Day 62: Thresholds, Tiredness and the Timing of Energy Gels
The Art of Suffering Before Sunrise Another early start saw me up at 5 am, lacing up my trainers in the kind of darkness that suggests even the sun has better things to do. Rochester awaited, and after yesterday’s much-needed rest day, today’s session called for a 19-minute hard effort at a heart rate of around 165 bpm. Nothing quite says “good morning” like willingly launching yourself into oxygen debt before most people have found their slippers. A Lesson in Fuelling (or, How to Avoid Running on Empty) Threshold runs are designed to test both physical endurance and mental fortitude, a bit like arguing with a particularly stubborn parrot. Lately, I’ve found these morning sessions a struggle, my energy levels suspiciously similar to those of an old mobile phone—full charge at bedtime, mysteriously down to 2% by morning. In an effort to combat this, I tried taking an energy gel just before the run. The result? A slight improvement, but it became clear that my timing was off. The gel’s b...