How Do You Prepare For a 156-mile Footrace?

With less than six-weeks to go until my six-marathon challenge many people have been asking how my preparation has been going and what I’m doing.

When it comes to ultra distance training there seems to be no single best way to train.

With this type of challenge one aspect seems clear – I need to spend time on my feet!

In essence we get good at what we do most of - this is called The Training Effect.

Spending time on my feet (or for the layperson going out running?!) for extended periods of time will develop my body’s ability to take in and use oxygen efficiently and develop my body’s ability to become fuel-efficient. Going out and doing it (so to speak…) will toughen my feet, give me a chance to test fueling strategies (as I will be running up to 8hrs on one of the days) and allow me to try out equipment.

Due to the nature of the challenge preparation is important. On shorter single-day events you might get away with a pair of shoes that rub, or running with an upset stomach after taking a gel that didn’t agree with you. On a longer multi-day event these small issues can have much bigger consequences. Therefore practicing under race conditions is important.

How much running I do seems to be the multi-billion dollar question…

Exactly how much running I do and how I do it is governed by my ambition and strategy for the race, my previous experience, how much time I have available to train and what state – physically, mentally, emotionally – I am prepared to finish in (and how long I am prepared to recover!!)

One aspect seems clear to prepare for such an event you need to: Run. Lots. Consistently.

Therefore in answer to the question how do you prepare for 156 mile footrace? Honestly? I don’t know…

As my coach Andy Mouncey has said ‘the right combination for you?............. is the right combination for you’.

What I do realise is there are huge advantages to going long in training (20-miles+) and many other mental and emotional factors will come into play…

Bring it on!!!

Client of the Week

My congratulations this week go to Steph George.

Over the last 12 weeks Steph has worked incredibly hard at her diet and exercise programme (even with a young child and a big friendly dog to look after!) and has achieved some incredible results.

In 12 weeks…

Lost 2st 7lbs in Weight
Lost 3 inches from her Bust
Lost 5 inches from her Abdomen
Lost 4.75 inches from her Waist
Lost 4.25 inches from her Hips
Lost 2.5 inches from her Thigh
Lost 1.5 inches from her Upper Arms

This is not to mention the numerous improvements in strength, stamina, posture and health.

I think you’ll all agree that these results are absolutely fantastic… Therefore as I always say don’t keep me a secret. If you have a friend or even an enemy that would be interested in personal training - give them my number TODAY!

Keep up the good work Steph

To infinity and beyond!!

Eat More & Lose Fat!

It is easy to understand why even the most diligent of health consumer can feel lost and confused with all the contradictory information espoused by the nutrition industry.

The consistent disagreement between experts challenges the confidence of any health consumer.

The truth is there is no perfect diet for you. If there were such a thing there would not be 300+ diet books per year released claiming to be the next best thing!

One area I feel perhaps many people could benefit is looking at the quality of food they consume.

If buying organic does not appeal I would certainly encourage you to buy premium quality products.

Cheap food is cheap! You are what you eat and you definitely get what you pay for when you buy cheap food. The foods you consume go on to feed every individual cell within your body – in essence at a cellular level you are what you eat!

If you nourish your body with cheap processed toxic foods, rich in additives and low in nutrition at a cellular level you will be toxic.

When it comes to fat loss you need to understand that when the human body is besieged with toxins it will ‘store’ these toxins in your adipose tissue (in layman’s terms body fat) in order to reduce there circulation around the body.

In essence a toxic body stores more fat.

The other aspect you need to understand that a toxic body holds more water in order to water down the toxins. This is clearly not good if you are fixated with the scales!

Therefore my recommendations are simple nourish your body with good quality natural unprocessed nutritionally dense foods and you will watch the lbs of fat disappear.

For most people this means you might even be consuming more calories day-to-day than you usually would and losing weight!!