Sub 3

Guess another apology due from me for absence. In defence I've been in Asia since November, as some of you will know.

Good news I'm still running, despite getting my shoes nicked a month back. Bought some cheap fakes which so far haven't wrecked me and I'm still training. Doing masses of swimming though too so much bulkier arm muscles. TR, Padams and some other tri's will appreciate that. Doubt it will make a diddly squat of difference to my marathon time.

I'm building up to one. Just don't know which yet. Maybe Abingdon, might be something else in the summer. Nearly entered the Chiang Mai, Thailand one on a whim but had food poisoning.

Sad sad story about Claire Squires using DMAA. The tragedy is that as we know on here you don't need anything to do a great marathon time except good training and courage. And some beers, of course 

Will start reading back. May return to the UK soon so will be trading runs up hills and along beaches for bliddy freezing conditions. Not sure if I'm mad, but missing England ... and my gf!

p.s. One of my former pupils has just done a 4 am UK run. I've messaged him to say he's suitably nuts and therefore now a proper runner.

HR - I saw that on the news this morning about Claire Squires. They should force everyone in the UK to watch that "Do sports drinks work?" programme, or whatever it was called. Good to hear you're still running (and expensive trainers are pointless).

Pursuits last night was really tough with the wind, but must be good training. Covered around 0.5M less in the 45 minute effort than my best, so fairly pleased with that considering the conditions.

You don't need to read much of the RW forums to realise that there are plenty who'll follow whatever the latest fad is, whether it's gear, clothes, shoes or 'supplements'.  If they're legal nobody worries about it.  Triathletes are even worse! 

Intervals yesterday all seemed to be into the wind, although looking back at the splits it's very obvious one of them had it behind me.  Swim today I think, before my long run tomorrow.

Padams - force em to watch the programme and then close down every scumbag that makes a living out of peddling myths and lies to clueless runners. (That programme is still on iPlayer I notice.)

Yesterday morning I ran past the ubiquitous trio of '30 something' women runners, each carrying their little wrap around drink bottle to prevent the deadly threat of dehydration which is ever present on their three mile winter runs. Makes me angry.

LD - I haven't read Noakes but I thought that an hour before was too early for coffee,thought you had to drink it in the last 30 mins before otherwise the effect would be wearing off.  Am I wrong?  

Simonx9 - I don't take anything with me on long runs, do them mainly before breakfast and just have some water to drink beforehand.  Like LD says you don't need water even in the summer.  I've only done 2 marathons but I didn't have anything in my first one, just sipped some water and then had a bit of lucozade and 2 gels in my second.  Main reason for taking in some fuel was in the hope that I'd recover more quickly which I did but it may have been because I was better trained rather than down to fuel.  Am undecided about whether I will take on any fuel this time, if I do then I will practise on a couple of long runs.

OS - I've never fallen off a treadmill but I don't like running on them as I always feel I could do if I don't concentrate.  Haven't run on one for ages as I much prefer running outside.  Your work gym sounds great, is it quite common in Switzerland to have a decent work gym?

This week has gone 5, 6 on Monday; 4, 10 on Tuesday and then 15 yesterday.  Yesterday's 15 was the first one I've done on the road for ages and was a lot quicker than I've been doing them off road.  Went to the pub to watch the football last night and am unbvelievably hungover this morning, haven't felt like this for ages.   

Agree what sort of c@nt would spend (half) a lifetime peddling that cr@p and be able to sleep at night? (Hi Dan.) If you were ever in any doubt as to profiteering being the main driver then surely 'Powerade Zero - the zero calorie sports drink' made the pennies drop.  I mean FFS what sort of world do we live in when people buy that BS and consequently buy that BS.  When was indepenedent thinking outlawed?  Mind you that's the same world where bottled water is more expensive per litre (if you buy the heavily marketed stuff instead of Asda's council range) than petrol but it's the petrol price that gets people's goat.

Anyway I did some running in January.

As you were. 

Dids: it's pointless but if it's part of a routine that gets them running don't suppose it is doing any harm.

As opposed to drinking on a run, I do try to drink plenty of water during the day which comes from having read P&D Advanced Marathoning (only running book I've read), they suggest that if not hydrated then blood volume's lower thus less oxygen gets to your muscles so they can't work as hard. Have they over-egged this?

top idea, how about drinking petrol on a long run, to save money ?

still reckon my 4 word book would sum it all up !

Padams - top pursuiting on a windy evening.

TR wrote (see)

top idea, how about drinking petrol on a long run, to save money ?

 

Let's sack off Brendan Foster and get Hugh Porter on commentary to spice things up a bit.  "And here's man-mountain TR, the Hampshire hot-rocket, storming down the Embankment, beginning to stoke up the after-burners!...  He's on FIRE!!  Actually he really is on fire, er, oh..."

I distracted some of my work colleagues laughing at some of the comments on this page, mostly because they are true.  Running is great, but has a major downside to many people that there isn't really any stuff to buy, and beyond a very low level of knowledge there isn't much to it: if pushed I could do it in one page, with lots of space for chartsengrafs, rather than four.   That said what folks choose to buy (eg pointless beverages, tops telling people how fast they once ran, etc) is harmless if it adds to their interest and gets them out the door. 

I am unconvinced by the killer drink.  What we have is an association, with n=1.  I wonder what else the unfortunate lady did that day that could be latched on to as the cause? Were there more deaths in endurance events over the time that the product in question was available?

LJ.  I am lucky/ unlucky enough to work for a very big company, and it has what is probably the best equipped and manged gym I have ever seen.  That said in general Switzerland has a huge range of sports facilities almost all of which are excellent.  I think the reason the Swiss aren't strong in many global sports is that most people do several sports rather than one, as they would in the UK. 

Simonx9 - I tend to do my long run without gels or water, although there are exceptions. If I'm doing hard sections I might take a gel, or if I know that I've not eaten particularly well the day or two before (doesn't happen often) I might take a gel with me. I disagree with the point about not needing water even in summer. If it's hot (again, doesn't happen often), I've got a 1.5l camelbak that I'll take out with me. My understanding is that training while carb-depleted will get your body better practiced at burning fat for fuel, running while dehydrated or to the point of dehydration is pointless.

TR - Diesel, unleaded or super unleaded?

Oh yeah, fuel... on my first marathon I was venturing into the unknown and as a precaution (and believing all the horror stories about "The Wall") used to head out with my Batman utility belt full of Lucozade Sport and a pouch full of jelly babies.  The last time I took any fuel on the run was during Summer, training for a September marathon, and that was mainly for hydration.  This time round I've been happy enough going up to 24 miles (including 7M @ MP) off just a morning coffee and a banana before leaving the house.

I don't fully understand the physiology of sugar uptake on the run but I do know that when I'm tired and a little dehydrated, the feeling of a cold, sugary drink hitting the back of the throat is very pleasant indeed, and definitely gives me a boost.  At the end of the day, all mental and physical phenomena are experienced "in your head" so on race day I will be calling on course-provided water and sugary drinks to help me round.

TR - if I don't schedule build-up races I get lazy. At least this way I know I'll get my finger out a couple of times during the build-up.

But CRAB, surely Powerade Zero and their ilk contain important electrolytes and stuff that's as essential to running as breathing? Next you'll be telling me that built-up trainers cause injuries and that it's NFRS.........

If I use water during runs I use the Asda council brand (marketing opportunity there if ever there was one surely? ), but typically all my running is done sans eau. Maybe I should switch to expensive water that will hydrate me in a better way?

Simonx9 wrote (see)

... having read P&D Advanced Marathoning (only running book I've read), they suggest that if not hydrated then blood volume's lower thus less oxygen gets to your muscles so they can't work as hard. 

P&D use physiological data to back up their statements and in this instance it is LD that is talking a "sort of bollocks". It's been proven that dehydration impairs performance and it's also been shown that the most likely mechanism underlying this impairment is a reduction in cardiac output and therefore, as P&D suggest, less oxygen getting to your muscles. Think you'd be well advised to read more P&D and less LD 

Like many others, I don't take any gels/drinks on any of my long runs including 20+ milers that include chunks at MP, just a strong coffee before I set off. That said, I do take 2-3 gels during a marathon to try and guard against becoming glycogen-depleted before the end of the race. 

I have experimented running 12 miles hard (including a steep hill) with and without water in summer. Running with a little water (500ml) made the pace easier to hold and I recovered faster. 

I have not done this test often enough to make it scientific and it might be more psychological, but to me it made a difference. Oh and at least it did not come from a book, I tried it myself to see how it worked for me 

Don't know about the physiology, but this is what works for me

Training runs - no liquids or gels. Easy for London when most long runs are done in the cold.

Marathon - 750ml PSP (day before), 750ml PSP (3hrs before), 1 energy bar (1.5 hr before), 1 gel at 10M and another at 20M, sip of water/orange stuff every mile. I have never found myself running out of energy or bonking. Training partner ran his 2:19 PB after eating a bag of jelly babies on the start line.

Marmite - to add a little clarification. Obviously dehydration impairs performance. Like a man on the point of death in the desert isn't going to set any PBs for the 10K for example. The bollocks aspect is bringing dehydration into a book at all. If the book said "best have a drink every now and again if it's a hot day and your piss smells of Sugar Puffs, otherwise don't get hung up about it" that's fine.

When it gets to the point that people are sitting at work, drinking lots solely because of what they've read - then they've gone too far.

Some odd attitudes towards water intake on here.....