathon

OUR TOP TIPS - WHAT TO EAT BEFORE A HALF MARATHON?

Training is integral to running a marathon, but don’t forget just how integral nutrition is, too. The body can only work with the energy reserves it has, so fuelling it with the essential nutrients it needs to perform is critical. If you need some nutrition inspiration, here are our tips for what and when to eat before your race.

The Night Before

While you still have time to digest a big meal, make sure you’re fuelling the body with a high-carbohydrate meal. Dishes featuring pasta, baked potatoes, rice and other high-carb foods top up the body’s energy reserves, ensuring it has everything it can use to power through race day.

The night before your race, we advise avoiding high fibre, spicy or greasy meals that may upset your stomach. Also, try to stick to foods you have eaten throughout your training to minimise the risk of any unwanted digestive surprises!

Hydration is pivotal at every stage of your training, but drinking often and using OTE Hydro Tabs in the days leading up to your race are vital to ensuring top performance. Just a 2% drop in fluids can see a significant drop in performance.

Race-Day Morning

If you’re unsure about what to eat the morning of a half-marathon, we recommend sticking with a breakfast that’s rich in carbs and easily digestible. You may feel nervous and not want to eat, but it’s essential to top up the body’s energy tank.

You can choose from a variety of popular breakfast foods here. Porridge, bagels/toast, fruit, yoghurt, granola – find a combination that works for you, and get an extra boost by integrating the carb-rich products from our OTE bars range into your breakfast. Ensure you eat your breakfast two to three hours before your race to allow time for digestion. 

We'd always recommend eating real wholefood where you can, but if you struggle having large meals early morning before races. Our Super Carb drink mix is always a great option of making sure you're getting a good amount of carbs in, without it feeling really heavy on the stomach. With 80g of carbs this is equivalent to two large servings of porridge. This can be sipped throughout the morning of the race. 

The Final Hour

As you approach the start of your race, there’s only so much you can eat to support your body without putting a burden on your stomach. At this stage, an OTE snack bar or energy gel is ideal, as these products are packed with nutrients to deliver sustained energy and are light enough for easy digestion. If you're full and satiated, don't feel the need to keep eating. Thanks to advancements in fuelling over the past few years, there's a bit less emphasis on carb loading pre event as we're now better adapted at taking on product during races. Remember eating too much pre race is just as bad as not eating enough pre race, can lead to stomach issues and you feeling sluggish. 

TAKING THE ESSENTIALS: WHAT TO PACK FOR RACE DAY

Race day is all about you and your dedication to performing at the best of your ability, but that doesn’t mean you can’t pack a few things to help you do that. Packing the essentials means you can be prepared for anything, so here are our top picks for what to pack on race day:

• Running Gear: Shoes and socks are obvious, but also consider items such as a hat, sunglasses, or high-vis garments.
• Tech: Don't forget your watch, if it's not on strava did it even happen? f you need your favourite tunes to motivate you, ensure you pack headphones, a power bank, and your phone.
• Comfort Products: No one wants to run with discomfort, so make sure you take anti-chafing balm, sun cream.
• Fuel: Make sure you’re always able to give your body the boost it needs with plenty of OTE chews, bars, and gels.
  
• Hydration: Half-marathon events will have water stations, but always be prepared. Hydration is essential to race day performance and recovery, so take plenty of water and remember you can load your electrolytes pre event. Your body will hold onto the sodium it needs for about 48 hours, before getting rid of any excess through sweat or urine.
  

THE IMPORTANCE OF HYDRATION

As noted above, hydration is critical for performance and health, so it needs to be at the top of your priority list on race day. Hydration not only ensures the body has enough to sweat and regulate its temperature, but also makes the process more efficient, reducing the toll that sweating takes on oxygen delivery to the muscles.

Water is, of course, crucial for hydration, but it doesn’t replace the electrolytes lost through sweat as effectively as OTE drinks. Our products provide small amounts of magnesium, potassium, and calcium, which are key to optimising bodily functions during exercise, delivering an extra punch compared to water.

Sipping one of our drinks in the days and hours leading up to your event will help maintain optimal fluid balance and replenish electrolytes. Doing this at stations throughout the race and immediately after will also support the body’s cooldown and recovery.

THE GOLDEN RULE: NOTHING NEW ON RACE DAY

Our final tip for race day is simple: nothing new. While nerves or doubt might encourage you to try a new warm-up method, supplement or pre-race meal, we strongly encourage runners to prepare for race day just as they’ve prepared for every other run throughout their training.

Avoiding new foods will prevent stomach complications, avoiding new exercises will prevent unexpected injuries and resisting the urge to wear new running gear will ensure you are comfortable and able to perform at your best. Stay true to what’s been working!

DURING THE RACE

One of our top tips is to take a gel on the start line, this saves you having to carry another gel round with you and makes sure you've got that final top up before you start. A common misconception is that because you've got enough glycogen stores for a half marathon (90minutes) you don't need anything. We now know the benefits of taking product on board during the race isn't just going to help you perform on race day but also recover faster. We recommend anyone aiming between 1hr and 1hr30 in a half marathon should have a gel on the start line and another around 6miles/10km in. 

However, if you're out there for between a 1hr30-2hrs, you're are going to want to look at taking either a standard gel or a super gel every 30/45mins. This will make sure you're not fully depleting your stores and will give you little pick ups along the way. Keeping glycogen stores topped up can help reduce risk of injury and improve recovery post Half marathon. 

MAKE RACE DAY A SUCCESS

When it comes to race day tips, every runner needs to trust in the time and dedication they’ve put into their training. By ensuring they take enough fuel to power their run and stick to the ‘Nothing New’ rule, we know you’ll run with a smile on your face.

Are you ready for race day? At OTE Sports, we’ve got the product range to keep you going, plus everything you need to help your body recover as effectively as possible. From energy chews to protein bars, find everything you need at OTE Sports.