One week to go to MARATHON #3 !!!!

You can guess what is coming next :)

Next Saturday I will be running here:

http://www.extremenorthevents.com/images/uploads/documents/2012-Quadrathon-Day-3.pdf

And this is the course profile (gradients):

Quad day 3 course gradients - first and second half 

I think it is safe to say that I will be pleased to get past the 18 mile mark.

This evening I have been out for a curry in Birmingham with my "Curry Husband" P, my lovely friend M (his actual other half) and little E. This title of curry husband and wife has been bestowed upon us because we spookily always end up choosing the same insanely hot things off of the menu. Today was no exception, having basically some whole chillies in a token coating, the same chilli laden main course, and almost fighting over the "red stuff" they have with the popadoms. (Secret ingredient = crack? The red stuff has scary addictive properties).

I would also say intelligence, kindness, wit and chocolatey stuff are fairly key 

This prompted me to think about food when marathon running.

So we've already decided that eating crap when training for a Marathon is not the way to go, though I guess one can get away with a little more cake than normal. However what to do in the days before a marathon, and for an event like this what to do during / after? After 2 Ultramarathons, 6 Marathons and 10+ 20 mile races (plus numerous training runs) I should have some sort of strategy by now.

Firstly I suppose I'm fairly lucky in the fact I have a cast iron gut, although I do live in fear of the first time it gets upset when running. I don't think I would quite be eating tonight’s uber hot meal before a big event, but I'm happy enough that most restaurants wherever I am staying will have something suitably pasta-like or potato-ey to give me a decent carb meal. I used to get paranoid and actually take little boxes of my own pasta to races, but I really can't be arsed with those games now. I can usually find something. The way I understand it is not to eat loads more leading up to a long distance event, but just change the proportions to include a lot more low GI quality carbs. So that is what I try and do. However never underestimate the chilling out powers of some nice chocolate the night before a race.

For a long time now, I have made a point of drinking a lot of water. I don't drink tea or coffee, not for health reasons but because I don't like either of them. Never have. I always have a 1.5 L bottle with me, and try and fill it up / drink the contents twice a day, so I get through about 3 L per day, plus admittedly when times are tough I do have a bit of a Diet Coke habit. Some might say this is too much liquid, but I feel OK on it, and also if I lose track and don't drink as much I can feel a difference in myself. Although I'm not teetotal, I rarely actually drink because I don't like the dehydrating effect.

So during the run, what then? Well some people go for jelly babies, some for bananas, jam sandwiches etc but I tend to stick with carbohydrate gels, the current favourites being GU. Vanilla + Caffiene because it tastes nice, and a Lemon and Lime GU because it has a bit of a sharper twang to cut the sweetness. During Marathons I tend to take one every 5 miles. They are a bit of an acquired taste, I don't quite understand quite why people get all squeamish about swallowing them. HTFU. I've had worse culinary experiences but each to their own and they do upset a lot of peoples tummies so I can see some reasons to avoid.

Recently there have been times when I've been getting leg cramps in bed, and bizarrely a very twitchy eyelid. Over the summer I sweat quite a lot (noticeable in the heat, and I probably do it just as much in the rain but can't tell). So I did some research and wondered if it was my salt levels (yes sometimes when the sweat dries I'm left with a salt coating. Nice). So I tend to add a Nuun tablet to my drinking water. Placebo effect it may be, but I don't get cramps when I do this on a regular basis.

I can't say I've ever hit the wall in a Marathon or Ultra (the wall is where your body basically runs out of carbs - stored as glycogen and the result is you are supposed to feel like you are running through treacle) and I hope that it is a combination of being hydrated/fuelled to start off with, regular water/gels on the run that has got me through like this. Sometimes I take on Powerade/Gatorade/Lucozade if they are available, but I've got round without. If all else fails, full fat coke does a good sports drink job. I think its true what they say about not trying new things on race day, but if it's a choice between crashing out and trying something new I'll take the risk.

So what about afterwards? Well I try and eat something straight away and keep hydrated. Ideally I would say "chicken sandwich" would be my post race choice but these are very rarely around, so I tend to have a milkshake and possibly a bag of crisps which are usually a bit more available. I've seen and read stuff about milk being good for recovery, and when I get back from a long run tend to have a glass of purple top (1%) from the fridge. I think the crisps are partly a salt thing and partly because after 5 x sickly sweet gels I want something savoury/salty!

So I hope this all works over 4 days. It seemed to when I've done back to back weekends of long runs. I will just have to adjust accordingly if I hit any problems.