Coaching Tip: Post Run and Race Fuelling

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This week’s coaching tip is about post-run or race fuelling. This is a really important process and something a lot of runners get wrong. All runs need some sort of post race fuel. For shorter, easier runs, this may just be your next meal e.g breakfast containing carbs, protein and fat if you’ve done a morning run. But for anything hard or over an hour, post run fuelling should be planned in advance to satisfy your body’s needs so that it can rebuild / repair and cravings don’t take over later!

 

Good recovery fuel should have a mixture of carbs and protein in a 3 or 4:1 ratio – that is 3-4g carbs for every gram of protein. It used to be accepted wisdom that the best window for refuelling was within 30 mins of the workout, and although this has been contested by recent research, it won’t do any harm to aim for that, and for women it’s thought to be more important to refuel sooner rather than later. If you are not planning to have a meal in that time, have a snack immediately after and aim to have your next meal within 2 hours post run.

 

Here’s just a few ideas to to get you started:

  • a formulated recovery shake or bar (check the nutrition to make sure it has the right ratio)
  • A protein shake with added carbs eg banana, dates, honey
  • Eggs on toast
  • Milk or a milky drink plus an egg sandwich or a peanut butter bagel (skimmed milk has slightly more carbs than full fat, check the nutritional info on plant milks)
  • Yoghurt, muesli, chopped banana and honey
  • Beans on toast

 

If you’re like me, eating always sounds easy, but the harder or longer your run, the more blood is diverted away from the stomach and the less hungry you’re likely to feel. This is a particular problem for some runners but if you learn to make refuelling a priority, you will recover faster and feel better. If it makes you feel slightly nauseous, take small bites of something you fancy and as blood returns to your stomach, your appetite should return too.

 

Don’t forget to hydrate as well – glycogen stores can’t be refilled without available water. An electrolyte drink such as High 5 zero is perfect for this.

 

This week, aim to plan recovery fuel for any run over an hour, or a harder session such as tempo or intervals, and share below what you plan to use to recover.

 

This really is an easy win that ALL athletes should take seriously! And don’t forget to ask any questions you have here or in the weekly “ask the coach” live sessions

 

Other resources on this that you may find useful include:

MH Runner’s recent webinar on Nutrition for Runners

My blog on recovering from a marathon: https://www.mhhealthandfitness.co.uk/how-to-recover-from…/

 

I hope that you can take something away from this blog. I would love to hear your thoughts and I’ve set up a very supportive free Facebook Community where like-minded people can share their experiences of life and exercising. Please feel free to join and invite others you know who may be interested.

 

I also have a Facebook Club for runners where I post two weekly workout videos, host a live weekly Ask The Coach question and answer session plus a monthly live webinar on a host of running related topics.  This is ideal for those who use free plans but want to have access to a coach and ongoing information.  You can find more information and join here.

 

Do you want a personalised training plan?

Want to know more about running or personal training?

Contact me today to ask any questions or to book your FREE consultation.

Email me at martinhulbertpt@gmail.com or contact me via Facebook Messenger

Martin Hulbert

Running Coach & Personal Trainer Leicestershire

MH Health and Fitness Online Community

www.facebook.com/mhhealthandfitness.co.uk

#MHrunners

 

How to Recover from a Marathon

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Marathons are tough on your body. Sorry, but that is a fact.  Recovering from a marathon is a critical component of a perfect training plan but is something that is often neglected.

Unfortunately, if you don’t properly recover from a marathon, you will increase your risk of injury, limit your long term potential and increase the risk of overtraining symptoms.

Muscles, hormones, tendons, cells, and almost every physiological system is pushed to their limits during a marathon.  Muscle soreness and fatigue are the most obvious signs of damage in the days following a marathon.  One scientific study conducted on the calf muscles of marathon runners found that both the training for, and the marathon itself, induce inflammation and muscle fibre necrosis (premature death of cells) that significantly impaired muscle power and durability for up to 14 days after a marathon.  It will take your muscles about 2 weeks post marathon to return to full strength.

Muscle memory and coordination are also compromised. This will make repetitive stress injuries more likely when running faster/harder in the weeks after the race.

A recent study confirms that the immune system is compromised for up to three days post marathon and is a major factor in overtraining syndrome.  This also increases the risk of contracting colds, flu and other illnesses

Therefore, it is important that marathon runners have a 2-week marathon recovery plan that focuses on rest, recovery and a gradual return to running.

 

The First Hour

Congratulations! You’ve completed your marathon.  As soon as you cross the finish line (in a race or virtually) your legs go from running to ‘incapable of movement’. However, don’t stop! Recovery starts now and the best thing you can do is to keep moving. Slow is fine but keep moving.

Get yourself into some clean, dry clothes and comfortable shoes as soon as you can (if you are travelling to your marathon, remember to take everything with you).  Some people swear by recovery shoes, compression tights or other products to aid recovery. If they work for you then change in to them as soon as you can.

Walk for at least 10-15 minutes to cool down, instead of sitting down immediately. This will help two major issues:

  • Low blood pressure often occurs immediately after a sudden stop. This will make you feel dizzy or possibly faint.
  • Walking will promote blood flow to clear your muscles and blood stream of by-products caused by the marathon (lactate, cortisol, adrenaline, etc).

At most marathons, there will be fluids and food available at the finish line. Take advantage of these or have something either in your kit bag or with your supporters. Focus on the following:

  • You are probably dehydrated. Start drinking fluids as soon as possible.
  • Focus on carbohydrate-rich foods. I know that you have probably had enough of these with your carb-loading, but you have just run 26.2 miles and you have burnt a lot of energy.
  • If possible, include something with protein in it to help to start to repair damaged muscles.
  • While the perfect advice is to eat a large nutritious meal, realistically any high sugar or processed food will help to start the refuelling. Treat yourself.

 

Later That Day

As per my previous advice on keeping moving, a shower is often better for your recovery than a bath on marathon day.  With a shower, you are staying on your feet and it is easier to continue to promote blood flow through your muscles. The best way to do this is a contrast shower.

A contrast shower is simple. Just alternate between hot and cold water. The hot water dilates your blood vessels and increases blood circulation. The cold water constricts your blood vessels and decreases blood flow. The contrast of the two creates a pump effect that further flushes your muscles and blood of the by-products of your marathon (lactate, cortisol, adrenaline, etc).

  • Start with a hot shower (don’t let it burn) for 2 to 3 minutes
  • Slowly turn down the water temperature from hot to cold
  • Take a cold shower for 1 minute
  • Repeat the hot and cold cycle for 10 minutes
  • Place the water stream on any painful or sore areas for added relief.

The cold water may be a bit of a shock at first, but you soon get used to it.

After your shower it is time for more substantial food, especially if you were unable to east much straight after finishing.  As with earlier, while best advice is to eat a big nutritious meal, just eating is best. The ideal is a mix of carbohydrates and proteins in a 3:1 mix. Being honest, often my go-to post-marathon meal has been a large burger and chips from a motorway service station on the way home (burger has protein, bap and chips are carbs)!

Depending on what time you finish your marathon, think about having an afternoon nap. Sleep is the best time for the body to repair muscle and generally recover.

Finally, go to sleep earlier and ideally try to get as much sleep as possible. Your body will thank you for it tomorrow.

 

The Next Day

After a (hopefully) good night’s sleep you will be ready to continue your recovery.

Aim for some form of active recovery today. No running though!  If you have access, swimming or cycling on a static bike can be a good form of active recovery. You are not looking to build or improve fitness, but just to move your muscles.

If you do not have access to a pool or static bike, go for a gentle walk for 30 minutes. Once again, this is in no way a training session or power-hike. It is a gentle walk.  If you have any niggles (not aches, these are normal) or really sore spots, stop the exercise.

Now is also a good time to get a massage. Keep it light. Deep tissue massage at this point can be detrimental to muscles that are trying to repair damage. You want the massage to promote blood-flow.  Deep tissue massages are best kept for 1 to 2 weeks later.

Make sure you still keep sleep as a priority and keep eating, even if you have to get back to work.  If your job involves sitting at a desk, try to take breaks where you can stand up and move around. Easy movement is good in the days after a marathon so that your joints do not stiffen and your muscles continue to have blood flowing through them.

 

The Next Few Days

Stick with prioritising sleep and food, but now try to start getting back to a more normal way of eating as the week goes on.

Keep cycling and swimming if you can and also include walks. and as the week goes on, increase your walks from 30 minutes up to 45 minutes if your legs are starting to recover. Listen to your body and if your legs say no, stop and go home.

When you can comfortably walk for 45 minutes, it may be the time to try a very easy run the following day (not before Thursday though).  When you do feel ready to run, aim for a 20-30 minute run. The goal of the first run is to test how your legs feel. If your legs feel really heavy or if anything hurts, stop and walk home and give your recovery a few more days before trying again.

You are not proving anything to anyone by running earlier, further or faster than your legs want to. Park your ego as if you don’t respect your recovery, the injury, illness or overtraining symptoms mentioned earlier are likely to come back and get you in a few weeks.  Now is not the time to test if you are invincible.  Remember that muscle memory and coordination are compromised. This will make repetitive stress injuries more likely if you don’t allow recovery.

 

Week Two Onwards

When your running does feel comfortable and niggle free, you can employ a reverse taper (build up miles in the opposite way you tapered prior to your marathon).  Do not try to do too much too soon and don’t try to run hard or race unless you feel 100% recovered.

I’ll reiterate it again, be sensible and you will be able to continue running with no extra risk of injury.

 

Going Forwards?

Make sure that you are recovered first. So, I wouldn’t advise booking any races in the first 2-3 weeks after your marathon.

Some people can suffer from post-marathon blues. You’ve invested so much time and energy in to your running that you may feel a bit of a void. When you feel like this, it is then good to have a focus to get you back running again so go and look at some races and see what you want to do next.

Some people will only do one marathon a year and then focus on shorter races. Others use a marathon as a stepping stone to an ultra. Some will just want to continue enjoying their running. Some people may want to better their finish time and look for accountability. A few of my clients came to me after marathons wanting to improve in future races.

Whatever will motivate you to keep running after you’ve recovered from the marathon, please keep going. Completing a marathon is a big achievement so don’t waste all of that fitness you’ve built over the last few months.

 

  • Enjoy basking in the glory of completing your marathon
  • Recovery sensibly or pay later
  • Enjoy your future running

 

I hope that you can take something away from this blog. I would love to hear your thoughts and I’ve set up a very supportive Facebook Community where like-minded people can share their experiences of life and exercising. Please feel free to join and invite others you know who may be interested.

 

Do you want structured training to keep you running after your marathon?

Want to know more about running or personal training?

Do you want a personalised training plan?

Contact me today to ask any questions or to book your FREE consultation

Call me on 07815 044521 or email me at martinhulbertpt@gmail.com

Martin Hulbert

Personal Trainer & Running Coach Leicestershire

MH Health and Fitness Online Community

www.facebook.com/mhhealthandfitness.co.uk

#MHrunners

 

Perspective

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I listen to podcast series called Don’t Tell Me The Score.  I referenced an episode in a previous blog, The Squeaky Wheel Gets Fixed, and I find that I can take something out of most of the episodes.  Last weekend I listened to a recent episode where the interviewee was Ed Jackson, an ex-professional rugby player who is happier now, as a quadriplegic following an accident, than he ever was before. The episode was simply titled ‘Perspective’. I won’t spoil it too much but Ed goes from being told he will never walk again to climbing mountains.  It’s all about his mindset and perspective and if you are looking for some inspiration from an ‘average person’, this is a great listen.

 

A client of mine also listened to this episode and they write a newsletter for their school. Kindly, they sent me a copy of what they wrote and have agreed that I can share their thoughts on perspective.

 

“It got me thinking about perspective… perspective is a strange thing, particularly in these times, where we’re expected to stay in a confined space but take world view. For me, it means coming to terms with the changes and seeing them within the context of wider society, as well as acknowledging our own losses, however minor or major they may be. Last weekend I was supposed to be running the London Marathon. I thought I’d be sad after months of training, and I was surprised when I wasn’t. It did help that this situation has been going on a while, so my brain has had a chance to process the information, and that Manchester marathon was my target race. Manchester was cancelled with only 3 weeks notice… I’d run on average 50 miles a week since January, and had just completed the last of 6 runs over 20 miles. I was looking forward to the taper (and a bit of cheeky carb loading…) when the news came. To many people, mourning the loss of a random race which I stood no hope of winning is bizarre. People are dying, how less important can you get than a marathon? You have probably felt the same about things you have lost, big or small – not saying goodbye to your friends or school, matches, hanging out with your friends, celebrating your birthday the way you want to, missing your exams…. It is important to give space and time to your feelings on whatever you have lost because of lockdown. It doesn’t matter about its importance to anyone else, if it was important to you, acknowledge your feelings about this – are you sad? Angry? Confused? Uncertain? And give your feelings the respect they deserve.

 

But eventually, you need to move on. You need to put things in perspective – view your situation from others point of view, acknowledge the scale of your loss in light of other things going on around you. It is easier said than done, and I know some students are still struggling with organising their life around the new changes. But there are ways to start this process. If you haven’t already got to grips with working from home, or finding a new routine, or dealing with the uncertainty, or managing how much time you use constructively, rather than on social media / games / Netflix etc. here’s some ways you can start:

 

 

  1. Don’t put off the stuff you don’t want to do. You will feel better for tackling it. Get a timetable together. Work out when would be a good time for you to do your work / chores or whatever you’re putting off and get started. Start with half an hour. Then write yourself a little post-it telling yourself what to do next before you finish. This makes it easier to come back to.
  2. Be honest with yourself. This is hard, but you know whether you’ll do something or not. If you’re not going to do it, don’t say you will. Work out why you’re not going to do it and go from there. Are you telling yourself you’ll finish your project by Friday but you know deep down you’ll get distracted? Are you saying you did 2 hours work but deep down know you spent most of it on your phone? Don’t lie to yourself, or you won’t get to the bottom of what’s really stopping you.
  3. Find a new hobby or challenge. Very often if you motivate yourself in one area of life, you can motivate yourself in others. It stems from self esteem… if you feel good about yourself, you will achieve more in all areas of life.  To do this successfully, work out what you need – relaxation? Challenge? Mental stimulation?
  4. Be a squeaky wheel. I know, that’s a bit random, but there’s a saying – the squeaky wheel gets the grease. If you are struggling in silence, it may go unnoticed and you may not get the help you need. Speak up, ask for help, and we will do our best to support you.”

 

 

I’ve not really told my personal story to an audience before, but in November 2004 I was widowed when my late wife was killed by someone later convicted of death by dangerous driving.  I went to visit a local charity, Wishes4Kids, to discuss donations at the funeral and as I was walking there, a lorry was driving down the main road towards me. For a split second (and it was only that) I had a thought that if I stepped out in front of it I wouldn’t have to deal with the grief any more. In that split second I also realised how selfish that would be and I’d just be leaving our families with even more grief to deal with. I walked in to the charity office, and met one of the nicest people I’ll ever meet, the late Russell Brickett. He offered to set up a fund within the charity in the name of my late wife which meant that we could keep track of the money raised by any events we did.

 

Obviously, I still struggled for a while and it was only watching the Boxing Day tsunami footage on the news programmes that gave me some perspective. Hundreds of thousands of people had lost whole families, homes, villages. I couldn’t comprehend how that must have felt for them, and I was sat at home watching it. Yes, my life at that point was not in a good place, but it was nowhere near as bad as theirs.

 

These events combined gave me the perspective that I could still live my life. I was here and able to do good things in the name of my late wife.  The first event I arranged was myself and a group of friends running the Stratford Half Marathon in 2005. It was from here that eventually I got a charity place in the 2007 London Marathon and fell in love with the event and then running, which has now turned in to my job and passion.  I still run the London Marathon every year for the charity.

 

Perspective can be tough at any time. We all have things that matter to us at this moment in time. We can think that we are bad people when we focus on our problems when there are worse things happening to others. But we have to take time to look at how we feel and look at how we can change things in our lives to move forwards.

 

Out of seemingly bad things, can come positive change.

 

I hope that you can take something away from this blog. I would love to hear your thoughts and I’ve set up a very supportive Facebook Community where like-minded people can share their experiences of life and exercising. Please feel free to join and invite others you know who may be interested.

 

Want to know more about running, personal training or nutrition?

Do you want a personalised training plan?

Contact me today to ask any questions or to book your FREE consultation

Call me on 07815 044521 or email me at martinhulbertpt@gmail.com

Martin Hulbert

Personal Trainer & Running Coach Leicestershire

MH Health and Fitness Online Community

www.facebook.com/mhhealthandfitness.co.uk

#MHrunners

Exercise Snacking

Snacking. Is It Any Good?

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Exercise Snacking! Please get that in the right order; it is not snacking as an exercise!

 

Exercise snacking as a concept isn’t a new idea. It is basically a different way of getting in your required amount of exercise (the NHS recommends 150 minutes of moderate intensity exercise plus some strength training per week).  Gyms have both the equipment (aerobic and weight training) and the convenience (if you can fit a session in around your working life) to make them seem like the obvious choice for reaching that NHS target. What many people don’t realise is that taking one or two sessions of exercise a week can’t make up for the damage done by sitting down a lot in between.

 

The idea that joining a gym is the best way to get fit has been challenged by scientists for many years who have studied the benefits of a range of non-traditional exercise regimes. A well-known is high-intensity interval training (HIIT), which may offer similar or even superior effects on health as traditional endurance-based training but in much shorter exercise times.  But what if you are unable to do the really intense workouts that the HIIT requires to be beneficial? High intensity isn’t high intensity if you cannot get yourself to work hard enough.

 

Another form or exercise that has emerged in to the public domain is exercise snacking. This form of multiple bouts of brief, “snack-sized” portions of exercise has been shown to control blood sugar better than a single, continuous workout. In a study examining the benefits of exercise snacking, researchers compared blood sugar in participants who exercised for 30 continuous minutes and, in the same group, when they broke their exercise up into three small portions performed shortly before breakfast, lunch and dinner. This “exercise snacking” lowered blood sugar for about 24 hours and did so much better than the 30-minute exercise.

 

Exercising around mealtimes also appears to be beneficial for people with diabetes. A study showed taking a 10-minute walk after each meal can significantly improve the control of blood sugar in people with type 2 diabetes compared with a single 30-minute walk each day. These studies collectively highlight the importance of making sure we keep active throughout the day and increasing the amount of energy we use up in non-exercise activities that we normally do during everyday life, from walking up stairs to cleaning the house.

 

I believe that exercise snacking can be the way forward for people who sit down a lot during their normal daily life. I remember when I worked in an office but ran for an hour a day plus I did about 30 minutes a day in the gym. That meant I was exercising for 90 minutes a day on average. It sounds a lot (and to most people it is), but when you work out that it was only 6.25% of my day, meaning that usually 93.75% of my day was spent sitting or lying down; suddenly it doesn’t seem much.

 

Now I am a Personal Trainer I am constantly on my feet, but rarely actually exercising (apart from my one hour of running per day which I still maintain).  What I do differently now is that after each client I train, I try to do between 5-10 minutes of lifting weights or doing some other form of exercises (bodyweight squats, single leg balancing, some core exercises, etc) and when I am in my ‘admin time’ I try to get up as much as possible for 5 minutes at a time, even if that is just to make a coffee.

 

When I train clients, I know that most are inherently lazy when it comes to their time away from our training sessions. Now that isn’t that they don’t want to do anything, it is that their time is precious and they cannot all afford to spend 30-60 minutes at a time working out. Instead, I give them workouts that they can do at home with minimal or no weights (whatever they have available to them). These workouts can be done in whole if they can, or in part so that they make up the 30-minute workouts over the course of the day.

 

Invariably, a fair few end up doing more than 30 minutes a day once it is broken up into small chunks as they enjoy the little and often approach, meaning they don’t notice the time spent exercising (plus the non-exercise exercise such as gardening, dog-walking, shopping, cleaning, moving things, etc).

 

So, if you want to improve your fitness and think that you don’t have the time, you do! You just need to enjoy the benefits of snacking!

Do you want structured training to keep you running after your marathon?

Want to know more about running or personal training?

Do you want a personalised training plan?

Contact me today to ask any questions or to book your FREE consultation

Call me on 07815 044521 or email me at martinhulbertpt@gmail.com

Martin Hulbert

Personal Trainer & Running Coach Leicestershire

MH Health and Fitness Online Community

www.facebook.com/mhhealthandfitness.co.uk

#MHrunners

2017 London Marathon – Race Day!

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The morning of St George’s Day, 23rd April 2017. And, after 945 miles of running over 16 weeks of training, it was all about the Virgin London Marathon.

After a great first 6 weeks of training I have only managed to complete two fully planned training weeks since the middle of February. This, as I have said in previous blogs, has really messed with my confidence.

I started off with three targets:

Under 2:55 would be a very good day (but probably unachievable)

Under 3:00 would be great for my personal pride as that would be 7 years in succession under 3:00

Under 3:15 would be worst case scenario as that gains me a Good For Age place next year.

 

As we left the hotel, which overlooks Blackheath Common, for the pre-race group photographs, we got a lot of attention as everyone running for Wishes4Kids were wearing fairy wings and tutus, plus 4 of us were also painted purple. We got extra attention and were asked to pose for photographs by various strangers on the walk over to the Red Start. This is where we leave most of the other runners and I head over, with the supporters, to the Fast Good For Age start. This start is virtually exclusively for men aiming to run under 3 hours. I had a wander around to see if there was anyone I recognised, before dropping my kitbag onto the baggage lorry and heading out of the start area and onto the warm—up field. I did a couple of half-arsed jogs around the field, before joining my wife and the other supporters from the charity by the start line barriers to kill a bit of time. After a few adjustments to my wings I headed off to the starting pen, waiting for the off.

As the start time neared, I was chatting to various people in the starting pen, comparing target times, training and how and why I run in fancy dress. You could see that most people were nervous or pumped up. I seemed to be relatively calm, which I always think means that I am going to enjoy the run as I am not putting any pressure on myself. My only fear was that the quality training runs I had missed may come back to bite me in the latter stages. However, only time would tell.

We were let off at just after 10:01 and due to the number of runners on this start, I didn’t cross the start line for 2 minutes. I was then away and running; a quick look and wave to the right to see my wife and the rest of the charity supporters and off in to London we headed.

The first 3 miles of London are fast as they are nett downhill. I decided to settle into an effort that felt easy and sustainable, knowing that the pace would come out slightly faster due to the downhill. I completed the first 5km in 20.24. I don’t check my splits by kms but as the marathon tracking app does, it is easier to use these in my blog instead of my mile times.

After the 5km mark the different starts merge. As they do the space gets a fair bit tighter and it is often harder to follow the racing line, blue stripes painted on the road. Also, at this point I was more focussed on running along the edges of the road, high-5ing kids and generally playing up to the crowd. I knocked off the second 5km in 20.52 and then settled into a more comfortable rhythm. My next splits were: 21.04, 21.04 and 20.55 to just after halfway. By this point Tower Bridge, probably the highlight of the race with the wall of noise hitting you as you cross, had been ticked off and I was still feeling good and running at a consistent pace. The injury I have had for about 10 weeks now wasn’t causing any issues and I probably didn’t feel any adverse effects during the whole race. I passed the halfway mark in 1:27.57 meaning that I was comfortably stuck between a 2:55 and 3:00 finishing time, as long as I could maintain a similar pace for the second half.

Running towards Docklands and on to Canary Wharf I still felt good and was still trying get the crowd going, knocking off 25-30km in 20.44 and 30-35km 21.05. From about 30km my quads started to tire and for the first time in the race it started to feel like hard work. I had passed local runner Ash Payne, well on course to break the world record of running the fastest time dressed as an Elf. I also found that although my pace was slowing a little, I was still passing people.

The run along the Embankment was tough. From 35-40km my 5km time slowed to 21.34. I was still trying to wave my wand to the crowds as much as possible, but it was getting harder to smile to the supporters.

As I got to Big Ben and turned right onto Birdcage Walk I knew that my wife and supporters would soon appear on the right side of the course. As agreed, when I reached them I took my GoPro camera from my wife so that I could video the final 800 metres. Providing a bit of waffled commentary while trying to rouse the crowd for the last time I headed towards Buckingham Palace, under the 400 metres to go sign, turning right towards The Mall to be greeted by the 385 yards to go banner (26 miles completed). As I turned into The Mall I could see the finishing gantry and at this point I decided, while still talking to the camera and waving to the crowd, to have a final sprint finish.

I crossed the finish line, looked up and waved to the cameramen in front and stopped my watch. 2:57.04 and a very happy fairy. I slowly walked forwards and collected my medal, the women giving them out very appreciative of my outfit and make-up. After collecting my medal, it is a long, sore walk along the rest of The Mall to collect my bag from the final truck. The logistics of the day never cease to amaze me, getting bags from almost 40,000 runners from one side of London to the other, hardly ever any delay in getting your bag when you get to the lorry and every single volunteer smiling and chatting when they get the chance.

After chatting to a few local runners, comparing times and experiences (and having water tipped over my head – thanks Chris Langham) and being interviewed by London Marathon TV and the race commentator (good charity publicity) it was wandering back across the park to my wife, posing for further photos along the way.

The London Marathon never disappoints. The camaraderie amongst runners, the volunteers, the crowds shouting encouragement to random strangers for hours on end; it makes you feel that the world is a good place. Roll on next year. I’ll be back!

 

Want to know more about running, personal training or nutrition?

Do you want a personalised training plan?

Contact me today to ask any questions or to book your FREE consultation

Call me on 07815 044521 or email me at martinhulbertpt@gmail.com

London Marathon Training – Week 16

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And now, the end is near………

I’m writing this after completing my final London Marathon training run. 945 miles of running so far this year (I’m sure that is more than I have driven), injuries, lack of confidence and now feeling stuffed with all of the carbohydrates I’m consuming; why do we do it to ourselves?

Because we love running and want to push ourselves that little bit further? Or are we just fools as my wife likes to put it?

 

On Monday I ran 6 miles, including 3 miles at my marathon pace heart rate. The MP miles averaged 6.30 pace and my legs felt spritely after less running recently. It was a good run.

 

Tuesday was similar, with a 5 mile run with 3 miles at marathon pace heart rate. This time the MP miles averaged 6.28 pace. Now these two runs suddenly get you thinking that is this pace sustainable for the whole marathon as my HR was actually lower than usual for marathons. My answer is a cautious ‘no’. With my missed runs and leg issues I think it would be dangerous for me to start out at anything quicker than 6.40 pace. If I still feel good at 18-20 miles then it gives me something to push on from, but starting quicker than 6.30 pace leaves me open to a whole world of pain in the latter miles.

 

Wednesday was a single Running Buddy session of 5.01 miles at an easy effort around Knighton Park, further helping my legs taper. It was my client’s furthest run for over 3 years so a successful session for both of us.

 

Thursday was a planned rest day. I was finding the hardest part of my taper was consuming the necessary carbohydrates. I work on a basis of 10g of carbs per kg of bodyweight. Most people would think that this is bliss, being able to eat loads of extra carbs, but as a 70kg male, it is really hard to consume 700grms of carbs each day. I have to make up my carbs with fruit juice and sports drink. By the end of the day I was stuffed and uncomfortable.

 

Friday has been a double day, as I ran a 5 mile Running Buddy session first thing followed later in the morning by my final training run. I ran for 5.30 minutes at a steady pace before running 1 mile at my marathon pace heart rate. This came out at 6.10 pace (totally unrealistic for 26.2 miles). I finished with 5.20 minutes of easy running. Once again my legs felt spritely, even though I felt sluggish due to too much food (I stop carb loading at Saturday lunchtime so that I have digested everything by the start of the race).

 

And that is it. My next run will be around the Good For Age start on Blackheath Common on Sunday morning. I am not sure if I would class myself as ready, but there is nothing more I can do physically or mentally to make any difference now. I have had the most disjointed build up to any of my previous 10 marathons, which has messed around with my confidence as I don’t know how my leg is going to react to the distance and I don’t know what pace is sensible.

 

But, I have no choice now but to get on with it, and as my main target now is to run under 3-hours again (personal pride only) I will set off at about 6.45 pace and then revaluate at around 16-18 miles (unless that feels unsustainable). I want to enjoy it, but as my leg still isn’t 100% and I have a few twinges every now and then, I have resigned myself to a potentially sore run, but I cannot honestly defer my place as it is not that bad.

 

‘Que sera’ as they say!

 

Week 16 Totals: 23.7 miles covered over 5 runs, loads of stretching, rolling and sitting on hockey balls.

 

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London Marathon Training – Week 15

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Not long to go now. It’s all about keeping healthy, dropping the mileage but keeping up the intensity of your runs. This week was about me trying to keep some of the confidence my last 16 miler gave me.

 

Monday saw me run 6 easy effort cross country miles over the fields from Wigston to Newton Harcourt and then return via the canal towpath and Cooks Lane. My legs were a little tired from the 14 marathon pace miles in Saturdays 16 miler coupled with Sundays 40 mile cycle, but there was not real soreness when running which is immensely pleasing after the last 6 weeks of issues.

 

Tuesday was a just a single run. With the lighter nights the club is now running over the fields again so, after running 3.5 miles to get to the club (a very long route around), we ran the reverse route to the one I ran on Monday. Once again it was at an easy effort run that brought the evening to a total of 10.11 miles.

 

Wednesday was just a single Running Buddy session of 3.37 miles at an easy effort around Knighton Park, helping my legs recovery during the taper.

 

Thursday morning was a 2.5 mile run/walk with my wife as I keep her company on her Couch to 5K sessions.

Thursday evening was the Wigston Phoenix speed session. Due to the lighter evenings we relocate to Manor Road track and this week ran 300m reps with 100m recoveries. Due to wanting a hard workout I kept my recoveries faster than they should have been and ran the 300m reps hard. I was pleased that all 12 of my reps came out within 2 seconds of each other (apart from the excitable first rep). The day finished with a total of 8.94 miles.

 

Friday was a planned rest day so I just did some stretching and leg strengthening, but generally a lazy day.

 

Saturday was my final double figured run of marathon training. I planned the same 10 mile route I ran last year so that I had a marker of where my fitness is, needed for the mental side of things as I have missed some of my more important runs. The start of the run was great and my pace was looking good to where my heart was. However, after mile 3 my heart rate started to rise above what would be sustainable for a marathon so I had to back off the pace a bit. The 6 marathon pace miles I ran averaged out at 6.35 pace. I am pleased with that but as my heart rate was on the higher end of sustainable I think that this pace isn’t a sensible pace to aim for at London.

 

Sunday was spent mainly in a classroom as I was on a course (I know, Easter Sunday!!) but it was good for my legs to recover from the previous day.

 

Week 15 has been mainly positive. As you may have noticed, I haven’t mentioned my left leg as much. This is mainly because it is finally getting better. I still have a bit of residual soreness in my foot and calf, but that is from the previous weeks and seems to be improving day by day. If it continues, I may be soreness free for London. If not, I know that it is bearable and I am confident that I can start at a pace of 6.40-6.45 pace and see what happens from there. Not long left!

 

Week 15 Totals: 38.6 miles covered over 6 runs, plus 1 strength session and loads of stretching, rolling and sitting on hockey balls.

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London Marathon Training – Week 14

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Madness, madness, they call it madness!

It’s taper time for most people doing London Marathon. However, as I’ve not ran much recently week 14 was all about trying to restore a bit of my fragile running confidence after 5 days of not running and cycling instead.

 

Monday morning started with a 2 mile run/walk session with my wife and then a 4 mile easy effort run and my left leg felt ok. It still didn’t feel 100% but it wasn’t sore. I had a further physio session at Function Jigsaw, a bit more manipulation of my foot and shin and given a few more exercises to do. I then walked another 2 miles with my wife in the evening.

 

Tuesday was a double day with the first run a 5.7 mile Running Buddy session around Knighton Park. Things were looking up as my leg still felt ok. Could this period of cycling have been the corner turned?

The second run of the day was the Wigston Phoenix evening club run. The answer to my previous question was ‘no’! Within the first 100 metres my left leg had gone back to feeling how it had done the previous few weeks. It felt sore to land, with soreness in my foot, shin and calf areas. The only time it felt ok was, once again, running at a faster pace than usual when we did hill reps. The evening run was 10.7 miles giving a daily total of 16.4 miles.

 

Wednesday began with a Running Buddy session of 3.7 miles. My left leg (sorry to keep going on about it) felt better than on the club run, but still not right.

The evening was another Running Buddy session with a new client who wanted some pushing doing his speed training. We ran a total of 3 miles, including 20 x 30 secs of fast paced efforts, and as these came out faster than my normal running pace, my leg felt quite comfortable.

 

Thursday was a 2 mile run/walk with my wife followed by the club speed/hills session at Victoria Park in the evening.

My leg felt good running at pace so I pushed hard, trying to get some form of training effect for myself. As it felt worse when walking or doing slow recoveries I took less rest on some of the reps than others and also ran some extra reps if I had the chance. The session, for me, totalled 6 miles.

 

Friday was made up of just one run. This was the monthly We Run LE1 run around Victoria Park and into the city centre before looping back to the park. I really enjoy these as they are good social runs for people that want to run 5 miles but aren’t bothered about it not being a timed event. I paced the 10.00m/m group (rather badly as we ran at an average of 9.30 pace – although everyone was happy at that pace and we were nowhere near the actual 9.30 pace group). My leg could only be described as ‘inconsistent’. It would be fine for 10 minutes or so, then the soreness would arrive for a bit, then it would disappear again. Frustrating!

 

Saturday was a make or break day for my confidence. I was toying with the idea of either a 20 mile run with 10 miles at potential marathon pace or 16 miles with the first 14 miles at marathon pace. Both challenging runs that would give confidence if they went well, but had the chance to destroy my mind if they went badly. I set off and in the first mile I was running at 7.00 pace and my leg felt ok. This made my mind up to run the 16 mile version of my run as running at around marathon pace actually feels better than my easy pace.

I pushed on after the first mile and although the marathon pace miles were not easy, they were sustainable. The first 14 miles were run at an average pace of 6.44m/m while my HR was about 5BPM lower than my last few marathons. I also hadn’t eaten since I ran on Friday night and didn’t use any fuel during the run.

This was the confidence booster that I needed. My legs felt fine towards the end of the run and there was no soreness for the rest of the day. I don’t understand what is going on with my leg and why it isn’t consistent. However, if it feels good running at marathon pace then I will take that.

 

Sunday was a very energetic day. I did another run/walk session with my wife, immediately followed by tail-running (walking) at Aylestone Junior parkrun.

As soon as this was over it was out to cycle with a few people from Wigston Phoenix running club. We heading out the long way to Café Ventoux, enjoyed a nice coffee and food (two cakes in my case) and then headed back. As this is the end of my last hard week, I pushed hard on the uphills and in some cases, went back down halfway to do them twice! It was a gloriously sunny day and showed the beauty of the Leicestershire countryside. The ride was about 39 miles in total.

Once home it was no let up. I was straight into the garden to mow the lawn before continuing to build some raised beds out of railway sleepers. This entailed digging out half of the existing beds, lifting 4 x 55kg sleepers into place and then replacing the soil. I finished with helping to pot some new plants, before deciding, at 5pm, that I needed to stop and rest.

 

Week 14 has, once again, been a roller-coaster of a week. Continued soreness but a confidence boosting run that makes me think that the final two weeks of tapering are not going to be particularly pleasant. I do believe though, that sub-3 hours is still achievable at London and hopefully a bit quicker if all feels ok on the day. Then it will be a bit of rest to finally try to sort out the problem.

 

Week 14 Totals: 60.4 miles covered over 11 runs, 39.1 miles of cycling, 2 miles of walking, plus 1 strength session and loads of stretching, rolling and sitting on hockey balls.

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London Marathon Training – Week 13

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Week 13 can be summed up quite quickly as ‘it’s all about the bike’.

 

Monday morning started with a 3.5 mile Running Buddy session with a Personal Training client. This was the furthest he had run so far, but my left leg was still sore, now more around the ankle joint, which was worrying as this was a newer niggle.

 

Tuesday’s only run was the evening club run in order to protect my leg. I ran for 3 miles before the club run started and my leg was sore with virtually every step. This time it was my left foot and around the ankle. This was worrying as in the back on my mind I had always worried about the possibility of a stress fracture, but this had been ruled out due to my other symptoms.

Going against what I would tell any other runner in my situation, I went out with the club and for the first 3 miles my soreness moved from my foot to my calf. At this point there was less of an issue when my foot landed and the pace of the run increased and in turn, my leg felt less sore. We were only running between 6.50-7.00 pace, but this felt far better than anything around 7.30 pace. I ended up running 10.2 miles for the night, but I have to say I was not enjoying running at this moment.

 

Wednesday was a planned running rest day and I decided that I was going to give my legs a few days off of running and cycle instead. I went out on a route that I often use when cycling as it is a 15 mile loop that isn’t too busy with cars. Due to my going out at lunchtime and not wanting to cycle through South Wigston at this time of the day I lengthened it slightly to 16.55 miles. I managed to average 19mph for the ride which I was pleased with as half was into a headwind.

 

Thursday was a similar day. I went for a walk with my wife in the morning but realised that I wasn’t doing my leg any good so returned home, totalling 1.3 miles. Later in the day I went out for another bike with Steve from Wigston Phoenix to do the same loop. Adding on a little extra we did 17.5 miles in just over an hour.

 

Friday was a third non-running day and another venture out on my bike. This time I headed around Saddington, Gumley and Smeeton Westerby to do some hill training. Some of the hills were really hard work, with my heart rate getting as high as it would in the final print of a running race. I ended up completing 17.5 miles in just less than an hour and my legs knew about it.

 

Saturday morning was a quick ride down the A50 from Wigston to Husbands Bosworth and back; 10 miles in each direction. The first 10 miles were into a headwind and my legs were feeling the hills from the day before. It took my 37 minutes to do the first 10 miles and then, with the wind behind me, returned in 28 minutes. My legs were tired after this ride, but it felt good to have tired legs again instead of sore legs!

 

Sunday was my final planned non-running day before testing my leg again on Monday. A group from Wigston Phoenix Running Club had arranged for a 35 mile ride out to Foxton and back and so that would be perfect for me to get some more miles into my legs, but at a more sensible pace then I ride when alone.

I cycled to Aylestone Junior parkrun to marshal and then back to Wigston to meet the rest of the group. We then headed off out towards Foxton via Wistow, Kibworth, Smeeton Westerby and Gumley, with a few hills thrown in for fun! After breaking at Foxton Locks with a bacon sandwich and a coffee (cyclists seem to stop far more than runners do) it was back via a longer route, taking in Lubenham, Mowsley, Saddington, Arnesby, Willoughby Waterleys and Countesthorpe. Almost 40 miles in the bag when coming into South Wigston my front wheel punctured on an object in the road! Steve and Michaela stopped to help and after a quick inner tube change it was a mad dash home as I was now running late for Sunday lunch with my parents! A total of 42.7 miles cycled and with no niggles or soreness from the cycling, my legs felt nicely tired.

 

Looking back on the week I’m not now really sure where I am in terms of London Marathon fitness. They say you don’t lose fitness in a week, but you can lose confidence. However, I need to spend time looking back over my previous 12 weeks, plus the base training I did before Christmas, to give the real picture as to where my fitness currently lies and what I can aim to achieve at London.

As you may have noticed with the ending each week, the mind of a runner goes up and down frequently, depending on how the week went. It is rare that we keep in mind the whole block of training that we do and maybe we should do that more. It would make us less mentally fragile when things do no go to plan!

 

Week 13 Totals: 17.3 miles covered over 3 runs, 114.4 miles of cycling, plus 1 strength session and loads of stretching, rolling and sitting on hockey balls.

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London Marathon Training – Week 12

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Week 12 began in a buoyant mood after my confidence-boosting run at the Ashby 20, but the week itself was full of ups and downs!

 

Monday morning started with a 3.3 mile Running Buddy session with a Personal Training client. This was his third run with me and he managed to knock 30 seconds off his previous best. I decided that an easy day was in order after Ashby 20 and while my muscles felt absolutely fine, my left leg was still being a bit weird with the nerve issue I am suffering.

 

Tuesday was a testing triple-run day. First of all, I ran 4 easy effort miles to see how my left leg was feeling. As it has been recently, running at an easy pace made it feel sore. Next, I ran a Running Buddy session with a Personal Training client. She wanted a hilly run to build leg strength and give her confidence for upcoming league races. Weirdly, my leg felt fine with the 5 miles of hills that we ran!

My evening run was with Wigston Phoenix, running their Victoria Park route. I ran a mile to the club and then set off into Oadby and down London Road. At this point I ran with Colin at a faster pace and my left leg niggles eased as the next 5 miles were at an average of 6.40 pace. Once slowing down towards the end and then running home, my niggles returned and mentally it was tough. The club run totalled 10 miles, making 19 miles for the day.

 

Wednesday was a planned rest day and so I spent an hour doing weights and core work, plus loads of rolling and stretching.

 

Thursday was a sensible day of just one run. I decided to go for quality and not quantity so ditched my easy morning run for another leg strengthening and core session and decided my only run of the day would be the club speed/hills session. I drove down to Victoria Park early and started on the Peace Walk hill reps. I totalled 23 uphill reps before starting on the rest of the speedwork with the club. My session totalled 9.7 miles and once again, at the faster end, my leg felt fine and strong.

 

Friday was an easier day for me as my only run was part of a coaching session, running to a flat stretch of road and then running some 20 second sprints to develop her leg speed. After running back home again I’d totalled 2.5 miles, which felt plenty after last night’s faster stuff.

 

Saturday was to be my ‘time on feet’ long slow run. I always hate this run as I get bored doing a long run all at an easy pace and I was dreading this one as running at an easy pace hasn’t been good for my leg. However, it had to be attempted so I set out at 6.30am with the intention of aiming for about 23 miles or a maximum of 3 hours. This run is designed to give you the confidence that you can run for your target time, but not for the full 26.2 miles as you are running at an easier effort. For the first 8-10 miles my left leg was sore and I felt as though I was not running fluently. Then the issues seemed to disappear. Either they miraculously had, or mentally I had got used to them and my mind had blocked it out. Either way, I ran for 22 miles in 2:42 before finishing. I decided that I didn’t need the extra mile to give myself the confidence of completing London Marathon as I am now resigned to running for ‘fun’ and I’m confident that I can run under 3 hours with the training I have done so far.

 

Sunday was a planned non-running day. My wife and I decided to cycle down to our marshalling duties at Aylestone Junior parkrun. I was on my road bike and she was on her mountain bike. We were a bit early so we decided to add on an extra mile along Welford Road. However, as soon as we got by the turning to the parkrun, I punctured on a really poor stretch of road surface. To ensure we got to parkrun on time I walked my bike the rest of the way there, found the holes in the tube and prepared to fix them. The only problem was that, while I carry a repair kit even on these shorter rides, the glue had run out! After volunteering, I dashed back home on my wife’s bike to get the car to drive back to collect my bike. It was a bit of extra exercise!

 

Well I’m not sure how to describe this week. Slowly stuff aggravates my left leg. Faster stuff feels fine, but I can’t run that fast for the whole marathon (or at least I don’t think I can). So I am still in a place where my left leg is not right but it is not stopping me from running. I now feel resigned that I am going to be in discomfort for the last 4 weeks of training and then rest afterwards.

 

Week 12 Totals: 57 miles covered over 7 runs, 7 miles of cycling, plus 2 strength sessions and loads of stretching, rolling and sitting on hockey balls.

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Martin Hulbert – Personal Trainer Leicester & Online Personal Trainer