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Lessons Learnt (hopefully)

Thursday I walked for an hour and a half and this morning I ran for an hour and a half with no problem. It seems to have healed. Tomorrow will try an easy 2 hours.

The weather is still warm and dry – it hasn’t rained in these parts for about a month now and everywhere the Spring growth has slowed to a halt at the lack of moisture.

Tomorrow is also the London Marathon and there was hardly anyone out running today. Everyone ‘s resting as they should. One thing that was in the paper this morning was the news that the organisers pulled the plug on the Rotterdam Marathon as the temps got quite high and it will be fairly warm in London for the race. One thing I didn’t see was any advice to hydrate before the race. It seems pretty obvious to me that for most people, a marathon puts a tremendous stress on their bodies. Lots of advice to carboload and usually one spreads that process out over the final 3 days before the race but an amazing amount of fuss has been made over hyponatreamia which, although something to bear in mind, is extremely rare. The hydration process should go hand in hand with the increased carbohydrate consumption. Most people don’t drink enough anyway but it’s really important to flush the daily toxins we create, out. During the 3100 mile race, when it’s seriously hot, the runners can drink 5-6 gallons of liquid throughout the 18 hour period and even on a cool day its going to be at least a couple of gallons. The final week before the race I gradually start to adjust my diet to reflect what it will be dealing with during the event.  Gathering supplements, vitamins and minerals is essential for maintaining the body in good stead for the stressful conditions that the challenge of the race presents. gettining into the frame of mind where a constant awareness of how the body is processing it’s liquids will go a long way in making the experience an enjoyable one and will also facilitate post-race recovery.