Race Week: What To Do (And What NOT To Do) In The 7 Days Before Your Next Race

megan clements
4 days ago
3 min read

By race week, the work is done. Whatever fitness you've built over the last 12 weeks, that's the fitness you're racing on. Nothing you do in the next seven days will make you faster.

But plenty of things you do in the next seven days can make you slower.

This is the bit most runners get wrong. They worry about the wrong things, panic train, overhaul their diet, try out new kit, and turn up on race day fragile instead of fresh.

Race week is about subtraction, not addition.

Here's the actual playbook we use with Team TAP runners at the clinic refined over hundreds of race weeks.

7 days out: book the things, calm the mind

If you haven't already, this is your last shot at a meaningful pre-race sports massage. Anything closer than 4 days is risky your tissue needs time to settle.

What we're doing in this session:

Releasing the cumulative tension from training (usually calves, glutes, lower back)
Identifying anything that needs attention before race day
Gently calming the nervous system not stripping it down

What we're NOT doing: deep, aggressive work. That's a 3 weeks out session, not a race week one.

If you can't get in for a massage, do a 20-minute mobility flow. Hips, ankles, thoracic spine. Nothing dramatic.

5–6 days out: practise the boring stuff

This is the week to dial in:

Sleep protect it. Phones out of the bedroom. Lights low after 9pm.
Hydration sip throughout the day, not litres in one go.
Carbs gradually increase from now. Pasta the night before is a meme; consistent carb intake all week is the real win.

This is also the week to check your kit. Lay it out. Try it on. The race outfit you've trained in is the race outfit you race in. Do NOT debut new shoes, new shorts, new socks, or a new sports bra on race day. Every podiatrist and physio in the country can tell you a horror story about this.

3–4 days out: the easy run, the optional flush

This is when you can fit in a light flush massage if you couldn't get in last week. Quick, no pressure, no goal beyond gently moving blood and lymph.

Easy 20–30 minute run. Conversational pace only. If you're checking your watch, you're working too hard.

2 days out: do nothing dramatic

A short shakeout run is fine. A long brunch with friends is fine. A 12 hour boozy lunch is not fine. (You already knew that.)

Eat normally. Sleep early.

The day before: trust the work

This is the day most runners spiral. They start questioning training, the weather, their pace strategy, whether they should switch shoes (NO). The discipline of race week is doing nothing.

Eat a normal dinner. Lay out your kit. Bed by 10. Read a book.

Race morning

You know what to eat — eat that. You know what to wear — wear that.

Get to the start line early. Pee twice.

And then run the race you trained for.

What to do AFTER the race

This is the bit most runners completely neglect and it's the highest leverage hour of recovery you'll spend.

A flush massage 24–48 hours after race day is the difference between bouncing back by Wednesday and limping into the following weekend. We block out Monday and Tuesday recovery slots every race weekend specifically for this.

Book it BEFORE the race, not after. (You won't have the energy after.)