Hello all you lovely (and super athletic) marathoners. HM neophyte calling.

[ForbiddenPlanet]

I had been thinking for a while that it would be nice to have a long run at the weekends, and today, just sort of carried on until I had covered about the HM distance - 21.4 km

I hope to make it a regular feature of my running, and wondered if I might have a nice shiny HM badge, please?

[Irishprincess Administrator Half Marathon]

Here you go! Well done and well deserved 👍

[ForbiddenPlanet Half Marathon in reply to Irishprincess]

Thank you IP - much appreciated! 😀

[SueAppleRun 10 Miles]

Nice one very well done

[ForbiddenPlanet Half Marathon in reply to SueAppleRun]

Thank you Sola! 🙏

[Lizcanrun Half Marathon]

Wow! Well done 🎉🏅

[ForbiddenPlanet Half Marathon in reply to Lizcanrun]

Thank you! 🙏

[misswobble Marathon]

Lovely jubbly 😀💪👍. Well done

[Cmoi Marathon]

Well done ForbiddenPlanet (that's how I did all my "distances" up and including MM - just carried on!)

[ForbiddenPlanet Half Marathon in reply to Cmoi]

Thank you Cmoi I don't think I'm quite up to Ultras yet (maybe never!) - but in awe of those who can! 👏

[Cmoi Marathon in reply to ForbiddenPlanet]

I've only ever done one marathon and am definitely not up to an ultra at the moment - just pleased to get back to 10k this morning!

[ForbiddenPlanet Half Marathon in reply to Cmoi]

Of course, apologies, I was forgetting your recent travails whilst on my post run high. 🙇‍♂️ I hope the recovery continues to go well.🤞

[Cmoi Marathon in reply to ForbiddenPlanet]

Thanks ForbiddenPlanet 😀👍

[Sandraj39 Half Marathon]

Well done - nice shiny badge too!🙂

[ForbiddenPlanet Half Marathon in reply to Sandraj39]

Thank you Sandra - more bling is always good!

[Beachcomber66 Administrator Half Marathon]

Welcome to the crazy gang!! 🙂

[ForbiddenPlanet Half Marathon in reply to Beachcomber66]

Cheers, I can definitely do the crazy bit! 😁

[linda9389 Administrator Marathon]

Fabulous! Congratulations!!! Love that is sounds almost accidental 😍

[ForbiddenPlanet Half Marathon in reply to linda9389]

Thank you! Yes it was pretty impulsive, when I got home I wondered if I might have overdone things(again!) but I seem to have gotten away with it, this time! 😁

[linda9389 Administrator Marathon in reply to ForbiddenPlanet]

Yay! The best kind of impulsive 😁

[Hedgehogs123 Metric Marathon]

oh wow, well done you!!👏🏃‍♀️

[ForbiddenPlanet Half Marathon in reply to Hedgehogs123]

Thank you HH! Hope your running is going well!

[Hedgehogs123 Metric Marathon in reply to ForbiddenPlanet]

Still recovering from COVID and a nasty fall a few weeks ago but am aiming to enter for a half marathon next March. Max distance I've ever ran is 10 miles and only done that once but with time to train, thought it would be a good challenge for me. Right now, it seems a very big goal!! 😵‍💫

[ForbiddenPlanet Half Marathon in reply to Hedgehogs123]

Oh dear - very sorry to hear of those nasties, but good to know you're on the rebound. Best wishes for the HM; if I can stumble my way that far, I'm sure you can kill it! 💪 🏃‍♀️Looking forward to hearing about your progress! 😀

[nowster Metric Marathon]

Well done! If you have the time to do it, the Half Marathon is a great distance to do every now and then. The first one takes a few days to recover from. The more you do the more your legs get used to it, and the recovery takes less time.

How did you do with the fuel/fluids on the run?

[ForbiddenPlanet Half Marathon in reply to nowster]

Thanks nowster . I hope to do long runs regularly; tbh in terms of effort it felt pretty much like a gentle hike, until my energy levels dropped at around 19 km.

It was totally unplanned so I did nothing special as regards fuel or fluids. I had a black coffee about an hour before which is my habit, and a small banana. Next time I plan to add some toast and peanut butter and a pint of water before setting out, and take a couple of gels with me.

I might have stopped if I felt thirsty, but that didn't happen. My usual resting HR is 49, but on Sunday it was actually slightly lower at 48, and didn't get above 138 on the run. That was the main metric I was watching. (And RHR has been 49 as usual since then).

I did a 4.2 km recovery run yesterday, which was fine. Then this morning a 40 minute Easy Run as part of my 5K plan. That ended up @ 6.4 km, but though my legs felt fine my energy level hit a wall at the 5K mark, so I think my glycogen stores are still rebuilding.

[nowster Metric Marathon in reply to ForbiddenPlanet]

I'd suggest starting to refuel at about the 45 minute point, then having a little something every 1km after that.

Incidentally, I looked at the nutritional analysis of Tunnocks Caramel Wafers. They're more energy dense than most gels, with a mixture of sugars and starches, and a bit of protein too. They're also cheaper than gels, with a packet of 8 costing about the same as 1½ gels.

Per 30g biscuit: 134kcal, 5.2g fat, 10.4g sugars, 10.4g other carbs, 1.1g protein, 0.2g salt.

[ForbiddenPlanet Half Marathon in reply to nowster]

Thanks that's a great tip. 🙏👍🧇

I have some SIS gels to use up as I bought them ages ago when they were on offer (in Lidl - amazing the stuff they have there!). Looking at the packet they have an expiry of August 22 so I better get on and use them up!

Also, looking at the packet, I saw the main ingredient is maltodextrin which is a super cheap additive commonly used in processed foods, but somehow, when marketed to runners it makes for a premium priced product. 😂