Berlin Marathon: My Gel Hell

I'm struggling with energy gels. I just can't get the blighters open.

It came to a head halfway round my long eight-mile run yesterday. I took a Science In Sport lemon and lime job in my belt with the intention of a quick hit to help me through the last three miles. 

I took hold of it at Barnes Bridge. As usual, the gel foil was slippery and my fingers were sweaty meaning I couldn't get enough grip on the little tear-off strip. I tried my teeth, wiped my fingers on my non-absorbent Welsh Castles Relay shirt but all to no avail. In the end I had to stop, dry off and do it properly which was irritating. 

I once raised the issue with SIS in a Twitter Q&A. They recommended the teeth method. The one time that did work for me the foil jagged on one of my comedy 70s tooth fillings and sent an electric shock down to my vaselined toes. Nobody else seems to struggle so I guess I need more practice but if you've got any tips send them my way. 

Once open the gel always gives me an extra yard but there must be an easier way. 

The run was otherwise uneventful; cool and cloudy conditions along the Thames on the longest day of a summer that hasn't really got going. My glutes were still complaining for the first mile after Friday's lunges and there is definite metatarsal discomfort in my right foot. I may need more than one rest day this week to give it a chance to recover. 

I rehydrated with an excellent SIS Rego shake and lunched on poached eggs and beans on toast again. Then all the good work was undone by a couple of lunchtime pints of Dark Star Hophead at The Bree Louise in Euston and a Fathers' Day Nepalese feast at the Monkey Temple in Shepherd's Bush.  

Don't tell my PT. 

Berlin Marathon: 2.4km Sprint Test

My personal trainer set me a test: run 2.4km as fast as you can on a treadmill and tell her the result next week. That's one-and-a-half miles.

A quick Google search suggests that's the mandatory fitness test for the armed forces and the police; 12 minutes seems to be the maximum time allowed. 

So I headed down there and got on that goddam treadmill. I warmed up for five minutes at a 1% gradient and faffed about with the controls to get it up to a decent speed. I started at 4'30 per km and gradually quickened minute by minute. I got it up to 4'10km in the sprint finish and ended with a time of 10'58. Sweat all over the machine. I was pleased with that as a marker but I think I can go quicker. I was breathing heavily but still had more in the tank. 

My main concern was discomfort in my right metatarsal area. Maybe a warning that I'm overdoing it again. Need to keep monitoring that carefully. 

My PT has also given me some sleep and eating diaries to fill in. Should be fun. 

I feasted on poached egg and beans on toast then headed to watch big Joe in his final at the Marlow Regatta at Dorney Lake. Moody weather for June 20. 

We got back home in time to enjoy a bottle of red wine and a felafel pitta bread. 

Berlin Marathon: 1st PT Session

I've taken the financial plunge and hired a personal trainer. One session a week between now and the marathon at £45 a pop - that's on top of the £75 a month it costs to not go to the Virgin Active very much every month. Try not to think about it.

Yasmine is an endurance running specialist. She's run a marathon in Germany and done plenty of halves. It turns out she finished a few minutes behind me in the Hackney half last month. I'm looking forward to seeing what difference she makes. 

The first session began with a warm-up on a ski-ing machine I hadn't used before followed by a reintroduction to some of those horrible exercises I stopped doing years ago because they were so annoying: squats, lunges, walking lunges. There were also a few new ones - the sumo squat with a 12kg kettlebell, tyre flips, medicine ball throwing and plyo box jumps. 

It was a tough workout. I worked up a sweat and really felt the leg muscles straining. I was glad to shuffle off into the steam room and jacuzzi after a challenging hour. 

I lunched on poached eggs and beans on toast then rehydrated for the rest of the day with my visiting brother: a couple of Oliver's Islands under the swifts at The Blue Boat on the river at Hammersmith, a couple of DNAs a bit further west on the hot and steamy patio of The Old Ship and a pale ale for the road in the sun-drenched Eagle beer garden in Askew Road.  

All Fridays should be like this. 

Berlin Marathon: Doing The Strand

Wednesday

Tried a new route for the easy five miler today. Started near the Virgin Active on the Strand on a warm and sunny morning. Jogged down the north side of the Embankment, over Westminster Bridge, west on the south bank past Parliament, over Lambeth Bridge and onto Millbank then along the Embankment over Vauxhall Bridge. 

The route back was similar but I made the mistake of staying on the south bank after Westminster Bridge which meant a lot of tourist and school trip dodging around the London Eye. 

Enjoyable route nonetheless and I was glad to hydrate with a protein shake in the changing room. 

Rounded off a pretty active day by heading to the Village Underground in Shoreditch to watch the excellent Go! Team via a couple of pints of London Pale Ale in The Clachan and a couple more Hackney IPAs in the Crown and Shuttle opposite the venue. Recommend the £6 shish kebabs at the grill on the corner next to the pub. 

Warning: avoid the over-priced aeroplane-style tins of Tiger beer inside the VU. Bleurgh. 

Thursday

A sluggish 40-minute tempo run down to the Thames and back after work. Felt hot, thirsty and bloated after a potsu late lunch in Itsu. Managed a reasonable 7'47 pace but never felt happy. Weird how that happens sometimes. I think I'm more of a morning runner. Warm enough for a rare alfresco salad tea on the decking. 

Berlin Marathon: Lebanese carbs

Up at 6.30am for an easy half-hour around cool and cloudy Acton Park then 20 press-ups before breakfasting like a king on a protein shake. Yesterday's sports massage has paid off.

Jon Pertwee today

Carbed up at lunchtime by sharing a Lebanese meze in Soho with visiting Vince. Washed it down with a quick visit to the Old Coffee House in Beak Street. 

Vince: "Do you serve coffee?"

World-weary barmaid: "No."

"But it's called the Old Coffee House."

"It used to be a coffee house. Now we sell proper drinks."

We settled for a pint of Brodies' Kiwi and a glass of lemonade. 

Berlin Marathon: Sports Massage

Rest day in the first full week of training and STILL feeling a bit stiff post-Wales so I cycled down to the Park Club for a luxury sports massage.

Richard was recommended by a friend who's having physio on his injured knee. He charges £35 for half an hour lying in a small, warm room listening to the pumping cardio class in the studio upstairs while he works his magic.

First up some firm pressure on the hips before attention turned to the thighs and ITBs while we compared football notes. The Manchester City badge on my tracksuit top gave me away. He's a United fan but he promised not to be too harsh on me. 

Back of knee selfie

The back quarter-hour was the best. Warm, repeated massage on those tight hamstrings and some almost-painful work on calfs which I didn't even realise were tight. It ended with some ankle flexing and a welcome glass of water to flush out those Richard-released toxins. 

The vastus lateralis glowed, the gluteus relaxed and the tibialis anterior sighed softly into the white towels. I had a new mini spring in my step when I headed back to the bike rack. 

I'll be back. 

Berlin Marathon: 14 weeks and 6 days to go

Saturday

I took a week off running after the buttock-burning 13 miles of the Welsh Castles Relay last Saturday so this weekend is the first couple of days of focused training for the marathon on September 27. 

I'm following the Bupa intermediate plan with the intention of using a personal trainer at the Virgin Active club once a week. 

It was the Reading Regatta so I dropped Joseph off at the course at 8am, helped to assemble the boat club marquee then jogged alongside that lovely, leafy stretch of the Thames for an easy six-miler in the drizzle. 

Swallows, common terns, whitethroats, swifts, blackcaps, red kites - just some of the reasons I never listen to music while I run. I love the scenery and the sounds all around me. I ran west along the path towards Pangbourne. Flat as a pancake until the third mile when it diverted up a steep metal bridge over the railway then up a steeper hill through a housing estate sounding of chiffchaffs. Me and my glutes were happy to make the turn back. 

I misread the watch on the run home and thought I'd nearly finished when I still had a mile to go. No problem. The goslings and swans near the chandlery were a marvellous sight. 

I rehydrated with a SIS protein shake and paid £2.35 to shower and change in the Rivermead Leisure Complex. 

A decent enough return to the orange Asics trainers (I left the Brooks out in the rain on Friday night) but I'm still sore from that monster hill at Llanfair Caerinion. I need a foam roll and a soak in the jacuzzi. 

One of the parents chugged me into running Berlin to raise money for the boat club. It's a good idea. A lot of people will be getting unwelcome sponsorship emails. 

Sunday

Woke up dehydrated after an evening at Tim and Tracey's party. A few too many Heinekens and Sols to go with the Pride at the regatta and the Brewers Union beers in the garden. The impromptu dad dancing may explain the stiff thighs but it's more likely to be yesterday's run. 

I hauled myself off to the gym and ran in the rain around Acton Park for an easy half an hour. That hill still makes me groan every time I run up it. Three and a half laps then back to the gym for some powerpad planks, a sauna and a jacuzzi. 

This just might be day one of the ambitious no-booze-at-home plan for the duration of the training. So far so good. We'll see. Rest day tomorrow.