Marathon crunch time

It's getting towards the business end of marathon training. I have about four weeks to go to marathon number eight, this is it now, a few weeks of the hardest training left then taper time.

Rather than giving you my unqualified advise as to what I think you should do to successfully train for a marathon, I'm going to tell you about my training in the hope that it will interest/educate/enlighten/guide/confuse/amuse you (delete as appropriate). 

First off this is my first spring marathon, the big negative associated with a spring marathon is the rain, the cold, the wind and the dark, training during the summer months for an Autumn marathon is much more fun!

The big advantage for me though had been that my marathon, Halstead on the 8 May, comes a few weeks after several big events, Paris, London, Brighton etc. This means my training has been a few weeks behind the masses of people running these events and sharing their training on social media so I have been quietly lurking in the background watching and learning from other people's experiences. 

Six weeks out from a marathon seems like a perfect time to get new trainers, that and the fact my current pair have done well in excess of 500km. 

So these are the pair that are (notice there is now hopefully added in here, I am trying to engage in more positive thinking) going to take me to sub 4 hour glory. 

In the last few weeks I have been racking up the miles and on top of the three half marathons I have done this year I have completed two 15 milers and a 17 miler. I am planning two more long runs in the region of 20 miles so that should take care of getting enough mileage in.

The long runs have been paired with a decent amount of speed work as well with regular early morning track sessions over at Regents Park.

I reckon my training has been better than previous marathons with a definite case of my training having been smarter if not necessarily having been harder or longer. 

So what do I have to do now to get me to the marathon start line in tip top condition:

Sleep - Plenty of rest to maximise the benefits of training.

Protein - Increassing the amount of protein I am including in my diet so plenty of hummus, natural yogurt, protein shakes, nuts, peanut butter, milk and the old faithful chicken for me. Its also lucky that USN recently sent me a free goody box of products to try out and review.

So far I have tried out, pure GF1 a tasty, rich, creamy protein shake packing a whole 40g of protein, pretty perfect to help recovery after a long grueling run. 

Trying out new carb loading options - I recently read an account from a runner who reflected that while training for an event so many runners will priotitise eating well, cutting out refined sugar and processed food only to get to race day and then start consuming sickly energy gels down their throats to help power their run. This really hit home with me so I decided to try out some more 'real food' options. I stumbled across whitworths shots (other dried fruit snacks are available) as a great way to get some carbs on board while out running. So far they are working really well, the main difference being that they take a bit of time to chew and swallow as opposed to gels which just slip straight down your throat. 

Not eating any puddings - Cutting out sweets, cakes and other sugary snacks is usually on most runners pre race preparation list and I am no different as I have a particularly sweet tooth and the problem is heightened by the fact that I get free lunch and work. Not just free lunch, but free lunch with a great range of puddings, cheesecakes, fruit crumbles, sponge cakes all the good things you can imagine! Cutting these out is fast becoming a major challenge! 

So here we go 4 ish weeks to go, lots of hard work to go but only 2 weeks before things tail off and its taper time! 

If you are running any of the great range of marathons in the coming weeks I hope your training has gone well and you have a great run! 

Marathon preparation check list

Marathon training demands a lot of time, effort, dedication, determination and preparation to be successful. The foundations for success need to be put down in the weeks and months preceding an event, however the week before a marathon is still a key time. Here is my guide to the final stages of marathon preparation based on my own personal experiences: 

Eat lots don't be hungry 

There is so much advice on pre-race nutrition and the importance of carb loading such as these great articles from Runners World and RealBuzz, 

Also you should also check out this video from Buzzfeed which gives you an entertaining yet informative guide to how the carb loading process works. 

But as well as eating more carbs its also important to just eat more. 

While preparing for a race it is common to cut down on your food intake to try and lose weight to be in the best shape for race day but in the final stages its all about fueling your body to be ready for the demands of the upcoming 26.2 miles.  

So I let myself go a bit and eat if I feel hungry as long as its good stuff I am eating. Regular readers will know I have enjoyed the carb loading phase from previous marathons as you can see here. 

I tend to snack a lot on dried fruit, Brazil nuts, almonds, peanut butter, flap jacks, tortilla wraps and that kind of thing as you might have seen in previous posts or seen on my twitter feed if you follow me on twitter @beoutrunning. 

My other advice is a common recommendation of eating familiar things, food you eat a lot, that you enjoy and that you know suits you fuels you correctly. 

I also try and stick to the mantra of eating little and often so that I am not overloading my body and I am providing a constant steady flow of calorific fuel for energy. 

Sleep lots don't be tired  

In the week or two post marathon I focus more on getting to bed that bit earlier as well as cutting down on the early morning training to perhaps once or twice a week.

Giving your body plenty of opportunity to rest and restore its self so it is in the best condition possible for race day is really important.  

Although relax if you don't end up getting as much sleep the night before a run because of pre-race nerves or a change of routine due to travelling for a race is fine and wont impact on your performance.  

Walk lots - well not lots but maybe a bit more than usual.  

As my training is cut down in the lead up to a marathon I try to replace this with a bit of extra walking. This is for a few reasons, to keep my legs ticking over all be it with a much less strenuous form of exercise and to keep burning off a few calories while not training so much. 

My other bit of walking related advice is to where running trainers as much as possible pre race. Your feet are important so its important to look after them and keep them as comfortable as possible. 

Roll and stretch 

If not already part of your daily routine it definitely should be in the build up to the big run. Keeping your legs nice and loose and getting rid of any stiffness and tightness is key to a great performance on race day, its amazing how brilliant and energetic your legs can feel through the week with a reduction in training but an increase in rolling and stretching. 

Hydration

Water water everywhere! 

There is an abundance of advice on staying hydrated so I wont bore you with that only reiterate its importance. Stay hydrated and drink loads in the days building up to your marathon! 

Along with lots of water I also enjoy drinking a variety of herbal teas to help hydrate and refresh me. As well as this they also provide a sweet touch that might be lacking from your diet as well as providing other digestion and health benefits. 

Nutrition 

As well as trying to eat a well balanced nutritious diet in the marathon build up heres a few personal specifics I throw into the mix. 

Vitamin C - Load up on some vitamin C, something that should already be plentiful in your diet but especially necessary in the final stages of a marathon training programme to ensure you can fight off any illnesses while you body is more susceptible to attack due to the strains of training and to ensure you are as fighting fit and healthy as can be come race day. 

Coupled with an increase in vitamin C i have also found taking a cold and flu remedy such as Beechams is a great way to top up your body's defences and keep you feeling tip top!  

Protein - In race week as well as stocking up on my carbohydrates I also try to increase my protein in take to help my muscles be fully repaired and raring to go!

Specifically I opt for plenty of protein shakes and chicken throughout the week along with a steak dinner a few days before interspersed with plenty of protein rich snacks like almonds.  

Good digestion - To help make sure my stomach is settled and can cope with the high amount of carbohydrates along with potential pre race nerves I make sure I have a couple of spoons of natural yogurt in the morning and evening just to be kind to my gut in the hope it is then kind to me! 

Preparation  

Along with all the training and nutrition advice the best piece of advice is to be prepared. Mentally prepared for the challenges that lie ahead as well as physically prepared taking care of the practical and logistical arrangements of; how am i going to get there? What time so i need to get up/leave? What am I going to wear? Etc, etc

Its good to have these arrangements clear in your mind a few days before so you can relax and just focus on the actual running. 

One last thing most importantly:  

Don't forget to enjoy yourself! Enjoy the run, the challenge, the atmosphere, the experience, the location and the scenery, embrace it all so you can remember it in the future. 

Good luck!

When runs go wrong

This morning I headed over to my local parkrun at Harrow Lodge with the view of hopefully seeing some returns on my increased training in the form of a PB.

However it was not to be as I experienced one of my worst shorter runs I can remember.

Although my time was only 30seconds slower than when I did it a few weeks ago I felt so bad and struggled all the way round.

So as a way of reflecting on what went wrong, putting todays run to bed and learning from the experience here is my break down of where it all went wrong. 

Hayfever - This week I have struggled a bit with hayfever in my throat, that feeling where you always feel like coughing and cant quite clear your throat. So this certainly didnt help as I felt my breathing was really affected and subsequently my performance suffered. 

Heat - This morning was particualy hot compared to the rest of the week and I struggled with thesr conditions and I was also probably dehydrated from sitting out in the sun and heat. 

Flapjack - I have been trying out different breakfast options for when I am out running in the morning and have been eating a flapjack recently. Although this has worked well for longer slower runs it didnt work well for this faster run. 

Pints - no early morning has ever been made better or easier by a few pints the night before. This mornings run was certainly not helped by the fact I had a few pints out at the cricket last night.

Lack of sleep - Its been a long and busy week and for one reason and another I have not had much sleep and I think this morning it had caught up with me as I felt mentally and physically a bit jaded.

Hard week training - I think also my increased training in the last few weeks as I gear up for my marathon had an adverse affect on me this morning as my legs struggled a bit with keeping up with the aches and pain of training. 

Poor warm up - I was late this morning and was literally running late to get to tge start at a decent time. Usually pre park run I get there around 10 minutes before and do a bit of a warm up but this morning I only had time for a wuick loosen up before it was time to start. Although I didnt feel any adverse affects during the start I thibk overall it did affect me and meant I was running as well as I could have been and meant things were more of a struggle than they should have been. 

Whatever the problems and however I think of them I think it is important to lay to rest the wrongs of a bad run and put them to oneside ready to go again for the next run!