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| The problem knee |
If you read last month’s blog you will know training isn't exactly going to plan. Bashing my knee in one of those stupid home accidents, it is, I’m afraid to say, still causing major havoc to my training schedule. Serious doubts have started to enter my head especially when I’m struggling to walk let alone run. I won’t bore you with all the details but I’m having endless physio sessions, strength exercises have been increased and a visit to my GP has been booked to see if knee steroid injections can be administered as a last resort.
I’m not making any of this up by the way; trying to make the blog a bit more dramatic with the lead up to the Marathon. Trust me, this is the last thing I really need at the moment and feel completely stressed with the whole situation. I can’t explain the agonising pain that shoots through my right leg. It’s times like this I really wish the world of Harry Potter did exist and a magic wand could be waved over the offending knee to make it all better. But unless you have a wand or superpowers it looks like I’m going to have to rely on pain killers. My next official race before the Marathon is on Sunday 4th March. The new "Big Half" where you run some of the London Marathon route backwards towards Greenwich. The jury is still out as to whether I will be running this one. So watch this space.
In the meantime, here is the second part to my interview with author Neil Bailey:
What are the most important lessons you've learned from your running coach?
I’ve learnt that correct posture is vital for running. Making sure you’re standing tall and looking ahead, not down at the floor. By standing tall you get more oxygen into your lungs making breathing easier so you can happily clock up more miles.
Which professional athletes do you most admire and why?
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| 80s Legends - Ovett, Cram and Coe |
Your probably expecting me to say someone like Mo Farah. An amazing athlete and currently a national treasure. But I want you to cast your minds back to the 80's with three amazing runners - Steve Ovett, Steve Cram and Sebastian Coe.These three seemed to be forever breaking each others records and won endless medals. To have one great middle-distance runner could be deemed fortunate, to have three circling the track made us the envy of the sporting world. They were celebrities in their own right, attracting millions to watch their latest race and to see who would win - Ovett or Coe or maybe newbie Cram? Who couldn’t admire those guys?
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| My Games Maker days at the Paralympics London 2012 |
From what you've posted on your website we can see that you consider diet a critical component of your training regime. As the big day approaches are you making any additional changes to your diet?
I qualified in nutrition and weight management a few years ago. I've made plenty of unhealthy choices over the years but eating correctly is now a bit of a passion and I'm always researching new and healthy ways to eat. You’ve heard the expression, “You are what you eat”, well if you’re going to fuel on chips, chocolate and booze then I don’t think you’ll get very far in a long race. If you swap those for brown rice, raw cocoa and low sugar intake, i.e. no booze, together with lots of fresh vegetables, nuts, pulses and lean meat then you’re onto a winner. I’ve ditched the alcohol. Unfortunately, there is nothing good in alcohol, it’s just unnecessary sugar intake. And yes, even G&T has been banned!
Do you 'carb-load' before running longer distances in training?
When I trained for my first Half Marathon I increased in weight by 7lbs. I was eating way too many carbs all the time. It’s a myth that when you are training for an event that you can eat whatever because you think you will just burn it off. The only time you need to start increasing what you eat is when you are training over 90 minutes. So to make sure I don't increase in weight I keep my portions sizes the same. Generally I try and make sure most of my plate is vegetables so I'm getting plenty of complex carbs. If I know I will be training for more than 90 minutes than yes I'll increase my carb intake. However, sometimes I end up on a long run when I wasn't really planing to. It just sort of happened. On those occasions I've noticed I get very hungry after 15 miles and then re-fuel on sports drinks or sports jelly beans for a quick fix carb intake. You hear the expression “Hitting the Wall”. In general, hitting the wall refers to depleting your stored glycogen. Glycogen is carbohydrate that is stored in our muscles and liver for energy. When you run low on glycogen, even your brain wants to shut down which leads to the negative thinking that comes along with "hitting the wall". I definitely don't want that happening on the big day but to be honest I’m still working out what works best on the fuel front. I’ll be increasing my healthy carbs the week before the race and have worked out I will need to take on extra carbs every hour during the race itself, like a sports drink.
Have you found the training affecting your every day activities, e.g. sleep patterns?
Sleep has actually improved since training. I was once a suffering insomniac but now I’m so tired by the end of the day I’m happily tucked up in bed by 9pm and usually sleep through. Social life on the other hand is now completely out the window. There have been a few events I've had to send apologies to recently, so once again, Sorry!
If you had to list your three main concerns for the big day, what would they be?
- First concern is actually getting to the start line with this blasted injury. My pain threshold is pretty high but I do have limits and the thought of running 26.2 miles in agony is not very appealing.
- That being said, 98% of people who do start the marathon go on and complete it. I don't want to enter that 2% club and not finish which is concern number two.
- My last concern is one no-one has control over being the weather. I just hope we do not have one of those out of the blue hot spring days. Really couldn't handle that. I suffered with dehydration during the Hackney Half Marathon which was at the beginning of May in 2016 and it was one of the worst running experiences of my life to-date. I do not want a repeat experience of that.
Your running times in recent months have been very impressive. What is your target time for the big day?
Prior to the knee injury I was training for a sub 4 finish i.e. to complete the marathon under 4 hours. Post knee accident I just think it’s going to be a miracle to get round!
How do you plan to celebrate completing your first marathon?
To have an extremely large G&T followed by another one and then some champagne just for the hell of it.
Have you given any thought to entering another marathon after the London one? Or maybe a Triathlon??
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| One of my strength exercises squat hold with band |
