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Runner 1

 The day my Rebel Badge Book arrived was the day I tested positive for Covid. I ended up isolating at home for 10 days - until the Covid 19 app told me I could go outside again. That first day, I went out to continue with the training plan I was already doing. 

For most of the badges, I am starting fresh - or mostly fresh anyway - I want the badges to be something I have worked towards since getting the book, as a lot of them seem to be things I’m already doing to have some control over my life, or things I should be doing. However - I’m not starting totally fresh with the runner badge. 

I need to get out to ParkRun more regularly. I have a Garmin running watch (the Forerunner 945 if you are interested) and I’ve been following the 1/2 Marathon plan on the Garmin app (which sends the workout to my watch) since just after Christmas. I had already been following a 10k plan, so thought I’d go for something a bit more challenging - especially as I had entered the ballot for the London Marathon. I wasn’t lucky enough to get a place, but I have signed up to do the virtual event. I also plan to do the Severn Bridge 1/2 marathon at the end of August, and am doing the Virtual London Vitality 10k at the start of May. In addition to this, I’m seriously considering doing Walk the Wight at the start of May - which is 26.5 miles (walking).

So - this covers clause 1 and 2 of the runner badge. I hope to move on to marathon training once I’ve finished the 1/2 marathon training at the end of this month - I will need to find a plan for this - but I know that there are plenty of plans around, and I know that I can programme workouts into my watch as well. But what about clause 3? With my training plan, there are articles and short videos from the trainer. He recommends not having big carbohydrate filled meals the day before the race. He suggests something that is easy to digest the morning of the race,  suggests glucose tablets or gummy bears or similar sweets for the race itself. In my previous 10k and 10 Mile races I have tried some soft sweets - like Haribo and other gummy type sweets. Some runners swear by jelly babies - but I don’t like them! I also found it quite difficult to eat these sweets while running. As I’ve been doing a long run every 2 weeks for my training, I’ve started looking at different options for during the race, including dextrose tablets, SIS electrolyte tablets (to be dissolved in water), Lift glucose tablets, and SIS gels.

I don’t usually eat before a run or before training. I will have a cup of tea in the morning, and then go out. This morning I also had a banana - as I knew today’s run would be tough going - 14 mile run - and that doesn’t include the warm up or cool down. Once you include those as well, you are looking at 15.2 miles, and I do an additional warm up walk - so my distance in total was nearer 16 miles. I had some mentos fruit chews with me (which I didn’t eat), Dextrose tablets (took 1), Lift chewable glucose tablets (at least 2 taken) and 2 SIS blackcurrant gel packs (1 used).

 The tablets are the easiest to take, and the Lift ones especially so, as they dissolve quite quickly. The gel sachets are quite good, once you get used to sucking the jelly / gel texture - it is a little odd at first. The Dextrose tablet was okay, but took a bit more chewing than the Lift tablet. During the run I also drank small amounts from the bladder pack in my running backpack.

I find it a bit difficult to say what worked particularly well with regard to giving me a boost, as the last 4 miles were tough going - but I am still recovering from Covid - as the coughing shows. Once at h9me I needed to hydrate more, as I could feel a headache - so I used a SIS electrolyte tablet (orange and mango). I was a little concerned about using these during the run in case I didn’t like them - as they need to be dissolved in water. Trying them at home first was ideal - and it tasted okay - and made it very easy to dr8k another pint of water. Next time I will try adding it to my bladder pack - I don’t end up drinking so much while running these days - long runs I take water with me (by long run I really mean a run of 8 miles or more - as I know I can do 6 miles without any water). On a chilly day like today I didn’t need any more than 1 litre of water.

I’ve discovered what works for me in the morning before training. After a race I really just need to hydrate and stay warm - certainly in the first hour. As for eating - after hydrating I’m up for the carbohydrates, and by the evening a fairly big meal is likely - this evening I managed to polish off a big plateful for roast dinner (roast pork, crackling, onion gravy, roast potatoes, roast parsnips (done in air fryer), peas, roasted Mediterranean veg (courgettes, onions, peppers, carrots, sweet potato) and Savoy cabbage cooked with onion, garlic and reduced fat crème fraiche.





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