Talkback: ASICS Target 26.2 Team: Craig

 Knight Rider; a cut and paste from other thread but would like you to start thinking about the below. As you will be doing some half marathons & some very long runs in lead up to Paris can I ask you to start using these races/runs to practise: 1. What you plan to eat and drink in the days leading up to the marathon? Are you going to carb load or not if yes you need to practise this for at least 1-2 days as this will not work for everyone. 2. What you plan to eat and drink the morning of the race: as far as I am aware the race starts at 8.45am? The best pre-marathon breakfast/snack is a well practise one but consider stomach comfort so make sure portion of what you eat suits you and the time you eat works for you as an individual. The pre race meal & snack should be low in fat and protein as these will take longer to leave the stomach and longer to digest (than carbs) and  both protein and fat are not needed  to fuel your race at this time as you have enough stores of these. Most runners tend to eat 3-4 hours before (for example cereals/toast/pasta/fruit juice) but then often will have a very light snack 2 hours before (banana, ½ jam sandwich, cereal bar, sipping on sports drinks). Sport drinks and gels are not necessary before the race but if it works for you then that fine.  3. How do you plan to fuel during race? Elite runners will get away with consuming very little fluid and fuel during  a marathon partly to do with  their ability to store carbs, their high VO2  max and running economy but for most non-elite runners you  will need between 20 -50g of carbs per hour. The fluid advice is to drink to thirst but one 500ml bottle of isotonic sports drink will provide around 32g of carbs so if you need 32g of carb an hour and want to use a sports drink can you drink 500ml of fluid per hour or will this be too much for you? (This is probably too much for many but weather will play a big part in this).  The advice is not to drink more than 400ml an hour for smaller runners and 800ml per hour for larger and to drink to thirst.

Hi Craig, glad you got a hit of endorphins from  your outdoor run. I cannot tell you HOW SICK I am of this weather. Went to Crystal Palace today to check out conditions for my workshop on Sunday and it's pretty terrible - still v icy and snow covered so will just have to make the best of it. I guess it helps to foster tenacity, if nothing else! So you had/have 6m today and then the long run Sunday. I can't imagine you'll have any intention of doing that on the dreadmill. Hope you can find somewhere safe and accessible to do it.

Ruth: thanks for the loading advice, got it in my diary and on my desk thing... Gonna be interesting to eat that many carbs over three days.

Sam: been to the gym again. Had issues getting up this morning, Thomas was up all night and bearly slept at all. Don't think I've been this tired in a long while... Can hardly talk... Oh well, got my six in on the dread (easier to get more kip). Hoping he sleeps tonight and I get rested tomorrow.

Ruth - a query please re the protein in your carb loading diet which i tried (successfully) recently - you mention above that you don't need protein on race day cos you have plenty from the previous days intake; if the previous 2 days have been on your carb loading diet which are the foods in those 2 days that provide the protein you need so you can skip this on the morning of the race ?? need to know so i don't skip these, thanks.

Found out why tired when woke up this morning... Let's leave that one between me and the smallest room in the house... :-/

Bo - get well soon

Thanks oscarr... This isn't good...

Oh no - get well soon BoD - make you you stay hydrated if you can.

Thanks SB

Trying ultimate get stuff in, but struggling... Bit of a shocker to be honest, wasnt expecting something like this to get in the way. Not much I can do really except drink and hope.

Oh dear oh dear... another of the team succumbs to illness! I really feel for you BoD. Goes without saying that if you're feeling this bad then the long run ain't happening this weekend. The priority is to just get better. Plenty of fluids and rest. Wishing you better...

Get some rest and get well soon Craig.

Hoping it's a 24 hour thing. Can't eat, only had a few slices of toast. Trying to drink, but making me queasy. Looking after Thomas today too, so he's not getting me at my best and not good company for him, CBeebies childcare... Feel a bit guilty...

Thanks guys BTW!

Don't feel guilty - it's only one day.  As long as the tv doesn't babysit every day you're doing the right thing!  I'm being a rubbish wife if it makes you feel any better - sat at home all cosy LOL.

Take it easy - hope you're right as rain very, very soon  - best to get these things out of the way now not in March or April

It may well be a short-lived bug, BoD... think there's some going round. One of our group on this morning's session suddenly went into violent vomitting. She was really embarassed and said it just came out of nowhere (the things people will do to get out of a threshold session..)

Anyway, you're probably going to feel a bit wiped out by tomorrow, so play it by ear.
I'm posting next week's training - we're HALF WAY! Week 8  but we can discuss how to rearrange if you end up being taken down by the dreaded bug for longer....

This is pretty true to the sub 4.30 schedule - I've switched the 200m reps to a time-based session as Craig doesn't have track access and it's easier to do these on time. (I like this session by the way - it always seems to go really quick). And I've sneaked an extra mile in on Thursday's run! The long run on Sunday, I've suggested he does on a fairly level, even surface with a slight pick-up to race pace over the last three miles. Enjoy! I'll be in Crystal Palace park tomorrow, running a workshop as best I can in the ice and snow Hope I manage to stay on my feet!

Week Eight w/c 13/2/12 (33M)
Mon Rest
Tue 5M of 1M jog plus 4 x acceleration strides, then 12 x 1 minute fast (7.10ish pace) with 1 min jog recoveries, then 1M jog
Wed 7M easy
Thu1M jog, then 3M brisk, 1M jog
Fri Rest
Sat Rest
Sun 16M on road (or fairly even surface). Try to work up to MP over last 3 miles.

Been on facebook and it appears that one of my colleagues in a different office was sick when visiting a prison yesterday.... Deffo something going about.

Thank fake the support guys. Feeling really bad and hope you don't think I'm a Larry Let Down...not had to miss any long runs thus far either....

Good luck with the rest of your weekends guys, stay upright and don't get a stomach bug! I'm off to bed.

I asked Mrs Duke if she would look after Thomas as I went out for my run this morning... This was after being up all night with 'issues' and having what sleep I could got on the sofa.... Needless to say, that joke didn't go down very well... She did make me a cup of hot chocolate though. Proper comfort, but might regret it in a bit.

By the way, I really don't like the auto-correct on my phone, says fake on the post above and that should be 'thanks for'... Big difference..... Grrrrrrrrr

BoDuke,  I really hope you feel great again in the next few days. Eat as you feel and if you don't feel like eating don't eat and sip on water or if been very bad a re-hydartion solution. One of my kids have been sick since Wednesday and 2 days ago moved from bed to sofa and cbeebies has been the saving grace!

oscarr wrote (see)

Ruth - a query please re the protein in your carb loading diet which i tried (successfully) recently - you mention above that you don't need protein on race day cos you have plenty from the previous days intake; if the previous 2 days have been on your carb loading diet which are the foods in those 2 days that provide the protein you need so you can skip this on the morning of the race ?? need to know so i don't skip these, thanks.

You have plenty of stores of protein and the carb loading diet which usually contains bread, pasta etc &  dairy products (yoghurts, milk, rice pudding...) all actually have protein in them (although bread and pasta contains very small amounts compared to meat or dairy they still have some)  so your carb loading diet is not as low in protein as you may think. After race, protein is good! Let me know if you still have any questions. Are you pleased with how your  training is going so far?

RUTH  MCKEAN wrote (see)

You have plenty of stores of protein and the carb loading diet which usually contains bread, pasta etc &  dairy products (yoghurts, milk, rice pudding...) all actually have protein in them (although bread and pasta contains very small amounts compared to meat or dairy they still have some)  so your carb loading diet is not as low in protein as you may think. After race, protein is good! Let me know if you still have any questions. Are you pleased with how your  training is going so far?

Ruth - thanks, very clear.  Yes, i'm very pleased with the training thus far and seem to be enjoying taking it all with a good deal more patience and caution this time and i feel stronger and bit more confident as a result so it's working so far (i'm 4 weeks into my 16 week schedule as my marathon is 3 weeks after Paris).  Thanks again for the valuable nutrition advice and info which i am benefitting from greatly - no more questions as yet!

Rough as a dog here with man flu and streaming cold so getting a lift to work not run since weds evening, had a good few months so just got to be patient now and I stll have 14 weeks next Sunday. Amazing how the strength goes when you get wiped out with something like this, my oh has it too.
Get well soon Craig.