London Marathon 2023: Training during Ramadan fasting is 'challenging'

For Haroon Mota, grooming for the London Marathon has been antithetic this year.

By the clip Mota lines up connected Sunday to tally 26.2 miles, Ramadan volition person finished but the 37-year-old volition person spent a 4th of his 16-week grooming programme grooming astatine a reduced strength portion fasting.

"Fuelling and hydrating during the period of Ramadan if you are grooming isn't easy, I'll beryllium honest," helium told BBC Sport.

"Trying to enactment nutrient and portion down your rima astatine 4am, you astir apt don't consciousness bare but you cognize that you person to eat. I person to springiness large precedence to my hydration the infinitesimal that the prima goes down, truthful portion it's tempting to leap consecutive to the saccharine treats and the fried samosas, I person to instrumentality that successful moderation.

"Your tummy constricts during Ramadan, meaning that you tin instrumentality the smallest magnitude of nutrient and consciousness full, and you don't privation to get afloat with the types of nutrient that aren't going to springiness you the close benignant of vigor - truthful prioritising carbohydrates and past trying to portion plentifulness of h2o and electrolytes is truly important for me."

Mota's emblematic time during Ramadan would commencement astir 4am for Suhoor, the repast eaten pre-dawn, earlier heading to the mosque for the archetypal of 5 regular prayers.

He would past caput backmost location for immoderate remainder earlier getting up for the midday prayer. There was different supplication successful the day earlier helium would spell connected his grooming runs, which helium would bash successful the precocious day arsenic helium would beryllium capable to interruption his accelerated soon afterwards.

His runs would scope from 4 to 13 miles, truthful eating the close nutrient during Suhoor and Iftar (the repast eaten to interruption the accelerated astatine sundown) was important. His meals would dwell of high-carb foods specified arsenic rice, pasta oregon potatoes and macromolecule specified arsenic chicken. The last 2 prayers instrumentality spot aft Iftar, conscionable aft sunset, and past betwixt sunset and midnight.

"Typically for a marathon grooming programme, the past fewer weeks is usually a taper play wherever you trim your measurement of grooming and things get easier," said Mota, who has completed 22 marathons, including the Boston Marathon earlier this week.

"Nevertheless, you are inactive marathon grooming truthful trying to get done that without nutrient oregon portion is challenging, but I consciousness truly strong."

How bash you bid safely portion fasting?

Exercising successful a 'fasted state' is erstwhile you bid aft a accelerated of 8 oregon much hours.

"You tin guarantee to workout safely by making definite that you person capable stores of carbohydrates and abdominous for your exercise," Dr Adora Yau, a elder lecturer successful nutritional physiology astatine Manchester Metropolitan University, told BBC Sport.

"So during your eating periods, you tin marque definite to person a high-carb repast to replenish the glycogen stores and carbohydrate stores successful your liver and muscles. And you tin besides marque definite to ingest capable fluids."

On a mean day, fluid intake for women is astir 2 litres and for men astir 2.5 litres - but erstwhile idiosyncratic is grooming for a marathon, they would person to summation their fluid intake to relationship for sweating.

During exercise, if the body's stores of glycogen and carbohydrate are depleted, an jock volition 'hit the wall', truthful taking successful capable carbohydrates during non-fast times is vital.

"You'd request to beryllium alert of the strength of your workout due to the fact that you privation to prolong your moving period; you don't privation to beryllium grooming astatine a precocious strength and past usage up each of your glycogen stores and past find that the past portion of the race, oregon your training, incredibly hard," Dr Yau said.

"A marathon is hard capable already. You besides privation to support a little strength truthful that your sweat complaint is besides lower. You privation to debar sweating excessively overmuch to debar getting severely dehydrated, which tin perchance beryllium much dangerous."

'I privation to tally happy, I privation to tally positive'

Haroon Mota volition beryllium moving his 3rd marathon of the twelvemonth connected Sunday

Not each Muslims volition accelerated during Ramadan. Before the London 2012 Olympics, erstwhile Ramadan was overmuch aboriginal successful the year, long-distance runner Mo Farah alternatively fasted aft his moving play was over. Others volition take to springiness to foundation instead.

Ramadan whitethorn present person finished but different happening Mota has to deliberation astir is Eid ul-Fitr, the festival marking the extremity of the period of fasting.

Traditionally, Muslims volition travel unneurotic to observe with plentifulness of nutrient and saccharine treats, but this twelvemonth Haroon volition inactive beryllium preparing for a marathon, truthful does not privation to indulge excessively much.

"I'm going to effort and beryllium sensible and prioritise carb intake amongst immoderate different saccharine treats that I mightiness have," helium said.

"With the London Marathon falling conscionable aft Ramadan, I've wholly changed my expectations from a mean marathon.

"I privation to tally happy, I privation to tally positive. My friends and household are coming down to enactment maine truthful I conscionable privation to person a affirmative race. Of people if I consciousness caller connected the day, I'll propulsion myself, but I interest astir that erstwhile I get to it."