Tips for the Week Before Your Marathon or Half Marathon (2024)

The week before your half marathon or marathon is a time of final preparation. You've put in the weeks of training and strategy, and now is time for a few more strategic moves before race day. From nutrition and sleep to doing laundry and packing, here is everything you should need to get you to the starting line in good form.

Training the Week Before

Your final long-distance training should be donetwo to three weeks before your marathon. The weekend before your race should be at reduced mileage, a practice known as tapering, to give your muscles a chance to rebuild and restore rather than stressing them with increased mileage.

The week before your half-marathon includes your longest mileage day of 6 to 8 miles, or 8 to 10 before a full marathon. During the week before your marathon or half-marathon, continue to get in shorter fitness walks or runs of 30 to 60 minutes each or every other day. Stay limber, but avoid hard training or challenging hills and stairs.

Diet and Carb-Loading

The week before your race, eat a healthy balanced diet. Current thinking in sports training is that excessive carb-loading is not needed. This is no time to change your diet dramatically. Don't overeat.

Avoid foods that give you gas or loose stools, especially two days before your race. Avoid alcohol and high-caffeine energy drinks in the two days before your race to prevent dehydration.

Read the Marathon Instructions

Read the race instructions thoroughly and ensure you can answer the following key questions:

• Where do you pick up your race packet and what hours and days is it open? Do you need your registration number or verification and identification? Can somebody else pick up your packet or do you have to pick up your own?
• How will you get to the starting line and home from the finish? What transportation concerns do they warn you about? Will you be shuttled to a distant starting point?
• Is there a gear drop? Some races have eliminated this for safety concerns, and races that once offered it may not any longer. Know the location of the starting area and gear pickup, and how long both will remain open.
• Where is on-course support? What about locations for water, sports drinks, and toilets?
• Where can your family and friends view your race and cheer you on?
• What are the time limits and logistics if you fall behind?
• Are there rules and restrictions like no headphones, strollers, pets, or walking poles?
• If you are part of a running team or charity marathon group, verify any meetings or social activities you will have before, during, or after the race.

Sleep Well

Clear your schedule the week before the half-marathon or full-marathon to give yourself the best chance of getting several nights of good sleep. Sleep is when the body rebuilds and restores muscles. Think of sleep as part of your sports training. Eliminate any late-night plans and avoid early-morning ones as well.

Avoid alcohol, caffeine after noon, and spicy sleep-disturbing foods. If you are traveling, take along earplugs and a sleep mask. If you are wide-eyed and worried all night before the marathon, that's not a race-killer. Many people toss and turn the night before the race and make it through just fine. The second-to-last night of sleep before the race is more important.

Check the Weather Forecast

What you wear on race day depends on the forecast. Plan for it to be at the top of the predicted temperature but be ready for it to be chilly while waiting for the starting gun.

If there is any chance of rain, be prepared with a rain poncho, trash bags, or other lightweight rain gear. Here are other gear considerations to keep in mind for race day:

Hot-Weather Gear

You will be prone to overheat on a marathon even on a relatively cool day. You won't want to carry layers, so be prepared to discard a cover-up after the race begins. Cool off during the race by dowsing your hat in water at the water stops. Be diligent in using blister and chafing protection as these are worse on hot days. Sun protection with a hat and sunscreen is essential for the hours you'll be on the course.

Cold-Weather Gear

It's a challenge to get your layers right for a cold-weather marathon. You will warm up but still need a windproof layer to avoid losing too much heat. Pack hand warmers like gel packs and wear gloves. A buff is also a versatile item for cold days to keep your neck and ears warm.

Rain Gear

Hours of rain make for an unpleasant marathon. Your best rain gear item can be a disposable rain poncho, especially one with arms. You can also keep your shoes drier using disposable hotel shower caps and duct tape.

Nighttime Gear

You'll need to prepare to have the right lights for the course and practice using them in advance. Also, consider reflective gear to make yourself more visible to other runners and any bicycles or cars nearby during (or after) the race.

Get Your Gear Ready

If you are traveling to your race, be extra cautious when packing. Make a packing list including your race gear and clothing.

Even better, bring your race shoes and clothes with you in a carry-on so they don't have a chance of becoming lost luggage. It's distressing to discover your tried-and-true shoes or shirt were left behind or are traveling the world without you.

Even for a hometown event, you don't want your essential items to be in the laundry pile the night before the race.

Prepare Your Race Clothing

Inspect and clean your entire race outfit early in the week before your half-marathon to ensure they are ready. Pack them or lay them out for race day.

• Socks:Are your socks holding up? You don't want to wear socks with holes or worn areas that will become holes during the race. If you need a new pair of the same design, now is the time to get them.
• Shorts,running skirt, pants, or tights:Which pants or shorts will be best for the weather on race day? Go with the highest prediction for heat and choose based on that. Your legs will be hot by the final miles. If it's going to rain, wet legs are better than wet pants, so shorts are a good choice.
• Underwear:Choose what worked best on your long training days.
• Shirt: Choose a top that will work best for the highest temperature prediction to stay cool. Ensure there are no loose seams and launder your shirts early in the week. It's usually a bad idea to wear the race shirt they give you at packet pickup as you haven't worn it in training and don't know how it will perform. But if you do, launder it first to get rid of any irritants.
• Sports bra:Launder your favorite sports bra and check for loose seams.
• Hat:Choose your hat based on the weather prediction and what worked best during your long training days. You may want to wash it to remove sweat from the brim.
• Sweatbands: If you wear a sweat wristband or headband, launder them.
• Costumes: If you plan to wear a costume or some sparkly and fun race gear, be sure it is also race-ready and you have worn it on a long workout.
• Warm-up gear: If you plan to wear a trash bag or disposable shirt as a warm-up, make sure you have it packed and ready. If you plan to use the gear drop for your warm-ups, know the procedure from the race instructions and the location of the gear drop and pick-up.

Prepare Your Racing Shoes

Your race shoes are of top importance. It's too late to make changes unless they are falling apart. If you are traveling, bring them in your carry-on luggage to make sure they make it to the race with you.

Remove insoles and ensure any grit is shaken out of the shoes. Rinse and dry the insoles. If you use any soap, be sure it is all removed in the rinse. Check the laces to make sure they aren't frayed and about to break. Replace them if they are.

Prepare Other Supplies

Inspect everything else you will be bringing along on race day. Now is the time to replace or recharge batteries. If you are traveling, make a packing list to make sure everything comes along with you.

• Pack:If you are going to wear a pack during the race, check the buckles and straps. Make sure everything you plan to take along, such as sunscreen and body wipes, fits in it securely.
• Water bottle or hydration pack:Rinse and clean your water bottle or water bladder and let them dry. Be sure to put the bladder back into your pack before the race. Ensure the type of bottle or hydration pack is allowed in your race; some have strict rules about what is permitted.
• Sports watch/GPS/pedometer/heart-rate monitor:Make sure it is charged or the battery is fresh. Practice using any race timing and other features you want during the race.
• Sunglasses: Are they clean with the temples tightened? Set them out or put them in your pack the night before, as you are likely leaving for a race start before dawn.
• Cell phone/music player and headphones:Are they fully charged and do you have your charger for traveling? Have you loaded your race mix of music? Are headphones allowed in this race?
• Snacks and sports drinks:If you plan to carry energy snacksanda sports drink(or powder to add to water on the route), set them out beforehand and make sure they get into your pack.
• Foot prep, chafing prep, and blister kit: Make sure you have what you need tolubricateortape upyour feet the morning of the race, and your take-along blister treatments are packaged and make it into your pack.
• Medications:Set out any race-morning medications you use and fill up any take-along pill box with pain medication, anti-diarrhea pills, etc.
• Sunscreen and lip balm:If traveling, pack your favorite and tested brand. At home, set these out so you remember to use them race morning.
• Safety pins, race bib number, andtiming chip: If traveling, pack four safety pins for yourrace bib number. Pin these to your race shirt so you don't forget to bring them or where they are. If your race uses a shoe timing chip, attach it the night before the race so you don't forget it on race day.​
• Hair control:Pack or set out any hair bands, bobby pins, scrunchies, or other hair control devices so you aren't searching for them on race morning. This isn't the time to try out a newrace hairstyle.

Roll With Surprises

With all of the best-laid plans, somethingwillgo wrong. Having everything prepared the night before the race lets you roll with the surprises on race morning.

Headphones break, cell phonesfall out of your pack, yourracing partnerforgets his timing chip and bib, you get race morning diarrhea, and you may be stuck in a 30-minute traffic jam getting to the starting point. These small disasters will rarely derail your marathon and they will make for good stories later.

A Word From Verywell

With race day right around the corner, make sure all the hard work you put into training isn't overshadowed by forgetting simple (or important!) details about your prep in the week before your half-marathon. With some forethought and planning, stack all the odds in your favor for having a fantastic race-day experience.