Marathon season kicks off in Berlin

This weekend the autumn marathon season gets properly underway with Berlin and Toronto Waterfront grabbing the early headlines before the focus shifts to a couple of potentially epic races in Chicago and New York.

After a summer of hobbling around in pain and not enjoying the little running I have been able to do at least I am starting to move well enough to run 3 or 4 times a week now. Commitment has been in short supply so this weekend I'm off to Berlin and who knows, the juices may be flowing again come sunday afternoon ! For once Haile won't be lining up as he is having a crack at New York and what should be more of a championship type race. I really hope this means that he is going to prepare seriously for London 2012. A marathon medal 16 years after his first 10,000m gold would be a fitting finale for the maestro - I will always remember the day I sneaked into the stadium in Addis during the pre-worlds training camp in 2001 and he came up to the stands to say hello and introduce himself. Class.

Anyway, one of the benefits of being away from proper training is more time to reflect on what has worrked or not worked in training and also time for things that I wouldn't normally do. Last saturday the Somerset Runing Network organised a runners fayre over at Taunton. Top of the bill was Dave Moorcroft and he gave a thoroughly engaging talk which its fair to say had the audience captivated. The two big takeouts for me were 1. be the best you can be (at whatever level yor talent allows) and 2. enjoy the journey because very few will get to win an Olympic medal or set a WR. Wise words indeed !

After lunch we had a cosy little group for my Faster Marathon workshop, lots of good questions and sharing of experiences between the participants and plenty of fun for me and the tub of marathon lard...

Product Review: Vitargo Electrolyte

Getting enough fluids on board in a marathon is a perenial problem for athletes and it seems the faster you run the more difficult it becomes. In previous races I have used either High 5 or SIS, both brands of sports drink containing a mix of electrolytes and carbohydrate designed to replenish the body's fuel supplies on the run. And like many athletes I have had problems absorbing the drink. You know that feeling when the drink is sloshing around inside your stomach. Its not much fun !

While training in St Moritz this summer my Polish friend Rafa Woijcik gave me some sachets of the Swedish product Vitargo Electrolyte . Rafa had used it with some success in recent marathons and was planning on taking it during the forthcoming Warsaw Marathon. What makes Vitargo different from most of the other drinks is the size of the carbohydrate molecules it uses. They are significantly smaller than those derived from maltodextrin in most sports drinks and as such should be absorbed faster, which reduces feelings of bloatedness and 'sloshing' in the stomach.

Experimentation with Vitargo on several of my long tempo runs looked promising so I decided to use the Pink Grape flavour in Toronto. And what a success it proved to be. I was able to get my drinks on board at all of the drinks station and had no stomach problems to worry about. Now I just need to find a supply of it in the UK !

Back in training

It is now seven weeks since I ran 2.18 in the Toronto Watefront Marathon and it has been a slow return to training. Unlike previous marathons where my legs have taken weeks to recover this time they bounced back quickly. Just 2 weeks after STWM I was racing a 6km stage for my club, Wells City Harriers, in the National Road Relays.

This time it has been the mind that has taken the time. The marathon is such an intense experience. The preparation period and race itself require total focus for several months if you are to produce a great result. Not surprisingly, after the high comes a low. Previously I made the mistake of rushing back into training before feeling fully motivated again. This time I learned from my mistakes and took it easy for a few weeks, catching up with friends and enjoying myself. Now that I am fired up again training can start in earnest with a few weeks of steady running before heading to Kenya over New Year for some hard work at altitude.