Energy In, Energy Out

As D-Day approaches and I am reaching my peak mileage in training, I've been turning my attention to all the other little tweaks I can make to try and shave those extra seconds off my marathon time.  As a mum to four, including two boys who can only be described as eating machines, it is very difficult to avoid the chocolate and biscuit temptation that is ever present at home.  I have a healthy eating recipes pinterest board which is full of yummy, balanced recipes but the bottom line is I have a weakness for chocolate digestives which tends to throw all the healthy eating intentions  out of the window.

I am averaging between 45 - 50 miles a week in my training so I seem to be starving all the time!  I have read loads of articles about how people can actually put weight on during marathon training and I can see how it happens!  So for the final 5 weeks I am going to try and focus on eating healthily and making sure that my calorie input is not out of balance with my calorie output.  I'm not a big drinker but I have cut out the couple of glasses of red I enjoy on a weekend, and I'm going to try and think twice before hitting the biscuit tin after a long run - tempting though it is!

Earlier this week I was fortunate to speak to Benjamin Garcia who is a Sports Scientist for Lucozade Sport.  I asked him about nutrition both pre-race and during the race.  It's very difficult to work out when I should be taking gels, how much should I carb load, when to take on fluids.... so much stuff to think about, so many things that could potentially make or break a race.

His advice on carb loading was to aim to increase the amount of stored fuel in the muscles by increasing carb intake 2 - 4 days before the race but avoid feeling uncomfortably full - a couple more potatoes, another slice of break (darn - so not another half packet of chocolate digestives then Benjamin!)

On the morning of the race eat early, again aiming to top up those glycogen stores with a high carb breakfast but avoid trying anything new on race day!  I must admit I hate porridge so I'll probably go for toast and marmite on marathon day.

We talked a lot about hydration.  Last year was one of the coldest winters for a long time, yet marathon day was very hot.  I was so worried about becoming dehydrated, as I had not run in the heat for a such a long time, that I made the beginners error of taking on water a bit too often.  While this did not do me any harm in term of overhydrating (I probably only took a few sips each time then threw the bottle away - sorry race organisers!) , it certainly will have added precious seconds to my time and as all my blog followers know, it was precious seconds that cost me my sub 4.  Benjamin explained that this is not uncommon and to remember that in the London Marathon there are drinks stations at every mile so it is not necessary to take a drink at each of them.  The most important thing is to start the race hydrated and this means drinking plenty the day before.  He suggested carrying a water bottle with me for the couple of days before the marathon and ensuring I was taking regular fluids. 

I brought up the tricky subject of gels .  I told him that at the 20 mile race I ran recently I could feel the gels sloshing around in my stomach as my digestion slowed.  His advice was that we need to take on 30 -60g of carbs an hour during a race, so theoretically if I start the race with good glycogen stores from efficient carb loading, I should only need to top up my stores each hour and this need not be gels. there  are alternatives such as high energy drinks or jelly beans, some people even eat flapjacks or other food to maintain their stores.  I don't think I will try anything new on race day but it's reassuring to know I don't need to go overboard on the gels to ensure that I have enough fuel on board.

On Sunday I put all the training into practice and raced a half marathon, focusing on pace, race strategy and race day preparations.  I was delighted to achieve a PB of 1:44:11 for the race, a whole 04:30 off my previous PB for a half marathon.  It's all looking good for April 13th but I'm leaving nothing to chance, there are so many factors that could scupper my race on the day.  I'm starting to mentally go through the race, an advantage of having run it last year, thinking about what I would do differently, how I would approach each section, imagining how I will feel and what I will be saying to myself at each point.  I asked Benjamin if there was any magic formula for the final 6.2 miles of the marathon - sadly, it seems that there is not, by this point everyone is hurting, from the top flight marathon runners to the fun runners and the last section is a mental game, your body will hurt and your mind will need to get you through.

The last stage in my preparations will be the taper.  I have one more 20 mile race booked for this Sunday then I'm going to gradually reduce my weekly miles while still focusing on my speed and strength work.  This last stage will be all about trusting that I have done enough and resisting temptation to push myself further and risk injury.  If anything the bulk of the hard work is done now so I'm told - I don't know, resisting the biscuit tin until I can officially carb load is proving the biggest challenge of them all .