Things I Always do Before a Race/Training Run That I Didn't Do Before the St. Louis Marathon

Now that I'm two days removed from the St. Louis Marathon, I've had some time to think about what exactly went wrong. I decided to make a list of the things I always do before a long training run or race and realized that I had done none of these things before the St. Louis Marathon! Things that I just thought I did because that's just what I do, unbeknownst to me, was really helping my performance:

1. Eat pizza, usually Italian sausage, feta and spinach (lots of sodium and potassium here, stuff that runners need)

2. Have a cup of coffee in the morning (I'm not completely clear on how this helps me, but I do know that it wakes me up, is part of my morning routine anyway, and since caffeine is a diuretic, it takes water out of my system that, now, I know I drink in excess.)

3. Have an electrolyte drink in the morning (more sodium, potassium, other vitamins)

4. Arrive early for my run/race (The race started at seven, for reasons out of my control, I arrived at 6:30.)

5. Start out conservatively (When I realized that our pacer was running sub-eight minute miles instead of the 8:24 I needed, I should have dropped back.)

6. Bring back my pace if I can't relax (see above)

7. Refrain from taking ibuprofen in the morning (I later read that taking ibuprofen before running can impair a runner's ability to conserve salt)

8. Bring a salty snack (Angela and I are always noshing on pretzels, almonds, and salt & pepper peanuts from Trader Joe's.)

Now that I am enlightened, I need to plan my next race!