Hey everyone out there! The Turkey Trot is right around the corner so here are some tips to help prepare you for the race. By this point in your training you should have all worked out the little kinks, gradually built up cardiovascular and muscular endurance and written down or planned out your goals for this event.

These last five weeks of training are essential for your success so maintaining proper nutrition and focusing on staying healthy and injury free can play a key part to your success. For the next five weeks, training should be at least three to four times per week. Most of your running during the week should be done at a moderate level, especially for those who just want to finish the race. Don?t shy away from adding faster training into your schedule to increase speed and endurance, this type of training is not just reserved for the elite athletes. Adding some interval training is a great way to improve on your speed and sustainable running pace.

For example, try running three one-mile intervals at a little faster pace with a recovery period between each mile instead of running three miles all at once. Alternating moderate training and fast training is a great way to improve performance while avoiding the set backs caused from repeated intense training. Another way to avoid injury and maximize training is by staying properly hydrated. Maintaining hydration can improve endurance and delay fatigue. Drinking water before, during, and after a workout can prevent thermal injury such as heat cramps, and decreased exercise performance. Fluid replacement should attempt to equal fluid losses throughout the day. Fueling your body with adequate energy from healthy food sources can also improve performance. To ensure adequate intakes of nutrients, you should consume about 60 percent of calories from carbohydrates, 25 percent from fat and 15 to 20 percent from protein.

Eating before exercise can provide fundamental benefits allowing your body to maintain energy throughout your workouts. Our bodies have a hard time trying to simultaneously digest food and provide energy for physical activity. Therefore, waiting 30 to 60 minutes after eating a snack to exercise can improve performance. If you consume a bigger meal, allowing one to two hours will result in better training. The best time to replenish your energy needs falls 30 to 60 minutes after exercise. During this time our body acts like a sponge and absorbs the nutrients. Carbohydrates and protein are primary nutrients for post-exercise. Carbohydrates replace glycogen stores that store energy in our liver and muscles for future use and protein helps repair muscle damage. Below is a sample training schedule for a 5k and 10k race five weeks leading up to race day. All individuals can use this training schedule as long as you customize it to meet your training level. This can be attained by choosing the suitable intensity to help meet your goals. Keep training hard and remember to always have fun! See you all on race day.

5K

10K