If you want to run a good 10K or a personal best at any race distance, you have to rest up the week before the race, Goucher says. That’s when you need to ease up on your training, get more sleep and mentally prepare for the race.
“The work has been done at that point, so you can back off your training volume and intensity and just do a few shorter runs with some strides to stay fresh,” Goucher says. “It’s a good time to go back through your training log to put yourself in the right frame of mind heading into the race. During my training buildups, I would write something down every day that helped me get to my goal, even if I had a bad day. That way I could go back and remind myself of all of the hard work I did and know that I’m ready for race day, which is really the fun part.”
Can’t sleep well the night before a race? Don’t stress about it, Goucher says.