The Morning Ritual

Most of us are far more creatures of habit than we realize ourselves. Just consider your own conduct. Almost invariably you will take off or put on the sane shoe first every time. You will start a race on the same foot. You will do dozens of mundane things in the same way and in the same order time after time. This is often the reason that we repeat our injuries in running. We are simply repeatinq the mistakes that got us injured in the first place.

This means that habits have both a good and bad effect on our lives. We may be repeating bad habits to our detriment, or we may be establishing new patterns that will serve us well in days to come. But recognize immediately that old habits are hard to break. It takes a determined effort to set new patterns in your life.

A ritual is a set of acts so oft repeated that they become second nature to you. You hardly have to think of their order at all. They simply fall into place. That is somewhat the way that I believe race day morning should be. No strain. No stress. It just happens in order; but, if done correctly, it leads to one conclusion: I'M READY TO RUN.

You may not even know that you have a ritual; but you probably do. Most of the items may be working well for you. These you should carefully preserve. Others may be bad habits repeated. That is why you need to carefully examine them all to see what needs to be saved and what needs to be changed. In doing that I will only offer suggestions. The finished list is entirely up to you.

In reality the morning ritual has to begin almost a week before. It will involve your training runs and what you are going to eat, the amount of rest you are going to get, as well as your background preparation for race day. Most races are won or lost during these days. The answer to most of our disappointing experiences are found here, in the preceding week.

We come, then, to the night before. Now is the time to plan for a great day tomorrow. First, What you are going to wear. Get a weather report and plan accordingly. Lay everything out in advance, so that you don't have to look for anything on race day morning. Second, plan your time. Work backwards from time for the race to start...to time to arrive...to time to leave home...to tine for your alarm to go off. Allow adequate time for each phase. Just as you do not need too much time, be sure you are comfortable and unhurried with what you do have.

The alarm goes off; but you already know the order of your morning. What to eat should already have been planned. Not only do you want nothing new; but sometimes your regular fare will not set well on race day. When you are tense, disgestion is at its worst. Settle, therefore on things that are unquestionable. And do keep it light. It is hard to beat lightly buttered toast, cooked in the oven, and plain water before a run; but you decide for yourself.

Dress with care, after a final check on the weather, and preferably a trip outside. Plan on being comfortable going to the race, what to take off before your warmup, and then cool enough to be uncomfortable for about the first mile. Be sure to take clothing to put on as needed afterwards so that you do not get chilled. Wearing wet clothes on a chilly morning is asking for trouble.

You arrive at the race, hopefully early enough for a parking place close to the finish line. You take care of any late registration or packet pickup. Locate bathrooms and water. Be sure of the start/finish line and any information you can get about the course. Do you warmup on the last of the race course, if possible. My last minute stretching and then to the line.

This leaves lots of blanks for you to fill in; but from the time the alarm goes off, until you go to the start line, you are building to one point: I'M READY TO RUN. It takes more convincing some days than others. It is as much physiological as it is physical. If your ritual is good you will hardly have to worry about forgetting anything. It becomes a part of race day and being ready to run. So get your ritual in order, fine-tune it as needed, and meet us at the start line.