Can Juicing enhance performance?

As I write this, its exactly 1 day and 15 hours until the start of the London Marathon and I have just broken one of the golden rules - don't try anything new in race week.

What I've done isn't exactly heinous and I have done so under good authority (my colleague the multi marathon smashing and cyclist extraordinaire) but none-the-less i'm a little nervous.

I have just consumed my first beetroot juice.

Numerous studies have linked the consumption of Beetroot juice to increased stamina and speed, which I simply couldn't resist ahead of Sunday's marathon. Beetroots are high in nitrate, which when ingested is converted into nitrite then nitric acid.

Nitric acid has two effects on the body, firstly it causes blood vessels to dilate so you can provide more blood through them. Secondly, it makes the mitochondria (the powerhouses of cells) more efficient so they create the same amount of energy whilst consuming less oxygen. These basically means you are producing more oxygen but utilizing it more efficiently which can only lead to good things!

So to make my juice I juiced a whole cooked beetroot with an apple and Satsuma and a little water. The taste was ok - very beetrooty. Luckily i'm a fan of the taste to it works for me. The maximum effects as described above take place between 2 and 2.5 hours from consumption, so assuming I don't experience any untoward effects, I will have another with my breakfast on Sunday morning and hopefully reap the rewards and hit my goal of a 3:30 finish!

My nerves are slowly turning to excitement and i'm feeling pretty pumped right now. Bring. It. On.

Carb Loading 101

With the London Marathon just 4 days away, the running side of training is done (I actually have just one easy 10 minute left!) all efforts now need to be concentrated on fueling. As I have been tapering for around a week already, my muscles are already starting to refill with Glycogen following the months of constant depletion from long, intense training. Physically I can feel this, especially over the last few days when during my last runs I have felt heavy! I have to keep reminding myself this is a good thing as fuel is what's going to get me round the course.

Carb loading is a term used frequently in running and endurance circles but what does it actually mean? Put simply, it the process of increasing the amount of calories you consume from Carbohydrates in order to maximize the amount of Glycogen in your muscles. This is essential in endurance events as Glycogen will be your main fuel source and is most efficiently converted into energy. Once depleted, you will be forced to burn fat and finally muscle which won't provide the same amount of energy and is slower to metabolise meaning you will find activity much more challenging despite levels of fitness.

Historically, it was advised to completely deplete Glycogen stores by consuming a low carb diet for around 4 days, then switching to high carbs to refill. Thankfully, more modern research has demonstrated there is no need to empty first (which is a great thing for all us Carb lovers!)

So how much Carbohydrate actually constitutes loading - well, it varies from person to person but typically you should aim for 4 grams of Carbs for each KG of body weight. So, if you weigh 60 kg  then you would need 240g. Each gram of carbohydrate is 4 calories (on average) so this is a total of 960 calories. You can start loading from 5 days out - I personally plan to start tomorrow as my diet is already pretty carb heavy. Try to distribute your intake evenly throughout the day and by meal to get the most from your diet.

You can get some level of Carbs from pretty much every food group out there (meat and fish being the exception for the most part) however the volume and quality varies dramatically. Below I have rounded up the highest carb containing foods by group, along with their volumes for reference. By focusing on these foods, you can ensure you're able to hit the needed intake amounts as focusing on lesser carb heavy foods, you will become full before hitting the requirement.

Fruit	Measure	Carb content in Grams
Blueberries	1/2 cup	25
Banana	1 Whole	27
Mango	1 Whole	31
Papaya	1 Whole	33
Pear	1 Whole	26
Vegetables	Measure	Carb content in Grams
Sweetcorn	1 cup	44
Potato	1 Whole	43
Sweet Potato	1 Whole	28
Grains	Measure	Carb content in Grams
Bagel	1 Whole	35 - 50
Bread	2 Slice's	25
Bulgar	1 Cup	34
Cous Cous	1 cup	36
Croissant	1 Whole	26
English Muffin	1 Whole	25
Muffin	1 Whole	29 - 28
Noodles	1 Cup	40
Pita	1 Whole	33
Rice	1 cup	44
Spaghetti	1 cup	40
Beans	Measure	Carb content in Grams
Baked Beans	1/2 Cup	24
Misc	Measure	Carb content in Grams
Frozen Yogurt	1 Cup	36
Cake	1 piece	34 - 50
Brownie	1 piece	36

Note that I whilst have included some desserts, the Carbs here come pretty much entirely from sugar which will be expended much quicker than those in whole foods. However, given what we're about to undertake, a little indulgence is as good for the body as it is for the mind!

Good luck to everyone running London or any other race this weekend - remember, all the hard work has already been done so relax, smile and enjoy!

Happy feet - the Lacing techniques you need to know

We all know how important it is to get the right pair of trainers but how many of you have given any thought to the way in which you lace them up? I'll be honest, until yesterday I didn't - I went with what came out the box without a second thought.

However after having experienced some discomfort on the top of my right foot for a couple of weeks now, I decided to look into this a little further. I quickly discovered the pain I was experiencing is called extensor tendonitis which is inflammation of  the extensor tendons (these run across the top of your feet and are used to straighten your toes) - one of the causes being lacing your shoes too tightly. I have high arched feet which makes me a classic case for this type of pain but after some further research I found an easy solution - Lacing techniques!

For me, I needed to reduce the pressure on the top of my arch by removing the laces from the middle of my shoe. This technique is called laddering;

I ran like this for the first time today and felt no discomfort what-so-ever (yay!). The plan is to stick with this style until the swelling and tenderness has gone entirely, then I will revisit laces thereafter.

Turns out there are a number of lacing styles depending on your foot type and symptoms - I found this great overview of the different styles available;

 

Source - http://www.fshn.hs.iastate.edu/necp/WebContent/Exercise%20Cancer%20Handout.pdf

I hope this helps you on your way to Happy Feet x

You know you're a distance runner when...

...13 miles is a short 'long' run.

I felt like i'd cheated when I got back this morning having only done a half marathon, yet 4 months ago, I felt like this was my threshold and I couldn't possibly do more!

Can't beat the feeling of taking your trainers off post run
(don't mind my sweat marks!)

I've really grown to love my longer runs and I actually perform better over longer distance. More often than not I run a negative split (meaning my second half is faster than the first) and I just feel more comfortable going into the second half of a long run. Today for example, I felt like I found my stride at around mile 9. The first few miles I always question why i'm doing this and have really push to get started but the I longer go on, the less I have to push myself - my body just seems to take over.

Today was a beautiful for a run - its really starting to feel like Spring which I am loving. I was lucky enough to have blue skies and sunshine the entire way around which makes a welcome changed from wind, rain and sleet. It was the mildest temperature I have run in for a long time and I really noticed this in terms of the amount of sweat I was producing. I sweat a lot anyway when training, but the warmer it gets the worse this is. I noticed that I felt much thirstier during my run and afterwards - I've been home a couple of hours and have put away a couple of litres of water but still feeling dehydrated. I also increased the amount of milk in post run Protien shake to 400ml since Milk has been proven to increase your ability to refuel and rehydrate.

Making the most of the sunshine (in clean dry clothes!) -
I added a little Cacao to my usual shake today

Being dehydrated by just 2% of your body weight can impact performance by up to 7% so staying hydrated during exercise is key to being at your best. As the Marathon is in April, temperatures will be much warmer than now and what I am used to training in so I will have to ensure I utilize drinks stations as much as possible on the day.

Marathon training is as much about learning about your bodies requirements for race day as it is building fitness. Awareness of things like hydration and energy levels are key to making your day as successful as possible, and avoiding the infamous 'wall' (which by the way, I haven't hit yet so my fueling strategy would appear to be on point!)

With the big day now only 7 weeks away, I have a big week of miles ahead this week with a 20 miler next weekend. The following week is lighter as i'm running the Reading half marathon which then takes me to me last high mileage week before I start dropping the distance (or Tapering to use the correct terminology).

Hope everyone else's training is going to plan - cant wait to see some of you on the start line!