All products featured on Self are independently selected by our editors.
However, we may receive compensation from retailers and/or from purchases of products through these links.
(Registration for the 2024 event, scheduled for February 2425, is openhere).
brazzo/Getty Images
We call this the worlds largest running party, event race director Nicole Christenson tells SELF.
That doesnt mean you gotta skip the later start calls and stick to your same old, though.
With a few tweaks to your routine, you’re free to become a nighttime racing pro.
You’ll feel like, I know this space, Peralta-Mitchell says.
My body, my mind has been here before.
This is second nature to me.
I don’t have to adjust; I’m ready.
Unlike a morning competition, nighttime events give you the opportunity to eat multiple meals before toeing the line.
For race-day breakfast, Featherstun recommends a meal that includes simplecarbohydrateswith a little bit of fat and protein.
We really want to make carbs the star of the show, she says.
A bagel with cream cheese plus a banana and some orange juice or an egg sandwich are great options.
Once youre about an hour out from your event,fuel up with a light snack, Featherstun says.
A simple carbohydrate, like graham crackers, digests quickly.
Drinking up doesntstartwhen youre racing either.
Just as you prep your nutrition in the hours before your event, you should pay attention to yourhydrationtoo.
Sodium is an electrolyte, which helps maintain fluid balance in your cells and isexcreted through sweat.
So making sure you take in enough of this electrolyte is important.
(Heres how you’re able to figure outhow much sodium you may need.)
Then, once your race is over, check out thesetips for making sure you rehydrate adequatelytoo!
Thats why she recommends practicing your race-day nutrition and hydration planin addition to your training runsahead of time.
She taps into power words, sayings, and mantras to persevere when things get tough in a race.
But youd be surprised with how the voice we hear the loudest is our own.
For instance, a phrase that Peralta-Mitchel finds especially effective in her racing is I shine, you shine.
you might test some of these out and tweak and modify in a way that works for you.
Cutting out the unknownsand a lot of the decision-making process in generalcan calm nerves, Peralta-Mitchell says.
Peralta-Mitchell likes to remind her runners to approach every race as a unique journey.
You may find your body reacts differently to evening races than morning onesand thats completely okay.
Your mind is occupied by everything youre seeing, she says.
The ground is not going anywhere, but you living in that moment is not forever, Peralta-Mitchell says.
So take it all in!
