And the winner is… Grape.

This week’s unexpected marathon revelation:

Grape is the winning flavour.

Trust me - I’m as surprised as you are.

After working my way through various gel flavours (most of them ok but just a bit tooo sweet for me), I’d mentally parked grape as the least likely flavour so it was left to the very last one in the pack to try.

Turns out? It’s the best one.

Which feels like a small thing, but also… it’s quite a big thing, and a reminder about how marathon training is a constant process of what you think you know, and then being proved completely wrong.

At this stage of the game, I’m at the point where I can do a really long run and think, “blooming heck”*, that was hard, and the thought of having to do another [insert still large amount of mileage here] on top to get to marathon distance, feels completely unachievable.

Yet the thing is, when it comes to marathon day, it takes what you think you know, and chucks it in the bin. Marathon distance IS doable, it’s an entirely different beast on the day…. I just need to keep remembering that, especially on those long run days that feel like an additional 10 miles on top would be unthinkable. Or at least madness.

Anyway. Grape.

Who knew.

*the language is usually, like the grape, a little fruiter than that.