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Marathon diary Follow our medical director as he prepares for the London race

Dr Sneh Khemka, Bupa International's medical director, is running the London Marathon on 25 April. In this diary you can follow his training leading up to the race and get advice on running.

 

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Why carbs are a pleasurable must for the running man

Although he is used to a healthy diet, Dr Sneh's body is crying out for energy-boosting carbohydrates as the training intensifies in the final weeks before the London Marathon.

Carbohydrates. Fifteen years ago I don’t think many of us would have known what they did, let alone where to find them. Now they’ve become a driving force in my life. And while for many they are a no-go zone, if you are training for a marathon they are a pleasurable must.

Known as the ‘energy-fuel’ of the body, carbohydrates can either be simple or complex. Being a simple sort of fella, the simple ones appeal to me more (perhaps also because they are sugars, found in pizzas, chocolate, snacks and biscuits).

But really, the name of the game is to take on board the complex carbohydrates, which come from cereals, wholemeal bread, white pasta, root vegetables (especially parsnips and potatoes), beans and bananas.

The phenomenon that has interested me the most is how my appetite and desire for foods has changed as part of the running and training. Where before I rather fancied (and occasionally craved) that mid-afternoon packet of crisps, the banana on my desk actually looks more appealing. Where I wanted to eat quickly at an outlet where the principle ingredient was oil, I now find the smell off-putting. And most importantly my body has started to self-regulate the amount of food I take on board – my plate goes unfinished if I am not hungry, rather than hunting for seconds as a matter of course.

Alas, the yin and yang principle has come to haunt me. While I reap the dividends of a more enjoyable and healthy diet, my body is beginning to tell me that it’s not very happy with covering 40 kilometres every week at pace. The sacroiliacs are screaming, the knees are needful, and the shins are splinting. If you read my last update, I was extolling the virtues of stretching and warming up and down – well, I’d hate to think what it would be like without them.

Still, I continue headlong, and the goal’s in sight. The marathon is just over two weeks away, and we’re moving into the zone where we wind down the training and build up the energy reserves for the big day. So, 10 miles tonight, 20 miles in three days, and then a couple of 8 to12-mile runs, before five clear days of repose.

I somehow managed to schedule in a trip to do a medical review in Bupa Miami in the interim, so perhaps I’ll find light relief in the sunshine…

Remember it’s for a good cause. And with a total of just over £5000 raised for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, I’m sure it’s all worth it.

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