16/06/2026
A big week. 7 runs. 1 parkrun. 132km. 21h45.
75km in the Lakes over two days (the second in that steady Lake District rain), reccing the back half of the Lakeland 100 course. The ankle had no complaints. The quads grumbled about the vert.
One thing I’ve realised about fuelling long days: I love chocolate and sweets. I don’t love gels.
The nav was mostly straightforward. Now I know where the ground’s easy and where the paths are annoyingly stony.
After all that, I somehow managed a tempo parkrun, helping Ranelagh in the Mini Mob Match against Stragglers.
Somewhere in there it felt like the old, pre-ankle ni**le days again ☺️
💡 Coaching point
Fuelling matters. For most of us, Precision doesn’t.
The difference between eating too little and eating enough is enormous. The difference between 75g and 82g of carbohydrate per hour is much smaller.
The same goes for carbohydrate blends. For most runners, eating enough and tolerating it matters more than whether the ratio is exactly what the latest marketing campaign says it should be.
Gels are useful because they’re convenient and predictable. But once you know roughly how much carbohydrate is in the foods you enjoy, real food often works perfectly well too.
Get the big things right first. Then worry about the decimals.
