This, Sunday, August 3rd, thousands of people will participate in the NYC Triathlon, where they will swim 1500 meters of the Hudson River from 99th Street to 79th Street, bike 40 kilometers up the Henry Hudson Parkway onto the Mosholu Parkway and back again, and then run a 10K around Central Park. At DASHA®, we are in the business of helping you to enhance your well-being, and salute the members of our community who push their bodies to the limits of physical fitness. So congratulations! If you will be participating in the NYC Triathlon this Sunday, rest assured that the hardest and most torturous part of your job – training – has already been completed and the most fun part — the race, is just ahead.
The most important thing that you can do for yourself this week is to eat well and sleep well. You might not get great sleep the night before – especially first-timers who may be excited or anxious, but your cumulative rest this week prior to the night before is what counts before the big day. You may read a lot of literature about what to eat or what not to eat, but as a running addict who has completed a fair number of marathons, I can tell you, from personal experience, that the biggest mistake would be to make any radical changes to your diet between now and the end of Sunday. Your training regimen has already tapered down, but don’t do anything different to shock your body. Wear the same clothes and use the same equipment you’ve been training with, and eat and drink the way you always have during training, too. What goes for training, goes for race day. Think of training as a rehearsal — if you didn’t practice it, then don’t try it. You don’t want to, for instance, load up on tons of carbs the night before and then have a digestive problem in the middle of the night because you’ve overaten. Or if you always hydrate with water, don’t suddenly switch to Gatorade (I learned that one the hard way) or an energy drink. Your body wants what you’ve taught it to want – if it’s worked for you in the past, trust that it will work for you leading up to the big day and on the day of the event itself.
Winston Churchill once said, “When you’re going through hell, keep going.” There may be a tough point or points during the triathlon on Sunday – mental or physical, but just keep on going. They don’t say, “slow and steady wins the race” for nothing. You are only in competition with yourself, and you’re already a winner for making it this far. And if you need some post-recovery relief, whether it be chiropractic, acupuncture or massage work, please give us a call and schedule an appointment!
DASHA® wellness & spa is a luxury lifestyle brand and New York City-based wellness center created to offer a truly holistic approach to wellness. To learn more, visit dashawellness.com.
