Well...I failed. Had the chocolate anyway. Don't want to be wasting away completely!
I don't hit the relentless meltdown stage until about 30 miles a week (must be something magical about that figure, Glenn), and last week was the first time I'd done that since being injured in January. I remember reading somewhere that it's not just because of the calories in can't match calories out thing - heavy exercise might stimulate our bodies to produce a hormone that increases energy use even further.
I do get the appetite suppressant effect, but it's an illusion. I don't feel hungry immediately after exercise, but point me at a plate of food and I'll be licking the pattern off it before the sweat has dried. And if I don't fuel up then, I'm like a weasel with its tail on fire the next day, especially if I've wakened up hungry in the night.
EP, you're more realistic than I was. I planned to do the London Marathon last year, then started running. It wasn't a total disaster - I completed the wretched thing and raised loads of money for charity - but I made every mistake in the book, from pushing up my mileage too quickly to trying to drink Lucozade Sport on the day despite knowing there was little chance of it staying down. Next year will be better. A half-marathon is a much more civilised distance.
