This past Saturday, I finally completed my 2015 New Year’s resolution by running in the Grand Valley State University Family Weekend 5K. Although I didn’t quite finish in the time that I had wanted, and despite the fact that there were moments along the way in which my body hurt and I wanted to stop, the euphoric feeling of crossing the finish line was well worth the difficulties. For this reason, and because a prospective race serves as a great motivator to train, I would encourage anyone interested in running to consider signing up for one.

It’s important to keep in mind, though, that your performance during a race is not just dependent upon how hard you push yourself during the race itself, but also on how you’ve been preparing for it, particularly during the preceding week.

First, it’s important to eat well the week before a race. If you don’t, you might feel sluggish and not as energized as you could otherwise be. Eating well helps enable you to feel your best on the day of the race, and it also enhances your ability to train. I’ve noticed, for example, that on days when I don’t eat well, it’s often harder for me to have a hard, productive workout. When I eat healthfully, though, it’s much easier.

Getting enough sleep is also important, and for essentially the same reasons why eating well is so crucial: getting enough sleep helps you maximize your training, recover from your workouts and feel your best on race day.

Perhaps most obviously, it also helps to run the week before a race, though maybe not necessarily the day before. I personally prefer to relax and rest the day immediately prior to a fitness-related event so that my muscles stay fresh and energized. It is a good idea, though, to run earlier in the week in order to keep up with your training and be prepared.

Finally, I have one final note of encouragement for anyone nervous about an upcoming race: at the Family Weekend 5K this past Saturday, I had been worried that the atmosphere would be excessively aggressive and competitive, but I was wrong. On the contrary, my fellow runners, as well as the people who were organizing the event, were encouraging and supportive. It doesn’t hurt, of course, to make a competition in your head if that helps you to push harder. As motivation, for example, I would frequently tell myself that I needed to keep up with a particular person, or to pass another, and so on, in order to push myself and finish in decent time.

All-in-all, I thoroughly enjoyed participating in my first race and would certainly recommend the experience. There are plenty of opportunities at GVSU and in the surrounding area, including the Homecoming 5K on Oct. 24 (which I intend to run). For more information on this event, or to sign up, you can visit www.gvsu.edu/homecoming.