What I’m learning from Training for The Marathon – Part 2
As I have mentioned with 63 days to go until The London Marathon (Sunday 23 April) it is imperative that I ensure not only my nutrition, hydration and training plans are maintained.
Sadly this doesn’t seem to be the case for a number of others who are running on the 23rd. One person I know seems to be happy running 5 miles every couple of days and then eating carb laden food. Sadly, the food is generally off the shelf sandwiches, crisps and similar. As I am certain anyone who understands the nutrional value of commercially manufactured “food”, is actually minimal. So there really is no long-term benefit.
For me it was a simple decision when I switched from a Keto lifestyle, which is protein rich to a carb based diet, to insure that I kept to my goal to eat only healthy food and remove or at least reduce the Keto style food stuff. So, my daily diet is generally as follows:
Breakfast Monday – Saturday (if I’m not running a long race) instant porridge with coconut milk and berries followed by three teaspoons of cottage cheese & peppermint tea.
Mid-morning handful of natural nuts (cashew, walnut, pecan & Brazil).
Lunch Protein shake & apple followed by a No Mo bar.
Dinner freshly cooked meal of chicken, fish or plant based substitute meat. It could be soup with gluten free bread or anything my wife & I decide on. This is followed by strawberries followed by a bowl of coconut yogurt and mixed berries.
Plus, plenty of water, peppermint tea and coffee.
Sundays or Saturday can be different as I’m usually running a half marathon or similar in which case I start the day with a bowl of overnight oats followed by lunch of sliced cooked chicken.
The other things I do is apart from drinking an electrolyte-based drink while I’m running or on the bike, I also use energy gels around every hour as this gives me a boost. Why do I follow this seemingly rigid regime because in the past the most I could run was 13 miles before running out of energy.
The question is, is my regime better than my friends? The answer will only be known on April 23rd.
