As I prepare for the Virgin London Marathon 2010, I would like to share my experiences, the ups and downs of training and throw in some hints and tips that I hope will help other inexperienced marathon runners.

CHARITY

If you have been following my Marathon survival guide, you will have read the name ‘The Outward Bound Trust’ a few times.

The Outward Bound Trust is an educational charity that teaches life skills and helps develop young people to become stronger and more positive with life, to overcome their fears and to learn to work with people to gain respect and learn to trust.

I like to keep reminding myself why I am running the marathon so I’ve added another photo this month of me with some of the young people when I went to visit an Outward Bound Centre in Wales.

If you would like to sponsor me and support this great charity, you should log onto:

(http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/LeeLatchfordEvans)

TRAINING

With only three months to go, I would like to be able to tell you that my training is exceptional – that I’m running 4 times a week and already running up to 12 miles!

Well ¨ha ha¨! Let’s be honest - is there anyone out there that actually went running outdoors with 5 inches of snow on the ground for two weeks…. Uuumm? I don’t think so! If you did then you are crazier than me.

Unfortunately with the bloated feeling of Christmas still looming over me I could only manage to do some core stability work. I could not even get to a gym as I was blocked in my home for a while.

So I took to using a ¨Stability Ball¨ and a TRX training system (look out for my TRX workout coming soon in my PhysicaLee fit section).

The Stability Ball work was actually quite hard and anybody that thinks these are just for girls - you are very much mistaken! You can do a whole range of exercises and include weights or resistance bands for that extra kick. I was spending 45 minutes a day doing an intensive all over body workout.

PUSHING UP THE PACE WITH WILL!

Now because of this weather set back I was starting to worry about the effect that it would have over my running training. I sent my training adviser, Will Cockerel, an email and asked him to devise a plan for me once I could get out there and hit the road.

My training now consists of a devised plan by Will starting me off with 4 runs a week, gradually building in mileage and length of long run:

• 3 mile road run averaging 8 minutes a mile
• 5 mile run with intervals of 4 x 2 minutes hard running. This was a new experience for me as I usually set a steady pace and sustain that pace. Adding interval training threw me off guard a bit. I finished the 5 miler in 42 minutes and had an average HR of 153bpm. I was averaging 8 ½ minutes a mile – right on track to finish the Marathon in under 4 hours – provided I can sustain it for another 21 miles!
• 7 mile run with intervals of 4 x 2 minutes hard running. This was my idea! I wanted to push myself and was doing really well, using my Garmin Forerunner 405 CX as my virtual training partner. Then suddenly at the 5 ½ mile stage, I had pain in my right knee and my back decided to let me know it was not very happy.

TOO MUCH TOO SOON!

I thought I had got passed the whole injury problem as I have had physiotherapy on my back and the sciatic pain that I had been feeling was improving. This time, it was affecting my knee – but I have learned that if you have an injury in one part of the body, other parts work harder to compensate. That in turn can cause stress on those other parts. I think that is what has happened – and maybe trying to do too much too soon. I am not a long distance runner!

Physicool

I used my own initiative and bought myself something to help the knee, but another trip to the Physiotherapist is needed again.

The bandages I am using are called Physicool bandages (www.physicool.co.uk). They are very easy to use, come in a small pack all ready to go, and you can even recharge the bandage via a small recharge bottle

It works by drawing heat out as opposed to other products that push cold in. It’s made from a special cotton bandage which has its own natural elasticity to provide support. The bandage is impregnated with a special cooling fluid which starts to cool as soon as it comes into contact with the warm skin. There is no need to refrigerate the bandage and the amazing thing is that it can be ¨recharged¨ simply by adding additional coolant to make the bandage damp again.

I felt my knee instantly start to cool and relax and it gave me the confidence to walk around later on.

NUTRITION

I have calculated that my Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) is around 1,850. This means that just sitting, talking, thinking, eating and breathing I need a minimum of 1,850 calories to survive!
If we combine my training regime where I am working out every day, I am burning an average of 700 calories each time I work out. For example, in a 5 mile run, I will burn 560 kcal, and my last gym session including rowing, spinning and weight training, I burned 920 kcal. Without being a scientist, this means that my body needs 2,500 kcal per day (when training) so I need to refuel at that level.

So what is my diet like?

Well I am trying to stick to the basic principles:

• Eat a balanced diet, every single meal, every single day, consisting of carbohydrate, protein and dietary fats.
• Drink lots of water – before, during and after exercise – in fact all day!
• Ensure I have a pre-exercise meal containing a small amount of protein, dietary fats and easily digestible foods rich in carbohydrates (2-3 hours before exercise)
• Take a small nutritious snack 30 minutes before you exercise
• If my training regime lasts more than 90 minutes, replenish lost glycogen stores with easy to digest, high glucose carbs (e.g. glucose based sports drinks or an energy bar)
• Eat a balanced meal within 2 hours after exercise to replenish lost nutrients, ensuring that this contains protein to help to repair and rebuild muscles damaged through exercise and to maximize the bodies ability to store glycogen.

A Typical Day in the Life of Lee!

I thought I would share with you what a typical day in my world looks like with my training and nutrition:

7.30am train a private client.
8.45am a healthy breakfast which will include freshly squeezed fruit juice, a mix of Oranges, pears, grapes, apples and even carrots. A bowl of porridge oats mixed in with Sci-MX GRS 5 Protein powder, made with skimmed milk and topped with fresh blueberry’s and flax seeds.
9.30am Go for a run as part of my Marathon training.
10.30am Sci-MX Rapid Recovery drink to replace my electrolytes typically lost during my training and provide me with all the good nutrients my body needs to help recover. 30minutes later, a Tuna sandwich made fresh with wholemeal bread, cucumber, lettuce and tomato.
11.30am – 5pm Business meetings, work on Famously Fit and personal training client preparation. During this time I had a Sci-MX omni-MX shake, snack on mixed nuts, drank lots of water and a small chicken salad.
6pm Main meal – Salmon with sweet potatoes, spinach and broccoli. Followed by a dessert of fresh strawberries with low fat organic yogurt sprinkled with poppy, sunflower and sesame seeds accompanied with a pint of water.
8pm Teach boxercise class followed by an upper body weights workout afterwards.
10pm Sci-MX shake within 30mins of finishing my exercise
11pm Bed (aaaaah!)

Whilst supplements must never replace healthy, fresh foods in the long term, when you are putting your body under extra stress (as I am preparing for the Marathon), short term supplements can provide a great boost and that is why I am involving them in my diet to help me with my training.

Sci-MX are one of the leading nutritional company for sports athletes and their products are supported by scientific research and are free from many of the chemical additives, colourings and flavourings that you frequently find in supplements. Anyone that really wants to improve their fitness and tone, bulk or even lose weight could benefit from their supplements. You can find out more about Sci-MX products on (www.sci-mx.co.uk)