Hell and back

OK, so Beeston may not strictly be hell, but it feels pretty diabolical by mile 15.

Tonight I did my last long (long) run of 19 miles. It was long, painful and slow, but very very useful. And did I mention long?

A lot of training plans advocate one peak mileage run of 20 miles about 2-3 weeks before the race. Mine advises 2 at weeks 5 and 3 and is one of the reasons I choose it. As a complete novice to marathons I knew I'd have a lot to learn, and needed the extra run to sort out any problems.

So this run involved the testing of new socks (dual layered - essential), new running tights (Nike capris and excellent), new bottle holder (room for sweeties and keys) and new fuel (Tooty Fruities). Although the tights and bottle holder were useful, they were nothing on the Tooty Fruities!!

When you are expecting to be on your feet running for 5 hours, you are going to need fuel. The body uses up the easy-to-convert, glycogen stores in your muscles as energy first. However it is finite and once used up the body turns to its fat reserves. Fat metabolism is not as quick and easy, and when this happens you Hit the 'infamous' Wall. The only way to delay or avoid the wall is to make sure you have more glycogen than you'll use by carbo-loading and taking on carbs during your run. During the run you can use drinks, gels or food to take on carbs.

I have been using Powerade for runs over 90mins for a while. It is tasty, gives me enough energy and electolytes to keep me from passing out and doesn't upset my stomach. But I was going to need something for extra quick energy en route. I'd tried gels (bleurgh), and jelly beans (not too bad) and was willing to try something else. Cue the Tooty Fruities. 2 fruities per 30mins gave my legs that little bit of extra energy needed to stop me running out of muscle power by mile 13.

So it looks as if I have sorted out most of my strategy and kit for the big day. Onwards to the day now. Only a bit of training still to go:

• 5x British Military Fitness sessions
• 3x interval speed sessions
• 2x 4 milers
• 1x 15 miler
• 1x 10 miler
• 1x 8 miler

Easy peasy, lemon squeezy.

Here's mud (sweat and tears) in your eye.