It’s only fitting to start this week’s column with some words on tomorrow’s Urban Jungle Mdina to Spinola race, after all it is by far the most popular road race after the Malta Marathon and Half Marathon.

With race entries closed days ago and several applications refused, due to a self-imposed limit by the organisers, there are 515 registered participants this year.

Although the organisers have a large management resource team, made up of traffic police and wardens, participants are reminded that no part of the route will be traffic-free tomorrow.

So, runners are advised that where possible they should run on the pavement... remember run safe.

Tomorrow, 500 finishers in the UJM2S will be wearing one of John Walsh’s last two medals that he had designed.

In February, 2,200 plus finishers in the Malta Marathon, Half Marathon and Walkathon will get the other medal.

These medals have all been modified to include a memory of John and his contri-bution to the sport.

The UJM2S has a tricky start. There is a steep decline to the first mile which is just before the entrance to Ta’ Qali. Remember there are a further 9.6 miles so don’t get carried away and set off at too fast a pace.

It seems that this year we should have quite a tussle for the podium with James Douglas back from the UK to defend his title.

Jonathan Balzan, who last year finished second to Douglas with the same time, will also be there along with other strong contender Vincenzo Scuro, of Italy.

Food for thought

A significant amount of people, preparing for the marathon, half marathon or walkathon, have to juggle with the demands of training, work, family and other commitments, which might also leave them with periodic restrictions of food and fluid intake.

“What did you eat today, Astrid?” my coach (JW) recalled most commonly while greeting me at the track right from my early days of running until a few months ago.

One particular occasion was two summers ago, when I was training hard for a marathon.

Waking up at 6.15 a.m, rather late that morning as my track session was starting at 7 a.m., I got hold of my water bottle, dashed out from the house, and, to save time, jogged my two-mile warm-up from home to the track. And there I was, right on time, ready to go!

After running a few laps around the track, I had actually forgotten what my coach had instructed me to do, and, worse still, how many laps I had covered.

No, it is not dementia... not yet anyway!

So, what did really happen here?

Most people have no food or fluid intake during the night, but begin the day with breakfast, a supply of carbohydrate to replenish glycogen stores, protein and fluid to replace body water losses that occur during the night.

Regular meals, snacks and drinks should be consumed during the day, at regular intervals, in order to keep a flow of adequate energy throughout.

The liver is responsible for maintaining a continuous supply of glucose to the brain and other tissues.

The period of overnight fasting causes 50% fall in liver glycogen stores.

In the absence of exercise, even in most early-morning training sessions, this has little or no effect. However, with prolonged higher intensity training, this modest drop in blood glucose concentration affects both physical and mental performance.

Ideally, a pre-workout breakfast of a light, digestible carbohydrate meal is suggested here but in such cases, where one has no time to consume such, these effects can be reversed and performance can still be enhanced by drinking small doses of electrolyte or carbohydrate drinks throughout the session.

Concluding, it was midway through that training session that my mental clarity became visible and my performance improved somewhat, which still left me with that feel-good factor and smile at the end.

Needless to say, my coach still had his last say!

In the meantime, eat well, stay adequately hydrated and, above all, enjoy your running!