GO S LOW TO FAS T

RUNNING COACH KAREN WEIR

(runwithkaren.com) agrees that anyone looking for maximum benefit from a period of fasted training should allow several months for the body to adapt. ‘If you’re using fasted running for a marathon campaign, you would start doing it from the outset,’ she says. ‘You wouldn’t try it for the first time during your longest run three weeks out from the race, because that would be far too late. It needs to be part of a planned programme.’

Robbie Britton, a Team GB 24-hour runner, uses fasted running in training, but warns against overdoing it. ‘Quite often, my morning easy runs will be fasted,’ he says, ‘to help the body adapt to using fat as a fuel during racing. But none of my harder sessions are fasted. When I need carbohydrates I take plenty on board. Everyone I know