***IMPORTANT***

(I have gradually and responsibly increased my fasting hours and I also added my fast to the training a little at a time. If in doubt or on any medications please consult your doctor, make sure you are very well hydrated at all times specially on warmer days and keep some emergency fuel on you while training, like Dextrose tablets or an energy gel just in case.)

Before I start writing about my fasting experiments I need to clarify again that I’m not encouraging people to exercise on a fast I’m just sharing my personal experience and I certainly don’t fast before high intensity workouts or shorter races.

Total Fasted time : 16 hours 39 minutes !!

The Authentic Athens Marathon on a fast was the hardest thing I’ve ever done, saying that I also loved the experience, it is an amazing event, I really enjoyed the challenge even though it almost beat me, but I won in the end… only just !!

Would I do it again? Never say never but I probably wouldn’t and if I did I would definitely NOT FAST and here are my five reasons why :

#1. THE COURSE : Nothing can prepare you physically and psychologically for this killer of a course !! I climbed over 50.000 ft of elevation in ten months ( most of it in the last three! ) but it’s the continuous climbing rather than the total elevation that gets you, the first hill is five mile long, but the second one not only is steeper but also a whopping 8 miles of continuous climbing !!!

#2. THE HEAT : Started at 9am cloudy and only 16c but by 11am we had full sunshine 22c and no shade !! Because of it I was drinking water at every station and at some point I was grabbing two bottles at a time, this meant I was flushing away electrolytes from my muscles and wasn’t replenishing them, legs were constantly seizing up.

#3. LITTLE SLEEP : Nerves and excitement meant I slept very little, just under 4 hours !! No sleep means more fatigue and loss of energy.

#4. EARLY START : Had to catch a train at 5am and a bus at 5.45 and was at the venue two hours before race start ! I already walked 8000 steps before I even started ! Usually when I FAST I do most of it during the six to eight hours sleep which makes it easier.

#5. PRESSURE : The thought of failing, not finishing, getting injured or even finishing in a time that I would deem unacceptable for me.was haunting me. The extra psychological pressure definitely contributes to loss of energy.

To summarise: I trained for a 3:45’ finish and completed it in 4 hours 3’ 53” ( over the moon with that time)

One thing is to have a good night sleep, wake up and go out of your front door with no pressure on a cool Sunday morning, hit the road for 23 miles, make it as hilly as possible chatting away to your friends and another thing is to run THE AUTHENTIC ATHENS MARATHON …..

Thank you for reading