Sixteen weeks of training, and nobody wrote you a plan for the four hours before the gun.

Only one of race morning's deadlines is printed on the website

The site says the gun goes off at 7:30. It doesn't say when to eat, when the last shuttle leaves, when bag drop closes, or how long the porta-potty line runs at 6:45 when several thousand people have the same idea at the same moment. Those are the times that decide your morning, and most runners learn them by getting one of them wrong. You end up doing the arithmetic at 4am in a hotel room on five hours of sleep.

Put in the gun time, get back the alarm

Set the deadline to your start time and Ready Time gives every step its own clock: breakfast, digest, dress, bib, travel, bag drop, bathroom, corral. Build the plan the week before while you're rested, and race morning becomes following notifications. The gap people underestimate is bag drop to corral, which at a big race can be a long walk and a second security line. Nothing on the list should be new, including the breakfast.

How early should you wake up before a marathon?

Three to three and a half hours before the gun is the common answer, and breakfast is what drives it: most runners want the pre-race meal down two to three hours before the start. A 7:30 marathon start puts the alarm around 4:15 or 4:30. A half needs roughly two and a half hours, and a 5K is comfortable at ninety minutes. Big-city races push it earlier again, because shuttles and security screening can eat an hour before you've done anything.

What should you eat before a race in the morning?

Something you've already eaten before a long run, roughly 300 to 500 calories, mostly carbs, low fiber and low fat. A bagel with a little peanut butter, oatmeal, a banana, toast with honey, plus your normal coffee. Two to three hours out is the usual window, with a gel or a few sips of sports drink closer to the start if you get hungry. Race morning is the wrong day to try the free sample from the expo.