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.

Just before I felt it coming on I did my biggest run so far (and ever). After this it would mean tapering down all the way to the marathon. The 20 miles took me 3 hours 20 minutes. Again, not a great time but at least I managed to squeeze an extra mile in to that time slot. I’d prepared well for the run. I’d had beans on brown toast for breakfast and this time I’d taken 3 carbo gels with me that I’d bought the day before from the London Marathon shopin Covent Garden.

To be honest, I didn’t really feel any effect after taking them. It was a pretty hot day during the run and I had to ration the water in the bottle I was carrying as it’s not very big. Apparently it’s important to get your water intake right while taking the gels so maybe this had something to do with it but I still felt knackered at the end and couldn’t keep a decent pace. In hindsight, this is probably because I was on the verge of the WORST COLD EVER, and I’ll finish the marathon (I’m sure of it) but I really don’t think I’m going to be able to complete it in under 4 hours.

This, coupled with the fact that being ill has stopped my training, has meant that this has been a tough week. I’d wanted to keep training so badly during these past couple of days (especially as the marathon is now less than 3 weeks away). I nearly followed the ‘neck rule‘; 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 not sure if there is any scientific theory behind this rule but I rested up nonetheless.

Apparently, the volume of runners that pull out of the marathon due to illness is quite high. Here’s a fact that’ll put a smile on couch potatoes across the land. 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!

Of course, I’m exaggerating (I’m not well). The key difference is the volume of exercise. Running for anything longer than 90 minutes causes blood sugar levels to drop to a level where this hormone is more prevalent. Marathon runners exceed this regularly in training and as a result, towards the end of their training, many marathoners pick up a cold.

This wouldn’t have mattered to me if I’d picked up this cold the day before the London Marathon, I’d still have blamed my girlfriend. I’m terrified that something bad is going to happen between now and the big day and I won’t be able to run. I’ve stopped playing football in case I pick up an injury, I’ve stopped drinking so I’m never running on a hangover and I’m taking a Berocca every day to keep the vitamin-C up. 17 days left to avoid twisting my ankle walking off a pavement…

Next week I’ll be attending the Justgiving pre-London Marathon Meet-up at the RIBA, London. Hopefully I’ll see a few fellow bloggers there to watch the 4 speakers, Monty Halls, Simon Foster, Sally Kettle and Vanessa Galeshare their tips on fundraising. I’ve got £200 to go…