It doesn't get more Iconic than the London Marathon and we caught up with Gee Barker to ask her all about her training blocks, fuelling and any tips and tricks for first time Marathon runners.

Training for your first marathon is a rollercoaster. Physically, mentally and emotionally. You are testing your body to the max, as well as your willpower to to turn up for every session, I’ll be honest I’ve sacked off the easy run to do a different type of workout a few times.

Through the process of training and getting myself used to the distance I’ve also been having to get myself stomach used to the fuelling for race day. I’m telling you now, that if you just rock up and down 5 gels on race day out of the blue, you will end up with a bad belly. 

Veloforte gels have been my go to in this process, as they are created using natural ingredients but also taste banging! 

Electrolytes have also been a go to for interval sessions and have used Attivo with the added caffeine for those early morning runs where I’ve needed something to get me going. 

Whilst in this training block I’ve been trying to avoid losing muscle mass, something that I’ve found happens to my body quite easily when doing long runs. To try and prevent this I’ve been ensuring I keep my protein intake high as well as strength training around my runs. 

The Molto protein has been one of my favourite ways to keep my protein intake high and doesn’t leave me feeling bloated afterwards.

My top tips for anyone running their first marathon is to just enjoy it. Stop stressing. Not everything will go your way, it’s gonna hurt. You’re gonna be tired and sacrifice a lot but the difference in your fitness and ability is insane! 

Also if it’s your first marathon, whatever you run will be a PB! And 26.2miles is a VERY long way to run, so give yourself credit. 

Only 1% of people have run a marathon. Go and join the 1% club and give yourself the recognition you deserve. 

No one, literally no one has completed a training block perfectly!