Melbourne Marathon Race Week

This weekend is the Melbourne Marathon – an iconic and massive event in Melbourne. This year the event doesn’t finish in the MCG, but is set for a great event around the MCG along Jolimont Rd / Brunton Avenue. Tri Alliance has around 40-50 athletes participating – so if you are, make sure you let us know by posting below (and what event) or on our facebook page.

Weather:
At the moment, the weather forecast is: 20deg. Cloudy, isolated showers. Winds northwest to southwesterly averaging to to 20km/h tending south to southwesterly up to 30km/h around midday. But as we all know, this can chance pretty quickly, so make sure you keep an eye on the forecast in the next couple of days. But at the moment, it’s looking pretty good for race day – let’s hope the cloud cover sticks around!

Hydration:
You need to start hydration now. Even though the weather is not going to be super-hot (forecast is 20deg) it will still get warm particularly if the sun comes out. So start drinking extra fluids from today onwards and include half of your fluid consumption as electrolytes. Ie 1 glass of water to every 1 glass of electrolytes. If you need to stock up on your last minute electrolytes, purchase our Shotz Tabs online and we will be down to tonight’s combo session.  Shotz Tabs are fantastic for hydration as they don’t contaie sugar like most electrolyte drinks, so are easy for the stomach to continue to process and absob into the blood stream.

Final Taper:
At this point, it’s all about staying rested and getting mentally prepared for Sunday. Aim to sleep eight hours a night, minimise the stress load and stay off your feet as much as you can. Your final sessions can include:
Thursday PM – light spin on the bike / windtrainer or easy 30-45min run
Friday – Rest day. Stretching, rolling, hydrating
Saturday – either a light long ride or 20-30min light run. This depends on what your goals are and what other races you are training for. Read your raining program for more. If you are unsure contact us in the office on 9645 2223.

Race Day: Prepare! Know how you are getting to the race and the logistics involved in doing so. Remember parking will be premium and a lot of roads are closed. So check out all the details on the Melbourne Marathon Website. There is some important information they have highlighted:

New Finish Area Layout: Please Click Here
Parking Information: Please Click Here
Slow Half Marathon Runners: Please Click Here
Spectator Viewing: Please Click Here
Meeting Points: Please Click Here
Road Closures: Please Click Here

Ensure you do a WARM-UP. Just like any other training session or race day. You don’t want to be warming up within your race – this can lead to slower than normal start due to the muscles not being warm OR the chance of injury. So time your warm up for the start of your race. And when you are in the start line, continue stretching. It keeps your mind focused on something other than waiting for the starters’ gun and get’s your muscles ready to fire.

One great race day tip is to take an old jumper/top with you – one that you don’t mind leaving behind. Wear this before the race and as you leave your bag in the bag compound, keep this jumper on to keep warm while you wait for your race to start. You can then leave it at the side of the start line. This ensures you can stay warm before you start, but also means you don’t loose a good jumper. All clothing will then be picked up and donated to charity afterwards.

ENSURE you wear any Tri Alliance gear you have. It’s easier for anyway cheering on to spot you out. If we don’t spot you, yell out to us. 🙂

Spectators Meeting Point:
We will have a number of people heading down to support on the day and people will be spread out in different areas to watch. If you have a mountain bike / communter. Use it! a great way to get around and see as much as you can. One good spot to watch from to start with is:
Fitzroy St Drink Station (St Kilda Junction): runners in the marathon go past this area on three occasions and half runners twice and, you can pick up a coffee in a café while you wait. Once you have had enough here, time it so you can head back to the finish line to cheer everyone back in. We will be congregating on the corner of Jolimont Road and Jolimont Street. So meet us back here once you have finished your race. There will be no one ‘manning’ this area, so don’t use it as a place to leave your belongings while you race – you will still need to use the bag compound area.

Race Results:
When you find out how you went, make sure you post on our facebook page. We’ll have a dedicated post when you can let us know how you went!

After Party Celebrations:
In conjunction with Katee Pedicini’s B’day, we will be celebrating after the race at:
West Beach Pavillion http://westbeachstkilda.com.au/
Corner of Beaconsfield Parade and Pier Road, StKilda West.
Kick off – 4pm. Plenty of time to have a quick nap after your race!
PLEASE RSVP HERE. As we need to know rough numbers.

Finally – GOOD LUCK! Go out and have a great race!