As you will know I have spent many hours pontificating over diets since my injury earlier in the year gave me so much free time. I mean if you can’t run you might as well spend time talking about all things running, via a blog of all things, now there’s a thought ? Anyhow next weekend it will be time for two diets to go to war, in the words of Frankie goes to Hollywood (google it!) In one corner we have Jonny ‘boy’ Pendse, the Banting diet poster boy,  ( http://www.health24.com/Diet-and-nutrition/Weight-loss/The-golden-rules-of-Banting-20140409 ) while in the other corner we have the  Matt Fitzgerald ( in Matt we trust) up-and-comer Mark ‘extra maple syrup with my pancakes please’ Conway.  ( https://mattfitzgerald.org). Both have been following their respective diets over the last few months and this has culminated in similar times for City to Surf marathon pre-race indicators.

Mark’s improvement has been nothing sort of spectacular since purchasing  an individual training plan from Matt (available on his website and training peaks ( http://www.trainingpeaks.com  ) ) Our running group is in awe of Matt and we have all read most of his books and live by his high carb, low fat diet (with extra maple syrup whenever possible) so when Jon announced he was following a different diet it was met with much rebuke by the group. Once we looked further into this ‘banting diet’  there was much shaking of heads and murmurs of discontent. The major stumbling block, which stood out like an ISIS suicide bomber at an ‘eat as much bacon as you can‘ party, was no pancakes  after our long runs (or at all really?) , which meant no extra maple syrup. This was enough for nearly all of the running group to give this banting thing the cold shoulder, as they gleefully tucked into their pancakes. We won’t even get into the ‘no Yelo’ muffins or no sugar rules. On the plus side banting does recommend high fat which means bacon, good quality meat and lots of eggs. This was acceptable even if it meant adding salad and vegetables but the no or little sugar was the real killer. As I have said many times a runner gives up so much in their pursuit of excellence or their goals, with the Matt Fitzgerald , and the long held running diet, we don’t have to give up too much diet wise. I mean who doesn’t like pancakes after a long run and muffins when we’re carboloading, running is a possessive and demanding soul mate but at least once in a while we can treat ourselves.

So Mark is thriving on his Matt Fitzgerald training plan, and the diet that he recommends, while Jon has now decided after the ‘Mr. Squishy’ (search for the posts on this in the blog.) comments that he needed to change to a banting diet to improve and lose some of that puppy fat he was holding onto,  albeit into his thirties. Photos start to arrive on Whats-app of Jon’s chosen breakfast options and they are worlds apart from the choices the old ‘Mr. Squishy’ Jon would have made. In the photo below he even puts the toast to one side and adds bacon. This diet has helped Jon lose a lot of weight and his half marathon time has dropped by 9 minutes in a matter of months (albeit it was pretty slow to start with thanks to the extra ‘puppy fat’ he was carrying.) The new diet and weight loss has allowed Jon to improve enough to contemplate a sub 2hours 50 minutes City to Surf next weekend , which coincidentally is the same time Mark is looking for. This will be a 5 minute PB for Mark and a return to 2012 times for Jon. Either way it is going to be one hell of a race and I am desperate to join them and watch the whole thing unfold.

This is where we come to the crux of the problem. I  have had 6 weeks of quality training under my belt since my 3rd comeback from my calf tear and realistically should be targeting a safe sub 3 hour marathon. Due to the rehabilitation from my calf tear I have only ran two long runs and both of those have been in the last week, come race day at 30k , if I go out too fast, I could be in a world of pain with 12k to go to enjoy the sensation. A safe sub 3 though would mean I don’t get to watch Jon and Mark , and their respective diets, go at it and unfortunately this is too good an opportunity to miss. Fitzgerald, the poster boy of the present running community, globally, a best selling author and accomplished runner against an undertaker from the early twentieth century who wanted to lose weight and goes against everything that is sacrosanct in running diets. This could redefine running diets as we know it , globally and save the lives off billions of people if Jon and the banting diet come through. Pancake sales would plummet and the world would be a ‘thinner’ place, runners would probably improve and we’d all live a lot longer and we get to eat more bacon. On the face of it this sounds like a good thing but you must then give up our sugar addition , which if managed, ain’t that bad , is it ? Pancakes once a week after a long run, is it too much to ask and maybe the odd muffin or two weekly, surely not?  So next Sunday I’m going to run with boys and see how long I can hang on while these two runners fuelled by diets poles apart  go head-to-head. Probably won’t make the finish but I’m sure the winning runner will tell me all about it and, as an added incentive, I’ll let them have free reign for a post on the subject, better than winning the event I reckon.

Of course you could always sit on the fence and go for a high carb, high fat and high sugar diet as shown in my lunch after completing the Australia Day Ultra earlier in the year but it would probably be best if you run a 100k minimum before eating this on a regular basis, mores the pity !