It's amazing that something so simple can cause so many issues. I tried salt tablets with no success in London which is why I didn't mention it in the video but will pin this comment so others that may have the same issues can see it!
I do take a magnesium supplement daily. Also, the salt tablets I took at London have 30mg of potassium and 6mg of magnesium (not sure if this is a lot but they didn’t seem to help anyway)
Great video, particularly like the stats/info on 12 week build before each marathon. I've bought more carbon shoes than I care to admit 😂 but the ones that baffle me are Adios Pro which most seem to get on well with, but I can't do more than 4-5 miles at marathon pace in before balls of feet start to hurt, a lot. Same issue AP1 and AP3. If I had rocked up to a marathon without testing them I'd have been in a world of pain. Good luck for Valencia, look forward to seeing the result.
Thank you! Oh really? That’s interesting. I switched from Vaporflys to Pro 3s around a year ago because I felt that the Vaporflys didn’t give enough support around my ankles and I rolled in while wearing them. I’m happy enough with the pro 3s that I don’t want to take a £200+ risk on another brand. I’ve experienced mild feet burning a few times but nothing major and probably nothing to do with the shoes for me!
Some great tips in this video. It would be interesting to know what might have caused such consistent cramping, it seems like if you can figure that out then the potential is huge!
Thank you! I will definitely make a video when I figure it out but so far have tried what I thought were the main potential causes with no results (training in carbons, hydration, salt, mileage). At this point I would be happy just pushing the cramp back to a reasonable distance like 20miles! haha
Good insights, fueling is key! Soft flasks with Maurten 320 worked well for me in Valencia a few years back. You said you take 3 with Maurten 320, how many packs do you use, guessing 2 split across 3 flasks, so 160g carbs?
Thank you! I make up 2 packs in 500ml bottles then split them between the 3 flasks and usually just sip the remaining 250ml in the 90mins before the race. So 120g from drinks during the race + 2 gels is another 44g (I actually dropped one at Valencia last year so only had 142g total). I’ll aim to train the gut for 3 gels and 3 flasks this year, so around 186g in total
Nice! It's definitely worth doing at least a few of your marathon specific workouts in them. I've found both Nike and Adidas carbons cut up my heels the first time so you can hopefully avoid that on race day too. Good Luck!
Thank you!! I work for myself as a currency trader so as long as I get the work/training balance right over the year as a whole I’m able to prioritise my running into marathons
Body needs both potassium and sodium to avoid cramps. If you look closely at the nutritional information for some of the most popular gels like Maurten, SiS, etc., you’ll notice that there is not nearly enough electrolytes (I.e., sodium). Personally, I like Gu Liquid Energy which has 190 mg of sodium per gel and it’s not so sickly sweet and gooey as the regular kind. Then add in some drink mixes that have potassium. Or just add into your drinks some “lite” salt which you can get at the local grocery store. Lite salt is for people who have high blood pressure and can’t have too much sodium. So the sodium chloride is replaced with potassium chloride, hence “lite” in sodium.
Oh yeah you’re definitely right about the lack of potassium. I’ve checked all my gels and drink mixes and none have potassium listed so it’s something worth looking into 100%. I do use Maurten drink mix which has 0.5g of salt per serving but potentially still not enough when spread over 20K?
From a chemical perspective, both sodium chloride and potassium chloride are both “salts”. While the Maurten drink mix may have 0.5 g of salt, it is likely only sodium chloride. If you are only taking Maurten gels and drink mixes during your marathon, you are probably not getting any potassium. I usually mix up my own drinks so I can add precisely how much maltodextrin and fructose that I want, including sodium and potassium. It’s actually quite easy and a lot cheaper than buying drink mixes. I’m happy to share what goes into my mixes if you’d like. Just let me know.
Sorry, TH-cam is not good at giving notifications for comment replies.. I’d definitely be keen to hear what you use so I can try it out in some marathon specific sessions!
@@Ryan.Thomson For each 150 mL soft flask, I mix up the following ingredients. 1) 2 scoops maltodextrin powder, 2) half to full scoop fructose powder, 3) however much caffeine you like in tablet form (or none if you don’t want any)- I usually like 50 mg which is quarter tablet, 4) 1/10 teaspoon “lite” salt which will contain your potassium, 5) 1/10 teaspoon regular table salt. I suggest making the drink in a water bottle first and then pouring into your soft flask. I found that the following method works best. Pour 150 mL water into a water bottle, then add the caffeine and salt only. Shake it up until all of it dissolves. Then add the maltodextrin and fructose and shake hard until it dissolves (may take a few minutes!). If you try to add all the ingredients in at the same time, the caffeine and salt don’t dissolve very well. A few things to note - the fructose is very sweet so you can add more or less depending on your tolerance level. But having some fructose is good because the body metabolizes it using a different pathway than maltodextrin so you get extra calories. Another tip is that you can make more than one soft flask worth of drink at once in a water bottle. This mix will give you about 125 calories and 30-35 grams of carbs/sugars. If this one drink is your only source of potassium, you can always add more. Don’t be afraid to tweek the amount of any ingredient to your liking. Use less or more water to your liking as well. You can make the drinks the day or night before but then you should refrigerate until you need it. Let me know if you have any questions. Enjoy!
This is amazingly detailed information. I will definitely give it a try and see how it sits in the stomach but I really like the sound of being able to control what I need for my racing. Thanks so much for taking the time to write this out for me. I appreciate it a lot!!
Thank you! I have been running for as long as I can remember (I'm 28 now) but I went to uni in America in 2017 and the coach there jumped my mileage from 70 to 100 in around 6 weeks and it just about killed me. It wasn't until the London block in 2021 that I was able to get back to 100 and see results from it. A gradual increase in mileage every 3-4 weeks (5-10% max) should be fine as long as you're recovering from what you're doing before the increase
Thank you! I was recently told that the 2 biggest causes of marathon cramp are lack of fuel and lack of specific training so I’m going to try carb loading and doing a couple of extra specific sessions. Ideally these sessions will be done on a road that resembles a big city marathon road but am yet to figure out how I’ll actually do that and will probably end up just doing them on the canal
The times you got when you cramped up were still wicked. I reckon the 2:15 is in you definitely. Who's your new coach? How'd yer da take getting the sack? 😂
Yeah hopefully! Lewis Walker, more famous for being a host of tartan running shorts I think. Haha he’s quite happy, I think he hopes he’ll get the sack from bike pacing as well
Ryan like you I used to cramp between 12 and 16 miles in all my marathons , now I take magnesium and some sodium and the cramps are no more
It's amazing that something so simple can cause so many issues. I tried salt tablets with no success in London which is why I didn't mention it in the video but will pin this comment so others that may have the same issues can see it!
@@Ryan.Thomson Have you tried getting in more magnesium and potassium vs. just sodium?
I do take a magnesium supplement daily. Also, the salt tablets I took at London have 30mg of potassium and 6mg of magnesium (not sure if this is a lot but they didn’t seem to help anyway)
Really glad this has came up on my recommended🙌
Glad to see you absolutely flying with this mate👏
Table tennis to elite end marathon runner 😎
Thanks mate!!
I actually met up with Mihir and Neil for a few games last week. We have not still got it. I’ll be sticking to the marathons 😂
Very interesting analysis and look forward to seeing success in Valencia. Thanks for the content 👊🏼
Thank you very much!
Great video, particularly like the stats/info on 12 week build before each marathon. I've bought more carbon shoes than I care to admit 😂 but the ones that baffle me are Adios Pro which most seem to get on well with, but I can't do more than 4-5 miles at marathon pace in before balls of feet start to hurt, a lot. Same issue AP1 and AP3. If I had rocked up to a marathon without testing them I'd have been in a world of pain.
Good luck for Valencia, look forward to seeing the result.
Thank you!
Oh really? That’s interesting. I switched from Vaporflys to Pro 3s around a year ago because I felt that the Vaporflys didn’t give enough support around my ankles and I rolled in while wearing them. I’m happy enough with the pro 3s that I don’t want to take a £200+ risk on another brand. I’ve experienced mild feet burning a few times but nothing major and probably nothing to do with the shoes for me!
@@Ryan.Thomson I think it's maybe because I run like a gimp, extreme forefoot landing.
😂 Glad you've found carbons that work for you. Expensive but easier than changing your form!
Some great tips in this video. It would be interesting to know what might have caused such consistent cramping, it seems like if you can figure that out then the potential is huge!
Thank you! I will definitely make a video when I figure it out but so far have tried what I thought were the main potential causes with no results (training in carbons, hydration, salt, mileage). At this point I would be happy just pushing the cramp back to a reasonable distance like 20miles! haha
@@Ryan.Thomson fingers crossed it’s something simple like that, possibly the sodium! Good luck in Valencia!
Yeah that would be the dream! Thank you!
Good insights, fueling is key! Soft flasks with Maurten 320 worked well for me in Valencia a few years back. You said you take 3 with Maurten 320, how many packs do you use, guessing 2 split across 3 flasks, so 160g carbs?
Thank you! I make up 2 packs in 500ml bottles then split them between the 3 flasks and usually just sip the remaining 250ml in the 90mins before the race. So 120g from drinks during the race + 2 gels is another 44g (I actually dropped one at Valencia last year so only had 142g total). I’ll aim to train the gut for 3 gels and 3 flasks this year, so around 186g in total
Awesome video love it!!
Thank you !!
Was going to make the mistake of not training in my carbon shoes. Got 5 weeks to go till Chicago so at least got some time.
Nice! It's definitely worth doing at least a few of your marathon specific workouts in them. I've found both Nike and Adidas carbons cut up my heels the first time so you can hopefully avoid that on race day too. Good Luck!
Great video! really enjoying your content :) Can i ask what do you do for work to provide this running life?
Thank you!! I work for myself as a currency trader so as long as I get the work/training balance right over the year as a whole I’m able to prioritise my running into marathons
@@Ryan.Thomson nice! Greetings from Finland
Thanks for stopping by! Glad you're enjoying the content!
enjoyed that video, thanks. What size running belt did you go for, size 2?
Thank you! Annoyingly the size has wiped off in the past year but I just measured it as 86cm without stretching the elasticated waistband at all
Body needs both potassium and sodium to avoid cramps. If you look closely at the nutritional information for some of the most popular gels like Maurten, SiS, etc., you’ll notice that there is not nearly enough electrolytes (I.e., sodium). Personally, I like Gu Liquid Energy which has 190 mg of sodium per gel and it’s not so sickly sweet and gooey as the regular kind. Then add in some drink mixes that have potassium. Or just add into your drinks some “lite” salt which you can get at the local grocery store. Lite salt is for people who have high blood pressure and can’t have too much sodium. So the sodium chloride is replaced with potassium chloride, hence “lite” in sodium.
Oh yeah you’re definitely right about the lack of potassium. I’ve checked all my gels and drink mixes and none have potassium listed so it’s something worth looking into 100%. I do use Maurten drink mix which has 0.5g of salt per serving but potentially still not enough when spread over 20K?
From a chemical perspective, both sodium chloride and potassium chloride are both “salts”. While the Maurten drink mix may have 0.5 g of salt, it is likely only sodium chloride. If you are only taking Maurten gels and drink mixes during your marathon, you are probably not getting any potassium. I usually mix up my own drinks so I can add precisely how much maltodextrin and fructose that I want, including sodium and potassium. It’s actually quite easy and a lot cheaper than buying drink mixes. I’m happy to share what goes into my mixes if you’d like. Just let me know.
Sorry, TH-cam is not good at giving notifications for comment replies.. I’d definitely be keen to hear what you use so I can try it out in some marathon specific sessions!
@@Ryan.Thomson For each 150 mL soft flask, I mix up the following ingredients. 1) 2 scoops maltodextrin powder, 2) half to full scoop fructose powder, 3) however much caffeine you like in tablet form (or none if you don’t want any)- I usually like 50 mg which is quarter tablet, 4) 1/10 teaspoon “lite” salt which will contain your potassium, 5) 1/10 teaspoon regular table salt. I suggest making the drink in a water bottle first and then pouring into your soft flask. I found that the following method works best. Pour 150 mL water into a water bottle, then add the caffeine and salt only. Shake it up until all of it dissolves. Then add the maltodextrin and fructose and shake hard until it dissolves (may take a few minutes!). If you try to add all the ingredients in at the same time, the caffeine and salt don’t dissolve very well. A few things to note - the fructose is very sweet so you can add more or less depending on your tolerance level. But having some fructose is good because the body metabolizes it using a different pathway than maltodextrin so you get extra calories. Another tip is that you can make more than one soft flask worth of drink at once in a water bottle. This mix will give you about 125 calories and 30-35 grams of carbs/sugars. If this one drink is your only source of potassium, you can always add more. Don’t be afraid to tweek the amount of any ingredient to your liking. Use less or more water to your liking as well. You can make the drinks the day or night before but then you should refrigerate until you need it. Let me know if you have any questions. Enjoy!
This is amazingly detailed information. I will definitely give it a try and see how it sits in the stomach but I really like the sound of being able to control what I need for my racing. Thanks so much for taking the time to write this out for me. I appreciate it a lot!!
Great video! How long did it take you to build up to 100 mile weeks?
Thank you! I have been running for as long as I can remember (I'm 28 now) but I went to uni in America in 2017 and the coach there jumped my mileage from 70 to 100 in around 6 weeks and it just about killed me. It wasn't until the London block in 2021 that I was able to get back to 100 and see results from it.
A gradual increase in mileage every 3-4 weeks (5-10% max) should be fine as long as you're recovering from what you're doing before the increase
great video. Do you have any ideas what is causing the cramp? I seem to suffer from very similar at about the same points into the race.
Thank you! I was recently told that the 2 biggest causes of marathon cramp are lack of fuel and lack of specific training so I’m going to try carb loading and doing a couple of extra specific sessions. Ideally these sessions will be done on a road that resembles a big city marathon road but am yet to figure out how I’ll actually do that and will probably end up just doing them on the canal
Who's your new coach
Lewis Walker. He's based in the North of Scotland
The times you got when you cramped up were still wicked. I reckon the 2:15 is in you definitely.
Who's your new coach? How'd yer da take getting the sack? 😂
Yeah hopefully! Lewis Walker, more famous for being a host of tartan running shorts I think. Haha he’s quite happy, I think he hopes he’ll get the sack from bike pacing as well
@Ryan.Thomson in good hands there then, I enjoy his insight on injuries and health on the podcast.
@@noisyshaun yeah we often have 2hr zoom calls. 10mins talking about me and my training and the rest talking about everything else related to running