Pre-race prep

There are no gels supplied at the feeding stations at the Brathay marathon so I've had to buy my own. The trouble is that I only use gels during marathons, never during training so I always buy a large box and end up not using most of them.

But now I've discovered the marathon race pack from High5. Basically it has everything I need for pre-race, race and post-race nutrition.

£10 from Wiggle. Good value I think. There's plenty of gels, an energy bar and some supplements to add to water.

Now all I had to do is find a way of carrying them around with me on the course. My gel belt that I normally use is not the most comfortable so I'm going to use a FlipBelt. It can hold all the gels I need (six, I think if I go for one every half hour) as well as my iPhone and keys etc. I've tried it out whilst carrying my iPhone and by the end of my run I forgot I was even wearing it so I consider that a success.

Finally (I have been busy!), I've bought some Event Clips. These are a replacement for safety pins that allow you to clip your number to your shirt without the awkwardness that safety pins always cause. Being Welsh I've gone for the Welsh flag motif. I've not tried them out in anger yet but they do appear to work.

This weekend I'm running my last long run, 16 miles. I've saved one of my favourite routes until the end. I'm going to run through Richmond Park. I'll take my iPhone in the FlipBelt so I can take photos of the deer and parakeets if I see any. I might try out the Event Clips too if I remember.

Just over three weeks to go. Can't wait!

Video of the Brathay Windermere marathon

Here is a great video I found on YouTube of the Brathay Windermere marathon that I will be running exactly one month from today. Looks beautiful but very, very hilly. Almost certainly won't get a PB at this.

Better late than never

I know, it's been a while since my last update but I have a really good excuse! I was lazy. There, that's good enough isn't it?

I meant to start up the blog again when I began marathon training back in January but forgot. And then once you've forgotten once it becomes easy to continue to forget.

Anyway, let's put all that behind us and move on from here.

So, what's up you ask? I am four weeks away from my next marathon. The Brathay Windermere marathon in the Lake District. Not much hope for a new pb since it is apparently rather tough and hilly but it's a beautiful area I've been to several times and I'm looking forward to a good, hard marathon.

I've been following the Hanson marathon method again for a sub 3:30 finish. I don't actually think I'll achieve sub 3:30 because of the course but at least I can train to that level and see how it goes. I'm thinking of negative splitting again since it has reaped dividends in the last two marathons.

I've only missed three training runs out of the schedule due to illness/tiredness/can't be arsedness and I've only got one long run remaining next weekend. My legs feel tired all the time, which I know is a good sign, and I think my weight is finally starting to drop. I'll probably reach 80kg by the time of the race which is not too bad (78kg would be my ideal).

This has just been a quick update to get back up to speed. I'll post again next week after a couple of 10 mile runs this weekend.