The time has nearly come.

This Sunday the ELLE Fit team will emerge from their beds at dawn, throw on their lycra and complete the Royal Parks Foundation half marathon in aid of Mind, the mental health charity.

Having trained with Harry Norman from Third Space for the last 2 months, we said our final farewells to him today in our last session.

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Our relationship has been rocky at times - his 12-minute sprint exercises causing enough turbulence to flip a treadmill. But his heart was always in the right place.

From asking us to stand bare feet in the middle of Green Park, to ensuring that we have the right trainers, he has been there for every pronated step of the way.

For this we are eternally grateful.

But what about now the race is a mere day away?

Do I need to carb load?

Should I take an energy sachet during the race?

How much water should I be drinking?

All these unanswered questions that have finally come to surface in our last minute, panicked state of minds.

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As always, Harry had the answer to all our queries and gave us his top five tips for race day.

Prepare your body for the event and have confidence in your training

Get on your foam roller and get some beauty sleep and you're good to go. You've put in all the hard work, now all that's left to do is one last long run and you're done.

Don't deviate from what you know

Don't take squeeze gels if you've never tried one before (they could have you running to the loo, rather than the finishing line).

Don't over indulge on carbs the night before if your body isn't used to it - you don't want to wake up feeling bloated.

Stick with someone you find 'hot'

They'll keep morale up when you find it tough...

Recognise tension in the body

Try moving the nearest joints into hyper-range mode to free it from stiff muscles. i.e. if you have neck ache, try rotating the spine more or swinging arms back and forth further.

Post-Race

Job done. Treat yourself with a pamper session and book in for another event (if the first one wasn't too horrific).

Well...I guess there's no turning back now. See you at the finish line.

Sponsor the team here if you wish to donate to their JustGiving page.

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Rachel Macbeth
PA to Editor-In-Chief/ Editorial Assistant
Rachel is the Personal Assistant to the Editor-In-Chief and Editorial Assistant. She manages the Editor's full diary and travel arrangements, as well as contributing features in print and online. You will usually catch Rachel dressed in navy and she never leaves the house without her 'Mocha Matte' blusher.