Stretch it out

I went to a London marathon training seminar in London last week and it was really good. I just wanted to reiterate a few really great tips that I picked up there. I've been using them all since and have really noticed the difference.

1. Don't stretch a cold muscle – warm up for at least five minutes before you stretch, if indeed you choose to stretch at all.
   
2. After you run keep moving for at least 10 or 15 minutes, it will stop your muscles seizing up.
3. When you come back eat a snack that features both carbohydrate and protein, such as a bagel with low fat cheese or a bowl of cereal. They help your muscles repair so you're ready to run again soon.
   
4. Eat a diet that contains all kinds of carbs, they are crucial to your running and recovery.

Well I've got a 10k at Longleat on Sunday and I'm really hoping to beat my PB, but I haven't really been focusing on my 10k pace much in my marathon training, so I'll have to see how it goes. My parents are running too so it should be quite fun. I hope you other marathon runners out there are getting on well, keep up the good work.

Image by Bob.Fornal

Curse of the Jelly Babies

Last week I learned an old athlete's lesson the hard way: don't do anything on a race day that you haven't done in training.

I ran my first half marathon and, even though I never usually eat when I do that distance, for some strange reason I got it into my head that it would be a good idea to.

I packed up my jelly babies and off I went. It was all going well up until the eighth mile. I had a steady pace, I was overtaking people, I was even (dare I say) enjoying it, but then I ate the jelly babies and everything changed.

Now I have heard time and time again that jelly babies are a runner's best friend, so I didn't even consider that they might have a negative affect. Within three minutes of eating said sugary people though, I had a panic attack: my chest seized up, my heart started racing and it was impossible to keep running.

If I'd known no better I would have thought I was having a heart attack. The only reason I knew I wasn't is because this had happened to me before, on another occasion that I ate jelly sweets while running. Those are the only times I've eaten sweets while running and they're the only times I've had those panic attacks: it's got to be more than a coincidence.

For the last four miles I was doing a mixture of running and walking, because every time I started running again the panic attack came on again. And the weirdest thing of all was that my heart kept racing for a good few hours after the race, and it made me very sick.

I have been asking running experts what they think happened and nobody seems to know, although I have found some other people who have experienced the same thing and gone to hospital. They said the doctor's couldn't explain it. I'm going to see my doctor in a few weeks so hopefully I'll get some answers then. If any of you have any ideas please do let me know.

I'm really disappointed that after months of training, and knowing that I could easily manage the distance, I messed it up for myself. So my message once again is this: DON'T TRY ANYTHING ON A RACE DAY THAT YOU HAVEN'T DONE IN TRAINING.

Image by betsymartian

Go the extra mile

You know sometimes you get those days where you can barely run 3k without getting fed up? Often it's not that you can't do it but just something in you can't be bothered to. Well, I have good news for anyone who does get like that. There are days when you do better than you could have thought possible too.

I'm currently in training for my first half marathon, which takes place in just over a month now. I've done a couple of 10k races and had done up to 11k in training but still had a way to go to before I ran anywhere near 13 miles.

Last weekend though my training programme had me scheduled to do a 110 min run, and to be truthful I had put it off for a few weeks. This week I had to do it though. I carbed for a few days before, got my kit on and headed off, not really believing that I was about to do a run that was 55 minutes each way. It wasn't so long ago that the thought of a 55-min run was enough to make me sweat.

Well, I'm not going to pretend that it wasn't tiring but I did it. I did about 20k in total, which is quite a bit further than I've gone before. Do you know what the most surprising thing was though? I actually enjoyed it.

I ran along the Bath to Bristol cycle path which is beautiful and it was great to be able to take myself right out of the city and even half way to another one, whilst the boy was sleeping and having breakfast.

And the best thing is that I'm not worried about the upcoming half marathon anymore, but that I'm actually kind of looking forward to it.

So my message is this. If you have a big challenge ahead of you, you may be more prepared than you think, especially if it's in something your familiar with. One day get your best kit together, psych yourself up and have a practice run. I bet you'll surprise yourself too.