Paw Prints, Hoof Tracks and Tales XIII

Jungle Beasts invade the Peacock Strut!

Here is this week’s Safari Email

Saturday's Winchell Route can be found here.

Safari Gazelles, Gnus, Impalas, Leopards, Cheetahs and Jaguars invaded the Peacock Strut 10k and 5k last Saturday joining nearly 500 runners and walkers in supporting this fun, annual fall event which benefits the Portage Community Outreach Center.

Jungle racers found lurking among our amazing 10k finishers were Sheila Clothier, Cristi DeDoes, Susan Fennema, Peter Fernando, Gordon Hare, Carrie Hybels, Kayla Kling, Tim Kling, Erica McCulley, Brooke Nobis, Bob Poznanski, Stephanie Sabin, Bonnie Sexton, Mark Sigfrids, Brenda Stoddard, David Thierjung, Wendy Geerligs, Sandy Loken, Nancy Vendville and Bob Visser.

Susan (3rd), Gordon (3rd), Kayle (1st) Bob P (1st), Stephanie Sabin (2nd), Sandy Loken (3rd) Bonnie Sexton (1st), Wendy Geerligs (1st) Mark Sigfrids (1st) and Brenda Stoddard (2nd) all took home hardware. David Thierjung reported in that he once again set another 4 minute PR, attributing credit to the Tuesday Track Sessions.

As if a 10k wasn’t enough adventure for one day, Sheila Clothier, Sandy Loken, Cristi Dedoes, Peter Fernando, Gordon Hare, Kayla Kling, Tim Kling, Erica McCulley, Stephanie Sabin, Bonnie Sexton, Mark Sigfrids and David Theirjung all doubled and ran the 5k with Gordon (3rd), Kayla (2nd) and Stephanie (2nd) all taking home age group awards. Julie Lehman, who just ran the Chicago Half Marathon, made her first Peacock 5k appearance, and Track Coach Joe Hulsebus came in 3rd in his age division against some stiff competition.

Congratulations to all our fabulous Peacock Strut finishers!

Rise and shine....to run a half marathon! This came in from Carol Vogt:

“Just want to share that I ran the Maui Half Marathon this past Sunday. The race started in the dark at 5:30 am. It was a nearly flat course all along the island coastline so the views were magnificent! The Half was an out and back while the Full was point to point starting at the 26.2 mile mark running to the same finish line as the Half Marathoners. Their bus left the hotel at 3:30 am to take them to their start line…Yuk!” Congratulations Carol on your half marathon!

Final Details, Details, Details!

Prepare yourself mentally to have fun on the run!

After months of training and preparation, we are now upon the culmination of our training; the event itself. As we make our way to the starting line, it is important to adequately prepare to make the most of the experience to which we have dedicated so many hours of our time. Below are some tips to help you arrive at the starting line prepared:

1. Get to the Expo and pick up your packet early, preferably right when it opens. This is especially important for big city marathons such as Chicago. As the day progresses, the Expo tends to become more crowded. The Pace group sign up booth at larger marathons can boast very long lines, so visit this first if possible. Have fun and shop around at the Expo, but don’t spend all day on your feet.

2. Lay all your clothing out the night before. Pin your number on the front of your shirt or shorts. Tie your chip on your shoe, pack your Gu in your pockets or accessories. Remember to wear nothing new.

3. If you are driving to your marathon, check into shower provisions. Many marathons, including Grand Rapids, have made arrangements for near-by shower facilities.

4. Pack warm clothing in the bag provided for the baggage drop. At larger marathons such as Chicago and Detroit you will be provided with a bag and label or tag that needs to be affixed to it. At smaller marathons such as Grand Rapids, they often have a baggage drop but you provide your own bag.

5. Have BOTH an alarm clock and wake up call to make sure you are up in plenty of time to get ready and find your way to the baggage drop, hospitality tent and starting corrals. This is especially important for Chicago where you could walk several blocks to the entrance of your starting corral. If you are running Chicago, it is a good idea to walk Grant Park the day before to figure out where everything is.

6. Remember to Body Glide the areas needed before you put on shoes, shirt, shorts.

7. Double tie your shoes!

8. Eat a light breakfast about 2 – 2 ½ hours before and stick with food items that won’t bother your stomach. If you are used to drinking coffee, stick with your routine, but make sure you drink it early enough so you don’t find yourself in a long rest room line at the start.

9. Remember to hydrate and bring a bottle of water with you to the start.

10. If it is cold out, take an old shirt to put on for prerace warmth that you can toss aside somewhere as the races begins or somewhere along the course. There are organizations who will pick up these shirts and give them to shelters, etc). Also, wear a pair of throw away gloves to the start. You can purchase these at the expo or you can pick up a pair of cheap gloves at a hardware store, or even use socks.

11. If it is drizzling or raining take a garbage bag and war it over your body until the start.

12. Have a bathroom strategy for pre-race. Try to avoid the port-o-john lines if at all possible.

13. Have a meeting place decided for afterwards. Most large marathons have a designated meeting place organized by last name. If you don’t plan ahead, it can be hard to find family or friends.

14. Bring Sandals for afterwards...it will feel good to get out of your shoes. Make sure you pack appropriate clothing. If it is cold and/or rainy you will want to get changed into warm dry clothing as soon as possible after finishing.

Most importantly, remind yourself to have fun! Chat with fellow runners, especially early on when it is easy to start out too fast, and enjoy an experience you will remember for a lifetime!

Practice Proper Pacing!!!

Here is this week’s Safari Email

Check out the Course Map

Proper race pacing can make or break your half marathon or marathon experience and performance. The outcome can just as easily be determined by what happens the first few miles after the gun goes off as much as what happens during the many weeks of training and preparation. What is the best pacing strategy? Should you run hard early on while you are fresh? Run easy at the start and clock a negative split? Or how about running an even pace throughout the entire race?

The answer to proper pacing lies within the principles we learned earlier on lactate threshold. Your ideal half marathon pace is just below lactate threshold and your ideal marathon pace is about 20 – 30 seconds slower than lactate threshold pace. If you run faster than lactate threshold pace the lactate accumulates in your blood and muscles, which affects the enzymes for energy production and forces you to slow down. When you run faster than lactate threshold, you also use more glycogen, so you are depleted more quickly. This is especially detrimental to marathon performance as it can cause you to “hit the wall” sooner.

The best strategy is to run relatively even pacing. If you run much faster than your average pace for any one part of the race, you will likely start to accumulate lactic acid and use more glycogen than necessarily. Proper pacing can be especially tricky for the half marathon since it is run so close to lactate threshold. It can be easy to creep above the ceiling. If you attempt to run a negative split and run much slower than your average pace, you will need to make up for it later on, again running faster than your most efficient pace for another part of the race. The best strategy, is to run nearly even splits, taking into the account the topography of the course. At Boston, my time splits weren’t dead even. The first few miles I ran on pace, the middle flat and slightly downhill portions I ran 10 seconds faster, and the up hills a bit slower. The nature of the course required some variation in pace to account for the variation in effort demanded by the terrain.

Most runners shouldn’t try to maintain dead even splits, especially in the marathon. During the marathon, your slow twitch fibers gradually become fatigued and your body begins to rely more on the less economical fast-twitch fibers. This will make both your running economy and lactate threshold pace decrease. Towards the end of the marathon, your pace will be reduced slightly. This suggests a more efficient strategy would be to run the first half just slightly (2-3%) faster to allow for the natural slowdown that occurs.

The first mile of a marathon or half marathon you want to run right at or slightly slower than goal pace. You still won’t be completely warmed up and won’t be prepared to go much faster. Once you have run the first mile, the best strategy is to find a good rhythm; a fast but relaxed pace. For the half marathon, this will be about 5 – 10 seconds slower than lactate threshold, for the marathon about 20 -30 seconds slower. At this stage, you should be cruising and saving your mental and emotional energy for the 2nd half. In the half marathon concentrate on maintain a fairly even pace for the first 10 miles, then dig deep the last 3.1 miles to bring it home. If you paced yourself well and stayed right below that lactate threshold ceiling, you should be able to run a strong final 5k.

In the marathon, the halfway point to 20 miles is where the mental discipline of training really kicks in. At this point you are tired and still have a long way to go. Keep a positive attitude and watch your pace closely. This is where most runners start to let their pace drift, first 5 seconds per mile, then 10, then beyond. Concentrate on your splits…..at this point, most well-trained marathoners are still physically able to maintain goal pace. Sometimes, especially during this stage, it is not uncommon to have a bad patch, and then have it disappear. If you start feeling bad, press on, it may pass. Taking carbohydrate in the form of energy gels, etc often help with this. The last 6.2 miles is what you have ultimately prepared for during your many months of training and where your long runs will pay off. Dig deep here…you want to push as hard as you can, but not so hard your muscles tighten and you cramp up. Concentrate all the way to the finish line and cross over strongly (but don’t sprint at the end of a marathon)! Then Savor the fruit of all your labor…you did it!

Occasionally weather or racing strategy may require you to change your pacing plan. If you are running into a head wind, there is a big advantage to running with a group of runners and taking turns drafting. You save considerable energy this way, but you also may need to run slightly faster or slower to stay with the group. The most you should deviate from your goal pace, however, is about 8 – 10 seconds per mile.

Pfitzinger, P., and S. Douglas. 2001. Advanced Marathoning. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics

Paw Prints, Hoof Tracks and Tales XII

Stephanie Sabin wins overall title at the Boyne Mountain Duathlon.....for both men and women!

Here is this week’s Safari Email


Excuses, Excuses, the tabloid editor is full of them!!! Because of the distance of the Kalamazoo to Battle Creek course, it was not possible to generate a one page course map on the usual software. Instead we are providing detailed Directions courtesy of Gale Fischer.(Please print these) and a map of the course can be found at the USATF Website at the Kalamazoo to Battle Creek Run link. You can zoom in or out to view detail, and print off the section of the map you are viewing.


David Thierjung once again set another PR! David joined over 17,000 other runners at the SunTrust Virginia Beach Rock N Roll Half Marathon. He ran a 1:56 to break his former PR set just a week earlier. Also live on the scene was jungle stray Peter Gower who came in with a strong 1:49. Congratulations Peter and David!

Steve Downard skipped Gull Lake for Grape Lake last Saturday’s Grape Lake 5k. Steve took 3rd in his competitive age division with a speedy 17:59. His seven year old son Kyle won his age division, as did his wife Trish rounding out the Downard family trio!

How could it be possible? It appears as though Jeff and Lisa Cavanaugh ran the 8:00 am Grape Lake 5k then turned around and ran the 9:00 am Livestrong 5k! An investigation is underway to determine how quickly one can drive from Paw Paw to Portage. Jeff took 3rd and 2nd in his age division, and Lisa took 2nd and 1st in her age division, respectively. This comes as no surprise, but track coach Joe Hulsebus placed 1st in his age division! Congratulations to all our Safari Grape Lake and Livestrong finishers!


One of our Safari Stars enjoyed a brush..... and a run with fame and inspiration! This came in from the Safari’s Stephanie Sabin:


“One of the highlights this year at our company’s annual wellness kickoff was having Sarah Reinertsen (http://alwaystri.net/) as our keynote speaker. Knowing her story since 2004, I suggested that we consider Sarah as the keynote speaker for the event. To make a long story short, she was secured as the speaker for our August 28th event. A small group of us also had the opportunity to take her to lunch. Sarah is an amazing athlete and person. In 2005, Sarah became the first female with a prosthetic leg to complete the Hawaii Ironman triathlon and was featured in the Ironman coverage in both 2004 and 2005. She has been featured on the cover of Runner’s World, Triathlete, and MAX Fitness magazines. Sarah is a 2006 ESPY winner and was on CBS’s Amazing Race 10. Her accomplishments are endless. While at lunch we were discussing her training while on the road traveling to speaking engagements and other events. She mentioned she needed to take a run that afternoon after our lunch. I offered to accompany her on her run that afternoon if she was willing to wait until I left work. She AGREED!! I mapped us a route around Reeds Lake in East GR and we were able to put in an awesome 4 mile run around the lake that evening. It was an incredible experience and she was recognized by several other cyclists and runners while we were there.”


This past weekend Stephanie participated in the inaugural Boyne Mountain Triathlon – Duathlon. It was a scenic and small event held at the Boyne Mountain Golf Course/Deer Lake. She was able to capture the overall winner title (both male & female) with a final time of 1:25:59!

Stephanie reports,
“This is a first for me, so I’m pretty darn excited! The run portions of the duathlons are my strong point … I couldn’t have done it without the amazing support and workouts that I have experienced while participating in Summer Safari! This was my 4th and final duathlon of the 2007 season. I am now looking forward to the 2008 season.”


Thank you Stephanie for sharing! Have a story for Paw Prints, Hoof Tracks and Tales? Please DO share! We love to hear your stories! As a side note, Jennifer Kitchen has been unofficially nominated for this year’s unofficial Safari Spirit award!!! It is also rumored that we may have skipped an edition of Paw Print's Hoof Tracks and Tales, but we'll make up for it!

Stay tuned for the full report on Dances with Dirt and learn how our Safari-connected dirt teams fared in the next edition of Paw Prints Hoof Tracks and Tales.

It's Taper Time!

Relax and Have Fun During your Taper!

Why Taper?
Rest is as important to your marathon or half marathon training as your workouts. This is especially true for the taper period, or the two to three weeks before the big event! Training provides the long term improvements necessary to successfully complete a marathon or half marathon. Training leaves athletes a bit tired most of the time. The 3-week cycles in the training schedules provide some reduction in fatigue, but it is not enough to completely eliminate it and allow your body full physiological recovery. The goal of tapering is to balance continued training and resting to allow for the best possible marathon or half marathon experience. The International Journal of Sports Medicine examined over 50 scientific studies on tapering and concluded that there is no doubt tapering works. Studies have found improvements in performance of up to 16% with most studies showing 3 – 5% improvement. At a 5% improvement, that means a 3:30 marathon can become a 3:19 marathon or a 1:40 half can become a 1:35 half through proper tapering. A single workout, on the other hand will give you less than a 1% improvement in performance!

How Long Should You Taper?
Studies show for the marathon one should taper for a minimum of 2-weeks with 3 weeks being optimal. Too short a taper will leave one tired on race day while too long will lead to a loss in fitness. For the half marathon one should taper for a minimum of 10 days. A good rule of thumb to follow for distances shorter than the marathon is to taper 1 day for every 2 kilometers of race distance. It is wise to err on the side of tapering too much than not enough. NEVER try to make up for lost time due to injury, etc during the taper weeks. By this time any gains in fitness that will impact marathon performance have already been realized and attempting to make up for lost miles or workouts will just leave you fatigued at the starting line.

How Should You Reduce Training to Improve Marathon Performance?
Evidence indicates that the key to effective tapering is to substantially reduce mileage while maintaining intensity. Reducing mileage reduces the accumulated fatigue. High intensity effort maintains fitness level. Exactly how much to reduce training mileage depends on your current training mileage, age and health. Older runners tend to need a longer taper than younger runners.

Marathon
Studies have shown as a general rule of thumb for the marathon:
1. 3rd Week Premarathon: Taper 20 – 25%
2. 2nd Week Premarathon: Taper 40%
3. Marathon Week (6 days before): Taper 60%.

Three weeks before the marathon is the most important time for a successful taper. Marathoners often do too much this week because the marathon still seems a long way off. It is much better physiologically and psychologically to allow your body to start to rebound this week, or you will find yourself feeling flat the last two weeks. Often marathoners also decrease training efforts. This can result in a small loss in fitness as well as a lack of psychological reinforcement. It is more effective to intersperse harder efforts within the recovery trend. For example, the High Intensity schedule has 3 x 1-mile intervals the 2nd week pre-marathon. Marathon week itself is all easy recovery, with the exception of Tuesday or Wednesday where it is recommended you do a 6 – 7 mile run with 2 miles at marathon pace. This is a dress rehearsal, even wear the same shoes and clothes you will wear for the marathon! By this time, if you have tapered properly starting with the 3rd week, you should feel light on your feet, like you can fly…this will provide a great psychological boost!

Half Marathon
As a general rule of thumb:
1. 2nd Week Pre-Half Marathon: Taper 35-40%
2. Half Marathon Week (6 days before): Taper 60-65%.

Two weeks before is the most important time for a successful half marathon taper. It is important physiologically and psychologically to allow your body to start to rebound this week, or you will find yourself feeling flat the last week. Often runners also decrease training efforts. This can result in a small loss in fitness as well as a lack of psychological reinforcement. It is more effective to intersperse harder efforts within the recovery trend. For example, the Moderate Intensity Cheetah schedule has 2 x .5-mile lactate threshold intervals the week of the Half Marathon. The remainder of half marathon week itself is all easy recovery.

Carbo-loading and Hydration During the Taper
It is vitally important that your muscles and liver be stocked with glycogen at the starting line. Marathoners used to deplete glycogen stores for 3 days (sometimes even completing a long run up to 20-miles the week before), then carbo-load the 3 days prior to the marathon. This is no longer recommended since carbohydrate depletion can suppress the immune system (this is why many marathoners get a cold the week after a marathon – glycogen stores have been depleted) and the long run will leave you sore and tired. What works just as well is to eat a normal diet until the last 3 days and taper your training program. Then the last 3 days, eat a high carbohydrate diet and do a short, slow run these days. Your body will store glycogen to almost the same level as if you did the whole depletion and loading program.
Also, make sure you are well-hydrated in the days leading up to the marathon so that you don’t arrive at the starting line suffering from accumulated effects of dehydration.

What You May Experience
While many runners welcome the time of rest and decreased training during the taper period, for some it can be a challenging time both physiologically and psychologically. Physiologically, your body is repairing itself after months of hard training. It is not uncommon for runners to experience a variety of aches and pains as your body goes through this process. Rest assured this is normal during the taper. Many runners have a hard time psychologically during the taper as well. It is easy to feel like you should be doing more or to fear losing fitness. The taper is the final ingredient necessary for an enjoyable marathon or half marathon experience. Consider the taper to be part of your training and instead of heading out the door for the long run, dive into a good book, get some pending projects done around the house or spend more time with family. You will be glad you did when you cross the finish line of your half or full marathon!

Sources: Pfitzinger, P., and S. Douglas. 2001. Advanced Marathoning. Champaign, IL:Human Kinetics.
Pfitzinger, P., and S. Douglas. 1999. Road Racing for Serious Runners. Champaign, IL:Human Kinetics.

Paw Prints, Hooftracks and Tales X!

Mike Willy is in there somewhere!

Here is this week’s Safari Email

The Gull Lake Run Map is right here!

PR’s abound and we think we’ve got at least one Safari runner hooked! David Thierjung has transformed into the Safari’s newest “running machine” after taking on two half marathons two weeks in a row. The first one was in Rochester, MN. David was scheduled to run 15 miles that day so he ran two miles, and then finished off his long run with a half marathon! He ran his best half yet and shaved 18 minutes off his PR by finishing in 2:00:14. “I would have done much better,” reports David, “but the woman I randomly found to run with at about mile 2, stopped for about a 45 second to a one minute potty break at about 10 miles.” “Eeeek!” David is shooting for sub 2:00 this weekend in Virginia Beach. Jungle stray, world traveler and specialty marathon wine distributer Peter Gower is also heading for Virginia Beach.

Storms and blackouts rocked the city of Flint and even demolished the façade of a building, but the Crim Festival of Races went on with some solid representation from the jungle! Francine Bangs found herself in the dark, literally, after her hotel lost power the night before, but still managed to place the highest in her age group of all Safari Crim 10-Mile participants with a 4th place showing. Brenda Stoddard and Bonnie Sexton both competed for Front Line Racing Team and watched as Fred Vanhala attempted to recruit Elizabeth (E) Wright and Cristi Dedoes for the team within 10 seconds of introduction. Bonnie finished 6th and Brenda finished 13th in their age division of 422 (elite runners removed), then Brenda returned to the starting line once again, placing 4th in her division in the 5k. Cristi finished in the top 25% and landed in the top 100 at her first Crim with a 94th place finish out of 440. Elizabeth (E) Wright finished 145th out of 422 at her first Crim. By the way, Cristi Dedoes is celebrating a milestone birthday with a trip to New York, but to keep ourselves out of hot water, we won’t say WHICH milestone! E (Elizabeth) entertained her travel buddies with hilarious stories of business meeting blunders that you won’t see on America’s Funniest Home Videos. As a side note, Bonnie committed a blunder at the Sept 1 Safari Run after telling the half marathoners they should take a leisurely stroll and run their pace run 10 minutes slower than lactate threshold pace. It is reported that as of the time of writing, all Leopards and Cheetahs have returned despite the misinformation.

Back to the Crim, the Safari’s Mark Chicoine is showing some strong improvement, finishing 60th out of 504 in another very large age division. Jennifer Schmitz-Webber was in the top 25% landing 106 out of 440. Jungle stray Andy Boris finished 162 out of 346 after also spending the night in a dark hotel. We couldn’t locate her in the crowds, but Terry Vuckovich finished 276 out of 422 and Dale Wyatt finished 230 out of 550. Mike Willy finished in the top half of his astronomical age division of 612 participants, placing 300th. Rachel Wittkowski finished 226 out of 440, and then, like Brenda, turned around and added on the 5k for good measure. Congratulations to all our Safari Crim finishers!

Tim Sochor opted to skip the crowds of the Crim and run the inaugural Portland Half Marathon instead and was well rewarded. Tim set a brand new PR at 1:35:51. Congratulations Tim!

Stephanie Sabin passed on the Crim and the Kal-Haven Trail Trek to win her age division at the Hastings Summerfest 10k, finishing 2nd overall to the speedy Janet Becker. Track Coach Joe Hulsebus migrated to Allegan to run the Strides for Health 5k, winning his age division and placing 4th overall. Congratulations Stephanie and Joe!

Grace Biskie has chosen the Detroit Marathon for her very first 26.2 mile endeavor. Erica, who has also been called Rebecca and Rachel, will also be running Detroit as will Joy Bailey. Go Grace, Erica, and Joy!

Gale Fischer rests after completing one of the most wicked Dances with Dirt Legs.

It’s one big jungle party! An entourage of Safari participants and strays really will be running through wild wilderness terrain next weekend at the infamous Dances with Dirt 100 Kilometer Relay in Hell Michigan along with over 300 other teams. Team Leader Mark Sigfrids, the most adventurous of all, will be doing the 50k (31 Miles) Solo run through swamps, rivers, lakes and other insane terrain! Some Teams with Safari ties to watch are Bonnie Sexton and Gale Fischers’ Come Hell, Hills or High Water We Can’t Say No, Sherry Selby’s We Don’t Need no Stinkin Bridges, and Jason Pridmore’s team of speedsters from the east side of Michigan. And we can’t forget We Can’t Get No Stinkin Signal Out Here which harbors the likes of Sherrie Mann, Susan Celestini, Monica Lynch, Tim Bredahl & Cindy Owen. Team Charmin which includes the Safari’s Rich Schau and Mark Chicoine, will have a presence, as will Katy Jackson. What to know more about Dances With Dirt? Check out the insanity at http://www.danceswithdirt.com/.

Train With Tune Up Races!

Wendy Haney (with slight handicap), Andrea Burke and Bill Gephart all tune up and finish together at the 2006 Peacock Strut

Does marathon and half marathon training mean you have to abandon racing in favor of long runs and lactate threshold workouts? As you approach your fall marathon or half marathon take a look at how a tune up race can be integrated! There are several early fall races, including the September 22 Peacock Strut 10k & 5k that represent the perfect "tune up" timing for an October Half or Full Marathon.

Occasional “tune-up races” are a recommended part of any training program. They serve as benchmarks of your fitness and prepare you mentally for racing. Tune-up races are all-out races; they are not races you use merely as tempo runs or pace runs. One word of caution: when doing tune-up races while “training through them,” it is important to remember that your times will be slower due to the fatigue of training even when racing all out. It is not unusual for a 10k time raced under training fatigue to be 1 – 1 ½ minutes slower than one raced when you are tapered and rested. This can provide a false indication of true fitness level. Also, don’t run tune-up races any closer than 3 weeks prior to a marathon at which you are trying to optimize performance, PR, qualify for Boston, etc, etc.

Before running a tune up race, try the mini-taper. This is where you cut back slightly on the “hard” workouts a few days before the race. Your time will be a closer indication to your true fitness level. Just how many days rest and/or easy run days do you need? It depends on what and when your last “hard” workout was. VO2 max workouts are the most taxing workouts of all. After running these 5k race pace intervals, you should allow at least 5 days recovery to allow the fatigue to lift before racing. A 5k race can also be used to replace a scheduled VO2 Max Workout. Long runs and tempo or lactate threshold runs require 4 days of recovery in order to race without the fatigue of the workout. Keep in mind, this is the amount of time it takes for the fatigue to lift, not the amount of time it takes to reap benefit from a particular workout…..this can take as much as two weeks!

Tune up races are generally shorter than the distance you are ultimately training for. The idea is to get you used to the stresses of racing and measure fitness level without prematurely running the full distance. For the Half Marathon, an 8k – 10k is an ideal distance for a tune-up race, and for the Marathon 5 miles – 25K. Any longer than that, and the recovery required will negate the benefits of the tune-up race!