“Same again?”
“Actually, I’ll have a Jack Daniels and Diet Coke please.”

Jack isn’t the type of bloke that will ridicule me for my girly drink choice, but he does question it. So when I explain that my New Year’s resolution is to quit beer until I’ve crossed the finish line at the London Marathon, he is supportive. And then he orders himself and the guys a hefty round of beers, and I immediately regret my decision.

Cut to April 26th. I’ve just finished the marathon and I’m in a bar on Long Acre. Funnily enough, Jack is the one who is buying me my first pint. That’s it on the right. I get as far down as the dotted line and can’t drink anymore. Admittedly, it’s not the best choice of recovery drink, but after four months without beer I thought I’d have no trouble finishing a pint.

The simple fact was that I hadn’t missed beer all that much.

So what were my reasons for quitting? Truthfully, they were purely narcissistic. I was 25 and had a beer belly. And when the rest of your body is skinny, with no real definition, that belly is all the more obvious. So much so that I was uncomfortable wearing t-shirts and had mastered the art of sucking-in (a practice that required Zen-like concentration to maintain for more than an hour).

I think most people are aware that alcohol is fattening. But I’m not sure that everyone is aware as to the extent. A standard pint of bitter contains around 180 calories. According to an article in Men’s Health, you’d have to exercise for the equivalent of a 14-minute run to burn off those calories! Ergo, to burn off a boozy Friday night (coupled with a sneaky kebab), you’d have to run a half-marathon!

This, coupled with the fact that alcohol calories are completely useless, containing no nutrients at all (alcohol is actually a toxin), means that every single one of those calories is stored as fat. That’s roughly two thirds of the calories in every pint. Plus the rate at which these calories can be consumed is increased as they are in liquid form (especially when playing drinking games).

But how does drinking beer affect me as a runner?

Well, as alcohol is a diuretic, it depletes the electrolytes in your system. Electrolytes (like potassium and calcium) help with the transmission of nerve impulses and muscle contraction. Without them runners are more susceptible to cramping and muscle spasm. We lose enough of these electrolytes through sweating alone when we run, hence the invention of sports drinks, so a hangover is seriously going to hinder performance. Another unpleasant side-effect of diuretics is dehydration.

There are, however, some advantages of beer consumption. A recent article in Triathlete’s World says that beer is a source of silicon, which helps to build bones and prevent osteoporosis (pale ales contains the most). Professor Manuel Garzon, of Granada University claims that beer after sport can be good for the body; the carb content of beer can help replace lost calories.

Here are the facts. In the four months without beer…

1. I had lost a stone and a half in weight.
2. My training significantly improved.
3. I knocked 25 minutes off last year’s marathon time.
4. My belly was noticeably flatter.

The truth is that it wasn’t that difficult to stop drinking beer. I just needed to break the habit. I still went out and socialised, still attended parties, still had the occasional tipple after work.  But, while drinking less fattening drinks like whisky, wine and vodka, I was distinctly more coherent, I remembered much more the next day and my running suffered much less as a result. I will confess that I did drink a pint and a half at one point during my abstinence. But this was a sincere accident; I simply forgot (routine got the better of me after a weekly game of football and I was half-way through my second before I realised what I was doing!).

I am now drinking beer again. I all-to-easily slipped back into my old drinking habits a month after the marathon. My belly is starting to return, I am noticeably more lary when drunk and remember almost nothing of the previous night when I wake up the following day. So bad is my memory loss that I actually (sometimes gingerly) have to ask my girlfriend if I embarrassed myself the night before. My running has also suffered. Admittedly, I have been running much less. But I feel twice as sluggish, heavy and sometimes uncomfortable.

So here it is, my big announcement. I have decided to stop drinking beer.

The health reasons are obvious. I’m diabetic, so I really shouldn’t be drinking the level of beer I do anyway. But how long will it be before the piss-taking from my beer-swilling buddies stops? How long before I crack under the (peer) pressure? Will my switch to wine or spirits make me less of a man? Is beer consumption directly related to testosterone levels?

Bottums up!

The Bupa London 10,000 is now in it’s third year and seems to grow each time I run it. I’ve run all three races and can say without hesitation that this is one of the finest running races in the UK. This morning 13,000 people descended on Buckingham Palace to run alongside the likes of Mo Farah, Chris Thomson, Micah Kogo and half the cast of Emmerdale. With the weather overcast and a cool breeze in places, a personal best was definitely on the cards for a lot of people.

Last year I’d managed a not-too-shabby time of 49:33; a PB for me. Part of the reason for this was because of the small groups that are released over the start line in waves. The race is organised by the same people that run the London Marathon, so they are used to handling large numbers of runners. Last year I was given a very clear line to the finish, with little congestion and ran a very comfortable race. The organisers kept my time on record and had deemed that this year I was eligible to set off in the second wave (of which I was able to get right to the front).

The 10k covers most of Central London, starting from Westminster (right past Big Ben), running along the Embankment (with views of the London Eye and Tower Bridge), through the City (past The Gherkin and St Paul’s Cathedral) before finishing back at Westminster (past Trafalgar Square and down The Mall towards Buckingham Palace). It’s a tourist’s dream! In one hour you’ll see most of London’s best bits and you don’t even have to get on the tube! Click here for a map of the course.

There are two water stations and two showers stations, which was helpful as parts of the City were a little humid. The spectator support is lacking slightly as the race is simply not as well known as something like the London Marathon. But along the Embankment there was plenty to keep me going, along with at least 5 bands playing along the route (including the incredible Taiko Drummers from the London Marathon).

Incredibly, Britain’s Mo Farah set a British road record today, running an incredible time of 27:44 after sprinting away from Micah Kogo (5 seconds behind) and another Brit was on the podium as Chris Thomson came in third. The almost perfect conditions certainly played their part as I was able to run a 47:15, knocking two full minutes off my personal best (admittedly having hardly trained and sporting a mild hangover).

Still, so many runners did the old trick of starting off too quickly! Being at the front of my group, I was passed by a heck of a lot of people in the early stages today, only to overtake many of them again a mile before the finish (with a smug grin on my face if I’m honest). Pacing is so important (see point 5 of this post).

So what’s in the goodie bag?

• Asics Race T-shirt (good quality)
• Race medal (good quality)
• 1 bottle of Lucozade Lite
• Sachet of Jointace Gel
• Ricola Sugar Free Herb Drops
• Nature Valley Granola Bar
• 1 bottle of Nestle Pure Life water
• Canderel Sweetner

Like this? See 5 tips for running a 10k race.

The Preparation
After all of that whining in the week leading up to the race, my cold was all but a sniffle by the time Sunday morning came around. To say that I was relaxed was an understatement. I’d been in bed by 9pm every night of that week, eaten pasta 4 nights in a row and hadn’t been on a run in 5 days.

On the morning of the race I stuffed myself with 3 slices of toast, 2 cereal bars, 2 bananas, 1 pack of jelly beans and 1 carbo gel. My old school teacher was running the race on the day; one of the final few who had been given a guaranteed ballot place after applying 5 times unsuccessfully (something that the London Marathon team are phasing out due to increased popularity in the race). His son, a good friend of mine, was on camera duty. He didn’t disappoint.

The Start
The rain came down half an hour before the start of the race, so all of the early birds who had handed their belongings in to the lorries were now all huddled, freezing under the trees of Greenwich Park. I squeezed down another gel and a packet of jelly beans and joined them. So much for the hot weather we’d been promised!

My previous VLM time of 4 hours 45 minutes surely had something to do with the starting group I was placed in. I was starting the race from pen 8 (out of 9) so it was a good 15 minutes before the I crossed the start line and I immediately had to face a home truth.

Mile 1
There was no way that I was going to be able to stick to the 9-minute-mile pace I’d wanted to (and trained for). The crowds were just too big. I found myself checking my watch every few seconds and watching the little digital man run further and further away from me. 3 minutes in and I was already 40 seconds off pace! What a start.

Mile 2
The rain had now cleared but somehow I was still getting wet. How? Because a priest was blessing the runners with Holy Water from the side of the road!

Mile 3
We merged with the blue and green running groups (yes, I did boo them and shout ‘cheat’ a few times) and the red (optimum) race line appeared on the road. But of course there is no way of sticking to it as the numbers are just too high.

Mile 4
By this time I had scaled a few pavements, weaved my way through some stragglers and found my rhythm, partly thanks to the number of brilliant bands playing from the side of the road. Although I did have ‘Achy Breaky Heart‘ stuck in my head for the next two miles.

Mile 5
“Don’t tell my heart, my achy breaky heart…”. The Taiko Drums underneath the Greenwich flyover were amazing as usual. Check out this video to give you an idea of what it’s like under that bridge. It doesn’t do the volume justice at all. Absolutely awesome and what a motivator.

Unfortunately, straight after this the road merged from two lanes into one and forced everyone to a walking pace.

Mile 6
Into the heart of Greenwich we went and the crowds picked up to 3 people deep. This is quite a busy section for the crowds as this area is walking distance from the start line. Where the path was fenced there was a queue almost half a mile long of people trying to get out to the DLR. Spectators do have a tough time of it on race day, but they never complain because it pales into insignificance with the plight of a marathon runner. I would though! 5 hours on your feet, jostling through Central London and public transport on one of the busiest days of the year? What a nightmare!

Mile 7
Past the first of the TV cameras around the Cutty Sark and out towards Deptford. I’ve run this area of London a heck of a lot during training and there isn’t a lot to see. Luckily I spotted my supporters in the crowd, ready and waiting with the camera.

Mile 8
I spotted my first record breaker of the day. The tallest costume to finish the marathon was won by a giant yellow giraffe! The poor guy wearing it was having to hold the long neck (made from what looked like a piece of ventilation pipe) up with his hands. He must have been absolutely spent by the end of the race.

Mile 9
The former editor of Running Free magazine, Julia Buckley, jogged up behind me at this stage and said hello. Last year she ran a small piece on this blog in the magazine so it was great to finally meet Julia and she looked as fit as a fiddle. What Julia didn’t know was that I had picked mile 9 for a wee break (not a Scottish break but a toilet break) already in my head and after we’d finished chatting I snuck off to the side and watered the plants. Unfortunately I ended up running around the 15k timer, which is why I have no recorded time on my official stats.

Mile 10
I was feeling pretty good. The runners had evened out ever so slightly, my pace was fairly consistent and my pouch of jelly beans was keeping my fuel topped up.

Mile 11
By now we’d passed quite a few pubs and I was starting to feel a bit of resentment towards the beer sippers on the pavement. I’d quit beer for the 4 months prior to the marathon as a new year’s resolution, so that pint at the end of the race was starting to sound good. The sun was now out, making it perfect drinking weather. Just another 15 miles eh?!

Mile 12
Overcast again but pretty humid at the same time. So much so that the chant ‘OGGY OGGY OGGY’ had been switched to ‘MUGGY MUGGY MUGGY’. But, as ever, taking on water was really not a problem. I can’t praise the volunteers enough. On the day nobody goes thirsty as 750,000 bottles of water are handed out. It’s taking on too much water that is a worry. All of the bottles this year came with flip caps, which meant that you could carry them along with you. And with a bottle of water handed out at every mile there is a very serious risk of hyponatremia. I overcame this by showering my self at every available opportunity to try and avoid passing out from the heat (which nearly happened last year)

Mile 13
Over Tower Bridge and half of the marathon done! I’ve run over this bridge about 40 times but nothing really prepares you for it on race day. This is the bit that everyone sees on TV and you can’t help but get caught up in the euphoria. I was feeling surprisingly good and although I’d lost a bit of time in the crowd I’d managed to complete the half-way distance in just over 2 hours.

Mile 14
Down the Highway towards Canary Wharf and the leaders of the pack are already coming back in the opposite direction; not exactly a morale booster. But the spectators are now borderline farcical as they all cram around the roadside to get a good view.

Mile 15
Tiredness is starting to creep in and it doesn’t help that this is the longest and most boring road ever, with no real landmarks to take in, other than Canary Wharf staying exactly the same size in the distance. Someone cooks a barbecue right next to us and laces the entire stretch of road in smoke. Just what the doctor ordered.

Mile 16
As you enter the Isle of Dogs you travel under a tunnel and out of view of the spectators for the first time in the race. This is where you’ll find a lot of runners sneaking in a quick walk or a sit down now that the crowds can’t judge you. I actually caught another Lymphoma Association runner on the phone!

Mile 17
A psychological milestone. It was at this point last year that I had needed to walk, after feeling quite sick and light-headed. Not this year baby! And to top it off the crowds were better than ever. People are quick to comment on the lack of crowds around this area (Island Gardens), but I was bloody impressed.

Mile 18
Deep in the heart of Canary Wharf now and my mile times were starting to drop off slightly. This could have been due to the stadium-esque crowd levels distracting me from the race. It was truly ridiculous. I felt quite self conscious at one point as a clearing gave the spectators full view of my running vest and ripples of ‘Come on Sir Jog A Lot‘ went through the crowd.

Mile 19
I managed to sneak my way on to the BBC here. As brief as my moment of fame was, a ton of friends got in touch to say they’d seen me! I also clocked a work colleague dancing with her samba school. She cheered me on like I was a celebrity, which was awesome (cheers Karla!).

Mile 20
OK. So this is starting to get hard. The sun was out in force now. I was sick to death of my jelly beans and couldn’t stomach another carbo gel. Why was I starting to hit the wall when I’d fuelled up so well? The turn left on to the home straight was bugger all of a relief. That’s still another 6-mile slog.

Mile 21
Is that cramp? I actually hear myself say “Oh no!” out loud as my right calf starts to twinge with the first signs of cramp and I run with my toe pointed upwards as far as I can get it to try and stretch it out.

Mile 22
I’m still running. Every inch of my body wants to walk and I find myself cursing my own stupid, bloody blog post that stated that if anyone sees me walking they can kick me up the Khyber. Part of me really questions why I’m doing this. I feel terrible for thinking it, but is this really worth the pain? My only consolation, however harsh, is that there are still some runners going in the other direction and haven’t yet passed the halfway point. 4 more miles.

Mile 23
Without noticing it, my mile times level out a bit. I run at the pace I feel comfortable with and when I feel the need to walk I just turn it down a bit. It’s really hard now. I’m soaked through as with every mile I grab a bottle of water and cover myself with it.

Mile 24
I’m not smiling anymore. Not even when Liz Yelling hands me a bottle of Lucozade. What are you smiling at Liz? You’re not running are you? But even as I enter the tunnel before the Embankment, out of the eyes of the crowd and the wave of heat hits me, I don’t walk.

Mile 25
Big Ben symbolises the finish in the distance, but it looks so… far… away. But the crowds are just insane and the level of cheers turns to a roar. Who gives a monkeys about the landmarks in the distance when you have a crowd this energetic there to scream you on to the finish? It’s easy to think that the spectators don’t really understand the anguish you’re going through. But boy do they appreciate what you are doing and the standard of support is literally jaw dropping.

Mile 26
Spotting two friends here is just the kicker I need to get me down the Mall (which now resembles the travelator from Gladiators; a never-ending red treadmill). As I finally turn the corner and spot the finish line I can’t help but smile. This was much harder than last year and I don’t have anything left for a sprint finish. But once I’m across that line there’s nothing like it. It’s like having a water balloon of relief, joy, pain, dizziness and accomplishment smashed over your head.

LonDONE!

Time: 4:21:21 (25 minutes off last year)

The Aftermath
This video sums it all up.

]]> http://www.sirjogalot.com/2010/04/28/virgin-london-marathon-2010-race-day/feed/ 4 http://www.sirjogalot.com/2010/04/24/insert-motivational-speech-here/ http://www.sirjogalot.com/2010/04/24/insert-motivational-speech-here/#comments Sat, 24 Apr 2010 17:48:41 +0000 Sir Jog A Lot http://www.sirjogalot.com/?p=1789 So here we are again. Another four months of training done and this time tomorrow it’ll all be over.

I’ve just been for a walk around Blackheath and the atmosphere is absolutely electric. The blue, red and green starting pens are up, temporary fencing has been erected everywhere and there are lot of very nervous-looking faces carrying big red Virgin bags, walking with their eyes on stalks.

Tomorrow, 36,000 people will converge on my back garden, pee all over it and then run off! Over the course of the next few hours everyone of these people will then throw litter at least six times, most will urinate in public some more and some will even undress themselves in front of the Queen at Buckingham Palace!

Only during one Sunday of the year can you do all this and a) not get arrested and b) be given a medal for it! The London Marathon is, without a doubt, one hell of a momentous occasion. One that I am proud to be a part of for the second year running.

So before you put your body through a 26 mile slog (and my web traffic grinds to a halt again) let me first wish you the best of luck for the race. You’ve trained for months to get yourself into this position and just to be able to complete the 26 miles is a feat that even Pheidippides himself (the first ever marathon runner) couldn’t do without collapsing and dying!

If you are running for charity, then take a moment in the morning to remember why you are doing it. You’ll need that motivation at mile 20 when all you want to do is walk. If you feel like walking or even dropping out, before you do try to think about how you’ll feel after the race. It might take 20 minutes for you to start feeling better once you stop, but once that 20 minutes is gone you’ll have the rest of your life to redo that decision in your head.

This will only be the second time I’ve run a marathon. But I don’t half regret walking for that 30 seconds at mile 18 last year. So if you see me walking at any point tomorrow make sure you give me a good boot up the jacksy!

Please come and say hello if you spot this fluorescent green monstrosity. I’ll be all the way back in red pen 8 out of 9  this year.

Good luck and see you after!

SJAL x

Phil gave myself and some other marathon runners a really motivational speech before the event. I came away with a sincere admiration for this guy and I don’t think I’ve ever come across someone who has such a determination for charity.

So when I found out that Phil is doing the London Marathon again this year I was understandably impressed. But this year he has set himself a target of 26 hours and will be dedicating each mile of his walk to a different charity.

You can see a list of charities at his home page, but Phil’s first mile will be dedicated to Arthritis Research UK and he’ll be walking with Catherine Bull (22) who has Rheumatoid Arthritis. You can leave a message of support or leave a donation at the ‘Starting With Arthritis‘ page.

If you have any other amazing marathon stories then feel free to leave a comment below this post and tell us about it!

Now I can sit around and sulk about the fact that I’ll be potentially be running the marathon ill, or I can focus on getting better. It’s not uncommon for runners who have been training for 4 months to pick up a cold in the weeks before a race. In fact, I found myself reading my own blog post from last year to remind me of the fact.

Endurance training causes a rise in the hormone cortisol which causes stress. This stress can affect the immune system, which can make you more susceptible to infection! So basically, because I’m eating better and exercising more, I’m more likely to get a cold than Fatty McFatterson of Cheeseburger Land!

So today I’m writing this blog post from bed, watching cheesy daytime TV while nodding in and out of consciousness. The reality is that I’ve probably done all the training I can to get me through the marathon. For me to go out now and risk lengthening the illness by running would be really stupid.

I’ll be following the old neck rule on the day. Again, from last year’s post…

If your ailment is above the neck (sniffles, head colds, ear infections) then running will most likely not do you any harm and if your ailment is below the neck (injury, coughs, stomach aches) then running won’t do you any good.

I’m understandably a bit gutted, which is why receiving a good luck card from three terrific kids (Tilly, Jemima and Hector) cheered me up so much this morning. This is their depiction of me on race day (…and how right they will be)!

Off to get some more tissues…

What? Don’t kid yourself that you were reading this post for any information other than the amount of freebies you can get! We all know that attending the London Marathon Expo is all about picking up bags of free or bargain stuff.

I took the trip to pick up my marathon number early this year as my way of saying thanks to all of the volunteers who make the marathon go so smoothly. I live in London and the crowds usually get far busier on the Friday and Saturday as people have to travel at the end of the week and can’t get to the Expo any earlier. So on the first day possible I made my way down while the numbers were small. Merry Christmas Virgin!

After wading through the posse of Adidas sales people I made exactly the same mistake as I had last year and used the voucher at the front of the final instructions magazine to buy a ton of Lucozade Sport fodder, right at the start. Which meant that I had to carry a heavy bag of fluids around the arena (not recommended when trying to relax before a marathon). Please don’t take the last 4 posts on this blog to mean that I’m sponsored by Lucozade. I know I mentioned them a lot but they’re everywhere!

I’d recommend visiting the back of the arena if you need a break from trawling around all of the stands and getting your gait analysed 10 times. Listen to a few of the speakers and get some great last-minute advice on carb-loading, what to do on race day and where to find the Runner’s World pacers (basically, eat a little bit more for breakfast lunch and dinner for the next few days, don’t cover your number when you cross the finish line so they can’t find your photos and the 4-hour pacing group can be found in pen 5).

It’s all very exciting. One speaker made the point that you may never get to play at Wembley alongside Rooney, or at Wimbledon against Murray, but come Sunday you’ll be running the best marathon event in the World alongside the best athletes in the World. It’s hard not to get a little bit anxious!

It’s a great event with everything you could possibly need to get round the marathon. On Friday Paula Radcliffe and Eammon Martin will be on stage and there’ll be over 140 exhibitors ready to schmooze the life out of you. Enjoy it and bring a bit of dosh if you have it to spare! Also, try to catch a bit of Dave Bedford’s stand up while you’re there…

If you do feel like having a bit of sex after the marathon by way of a reward to yourself, then make sure you swing your medal behind your back so you don’t knock anyone’s teeth out!

P.S. You thought I’d forgotten didn’t you?!

Goodie bag:

• Jointace Massage Gel
• Strawberry Yazoo Milkshake
• Mitchum Deodorant
• Can of London Pride Beer
• Nature Valley Fruit & Nut Bar
• Velvet Crunch Crisps
• Ricola Herb Drops
• Lots of leaflets!

Extra freebies I picked up:

• Adidas Deodorant
• Big Bag of Jelly Babies
• Action For Children Oyster Card Holder
• £10 Off Voucher for zipvitsport.com
• Virgin Money Pen
• Running Free Magazine
• Marathon Pace Wristband
• Athletics Weekly Magazine

Congratulations to..

1. Mark Entwisle from Bracknell
2. Graham Cutter from Fareham
3. Shafiq Khan from Lancashire
4. Katy Greene from Pitstone
5. Richard Taylor from East Lothian

Your Lucozade Sport Marathon packs are on their way to you and you should have them before the race this coming Sunday.

Good luck! SJAL

• Lucozade Sport Body Fuel in Raspberry
• Lucozade Sport Body Fuel Caffeine Boost
• Lucozade Sport Jelly Beans
• Lucozade Sport Carbohydrate Energy Tablets
• Lucozade Sport Orange Cereal Bar
• Lucozade Sport Mixed Berry Cereal Bar
• VLM Course Route Runners Guide
• Liz & Martin Yelling’s VLM Tips

To enter, simply leave your name and your predicted race time in a comment below (just for interests sake)! I’ll announce the winners on Monday so we can get your packs out to you before the race on the following Sunday (race day).

Good luck! SJAL.

THIS COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED

Your email address will in no way be distributed to third parties. Entry to UK residents only.

The wave of nausea that hit me was quite unexpected. It immediately brought back the latter stages of the marathon and it took me 4 gulps get the stuff down.

I’ve never enjoyed taking carbo gels. Firstly, the taste and sensation takes some getting used to. I’ve tried out quite a few different types of gel while training for the marathon, each with varying levels of viscosity. I simply can’t get used to the process of squeezing a sachet of runny, bitter-sweet goop down my throat without feeling the urge to regurgitate.

But if you are going to get through that dreaded wall, then you need to fuel yourself sufficiently to stop your body’s glycogen stores from depleting and turning to fat as an energy source. In 2010, Lucozade Sport will, for the first time, be providing carbo gels to London Marathon runners at miles 14 and 21 to help runners with that extra fuel they need to get through the final stages of the race. While I’m sure that this is a welcome introduction for a lot of you, I’ll be trying something different.

I’ll never forget the rush I felt at mile 22 of last year’s race when I grabbed a jelly baby from a helpful kid at the side of the road and wolfed it down. The effect was almost immediate. So, a few weeks ago I tried out some PowerBar Gel Blasts on my last long run to see how they’d fair against carbo gels. These gel blasts are like large Haribo sweets with a gooey filling.

They’re quite big and need a bit of chewing so consuming them can affect your breathing. I took one every half an hour, which meant I had to carry 7 with me. Unfortunately, the website recommends you take 1-3 every 10 minutes! Which, would have meant that I’d have to consume 18 of them on my run! I’d barely have time to breathe!

Last week Lucozade Sport sent through some sample sachets of their Jelly Beans and I tried them out on a 12.5 miler on the weekend. I have to say, the results were pretty spectacular. Admittedly, the distance wasn’t quite as long as the week before, but my split times were better than ever! I set a new PB.

I’d taken a sachet half an hour before the run and had another sachet while I was out. Once I’d washed them down, I felt a hell of a lot more sprightly. Rather than just being sweets, the jelly beans are packed full of carbohydrates and are a welcome alternative to the gels.

But again, they advise you to consume quite a lot to obtain the same amount of energy you’d receive from a gel sachet. Having no pockets in my shorts, I simply carried a sachet in my hand while running. So at one stage I was running with a water bottle under my arm, tipping the sachet into my right hand and consuming half the packet in one go to try and get it out of the way. With a mouth full of jelly beans, my breathing was obviously affected.

On race day I’ll empty a few packets of these into a pouch on my arm and consume them gradually over time. This, coupled with a bowl of pasta for the previous three nights running, should see me to the finish line. Just over a week to go now!

Let me know if you have any tips on how to get through the wall and how you’ll be carrying your fuel to cross the finish line.

If you fancy winning some of these jelly beans to run the marathon with then make sure you enter the competition to win a Lucozade Sport marathon race packs.