Racing Before the Marathon

Daily Tip #10 - Friday, October 16

Should you race again before the marathon?

With a little more than two weeks to go before November 1, your coach, training program, and experience should dictate the answer to this question. One school of thought is to cut down on mileage during the taper, but to keep short workouts/faster running in the plan (such as a short tempo run, interval or mile repeat workout, and 100-meter strides) so you are sharp and ready to race on November 1.

The Poland Spring Marathon Kickoff on Sunday, October 25, provides a great opportunity to practice your marathon pace -- or to run easy through Central Park -- and the festive atmosphere gets runners in the marathon spirit. Participating in the race will also give marathoners practice with using the ChronoTrack timing system, which uses a plastic d-tag runners attach to their shoe that records their time.

Register soon because the event is nearing capacity. If you can't get in to the race, or you won't be in the city that early and you still want the practice, you can take part in the Poland Spring Marathon Kickoff Virtual Run. All you have to do is register at MapMyRun.com, map out your course, run it within the designated dates, upload your results, and compare them with other competitors -- virtual and live -- to see how you fared.