Women’s Mini Marathon Exercise Tips- Week 5
Women’s Mini Marathon Exercise Tips- Week 5:
Preparing for Race Day and Post Race Recovery Strategies
Congratulations!
You’ve made a huge achievement in getting this far in your Mini Marathon preparations.
Below are some tips to assist you in preparing for race day and to advise you on post race recovery and injury prevention.
RACE DAY
Clothing and Footwear
Ensure you are wearing comfortable footwear and clothing. DO NOT wait until race day to try anything new.
Warm up
Ensure you perform an adequate dynamic warm-up prior to the start: this involves easy jogging, short strides and dynamic drills involving heel kicks, high knee running, and trunk twists. Follow this with short duration stretches of the main leg muscle groups (see edition 2). Remember to keep your body relaxed and warm.
Protection
Rub Vaseline on body areas that are repetitively rubbing against your clothing.
Avoid blisters by wearing ‘Second-Skin’ over vulnerable areas on feet and toes if required.
Keep moving
As uncomfortable as it may be, keep moving after you finish; this will help prevent joint stiffness and muscle tightness and therefore minimise the onset of pain.
Stretches
Once showered and changed, spend 10-20 minutes performing static stretches to prevent the onset of muscle soreness the following day (see edition 2). Continue this routine over the next few days. Ice baths of 5-10 minutes maximum duration can help ease pain in the leg muscles following the Mini Marathon;
POST RACE
PRICE
Follow the P.R.I.C.E protocol if an injury occurs during the Mini Marathon or as a result of completion of the race (see edition 3).
Rest
Allow sufficient time for your body to rest before returning to jogging/running, try walking, or pool exercise to aid in recovery in the first week before easing onto land jogging/running.
Physiotherapist
Consult your Chartered Physiotherapist if you need post race recovery advice, or treatment for ‘niggles’ or injuries that may have developed from the exertions of the Mini Marathon.
Finally the most important thing to remember is to enjoy the day.
BEST OF LUCK EVERYONE!!
Read our previous nutrition and fitness blogs:
Week 1: Healthy eating- getting to grips with the basics
Week 1: Getting started (fitness)
Week 2: Carbohydrates – Fuel for Sport
Week 2: Warm Up, Stretching, and Cool down