I’ve touched down a little bit on this in my last post – you need fuel, energy to keep you going when you train. I try to get most of the energy from what I eat and from getting decent amount of sleep. I aim to get at least eight hours of sleep when I’m training; even 30 minutes longer sleep than usual makes a big difference.
When it comes to energy on the go, everyone is little different and is good to experiment and find out what suits you best. Generally, for a run up to an hour I don’t take anything else with me but water. For longer runs of around 90-120 minutes I will mix an electrolyte drink and for anything over two hours I’ll have gels and water. I have noticed that if I run in the morning, I am quite often hungry so I’ve started carrying energy bars or jelly beans with me. Personally, I much prefer running after work or at lunch time and my long ‘morning’ Sunday runs very rarely start before 11am, unless it’s a race. Surprisingly I have no problem with getting up early for that; I did a 28km race starting at 7am last year and loved it.
If you are training for a marathon or half-marathon, find what works for you when you are out and about as realising that some gels give you stomach cramps on the race day is not something I would wish you to experience.
Eva Marasca 
This theme got me motivated to go back to the gym yesterday. And I’ll be going again today. Did 4km/40min yesterday and didn’t feel too good during it (calves hurting after all winter in hibernation), but I’m going to work myself up slowly…. how should I pace myself as a beginner? I want to try adding on .5km a day, but don’t want to hurt myself. I’ve had a knee injury through work and don’t want to exacerbate it.
Alex Hurst, A Fantasy Author in Kyoto
A-Z Blogging in April Participant
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Well done for getting back to running 🙂 Important thing is not to do too much too quickly. I wouldn’t recommend more than three runs a week just yet – give your body time to recover and adjust. It will be more beneficial in the long run, especially with your knee – you don’t want to aggravate it. I would try running the same distance (4km) twice – once as a steady run at a pace you find comfortable and second time as an interval session. You could then increase your third run by 0.5km and keep it again at a comfortable pace. And don’t forget to add some strength exercises and stretching 🙂
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Sounds great! Thanks for the tips. I really appreciate it. 🙂 My shins were killing me after my second run, haha. Gotta stretch more.
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