Thou shall not use beer as a marathon supplement

With just over 11 weeks until the Berlin Marathon and 14 weeks until Amsterdam – plus being out of training for three months, I really have a schedule that must be followed.

With that in mind, starting the weekend off with an evening of ale wasn’t the best idea. Having said that, it’s full of sugar and runners need their energy. I jest.

On the contrary, this weekend turned out to be successful. Regardless of the bad weather, I took to the hills of the Peak District for four hours of thigh-grilling hiking. The weather threatened at times to turn the muddy ascents into slippery slides back down to ground level, but all in all, a gruelling session towards full body fitness.

With no time to rest, I swapped my walking boots for trainers and pounded the streets of Birmingham on Sunday. The weather was perfect and the streets were clear. After 40 minutes, I returned to my starting point 5.2 miles better off.

The moral of the story, ale may well have been used as a medication in the medieval era, but in 2012, it only works against you – albeit delicious.