The Yellow Ribbon Prison Run takes place this weekend, on 14 September, with a 10Km Competitive Run and a 6Km Fun Run.

If you have signed up for this race, you should be done with all your training and are now probably looking to having a good timing on the day.

Here are some basic last minute tips, to gear up for the race – and also to ensure that you will be in tip-top condition on race day.

Are you taking part in the Yellow Ribbon Prison Run?

Get enough rest

Try and get enough sleep during the few nights before your race. That’s because you probably won’t be able to get much sleep on the night before, due to the excitement and nervousness about the race.

Eat appropriate foods

Try and eat healthily so that your body will have the right nutrients to do well during the race. Consume foods that are also rich in carbohydrates and try to stay away from high-fat foods such as deep-fried items.

It is also very important to eat something on the morning of the race – so that you won’t be running on an empty stomach. If you don’t, this may cause light-headedness and giddiness during the race and you may not do well. But eat something light, such as cereals with milk or peanut butter toast – which will digest easily.

Warm up properly

Stretching and warming up your muscles is very important before running, to prevent muscle strains and injuries. So make your way to the starting pen early and do some basic warm-up exercises before the race flag-off.

Make sure your race goals are achievable

If you are going to set a time goal for yourself, make sure this is something you are able to realistically achieve, based on the training that you have been regularly doing for the past few months.

For example, if you usually take an hour to run 10Km, it is not realistic to suddenly expect to run this in 45 minutes on race day. You will only wind up disappointed. If you want to push yourself a little bit more, then perhaps a timing of 58 to 60 minutes would be more realistic to aim for.

Make sure you are hydrated

Make sure that you are adequately hydrated – before, as well as during and after the race.

Do not wait till you are thirsty and parched before allowing yourself a drink from the race hydration stations. Try to take a few sips whenever you see a hydration station, to constantly replenish your fluids. But at the same time, don’t drink too much, otherwise you will feel bloated and uncomfortable during the race.

After the race, also make sure you drink at regular intervals for about two to four hours later – as this will help your body to completely re-hydrate after the hard run. That’s because you would have lost a lot of fluids whilst running.

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