The Wall

After three short runs totalling 17 miles, I'm finishing the week off tomorrow with a 21½mi run.

Now there's only so far you can go before the glycogen stores in your muscles run out. Then the body tries to burn fat and this doesn't work so well. This change happens somewhere around the 18 mile mark. Pain follows and it's called 'hitting the wall'.

The way to avoid the wall is to take on extra energy just before and during the long runs. Lucozade Sport is provided roughly every five miles of the marathon and it's a good idea to practice drinking it on training runs. Jelly beans are another good suggestion, but in training for 2002 I found that I couldn't eat them and breathe at the same time. Not good! It's really important to do any experimenting in training rather than on race day.

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