3800 calories - that's a lot of doughnuts!

I've worked out that I probably burnt off about 3800 extra calories last week - that's a rough estimation of 100 calories per mile for my speed and size. I ran 38 miles.

No wonder we are constantly hungry when we are training!

One of my running colleagues was lamenting that he had actually put on weight since he started training for the marathon. He then said that he ate two M & S cream buns to keep him going and to fuel him for his evening run after work. He said he couldn't help eating cakes and biscuits because he was so hungry all the time!

It is really important to keep all this in perspective. If we are spending so much time and energy running we do, of course, deserve the occasional treat. It is virtually impossible to just eat three meals a day, but we really ought to concentrate on replenishing lost calories with healthy snacks rather than doughnuts and cream buns.

Nuts are brilliant! They are full of good calories and lots of them! At the moment I am snacking on a mix I put together of dried cranberries, pumpkin and sunflower seeds, and walnuts. A handful of nuts and a piece of fruit will not only keep the wolf from the door for a while, but it will also provide lots of good calories, vitamins, omega 3 fatty acids, antioxidants etc. If you are into cakes, then make sure you go for the ones with some goodness in them - carrot cake, fruit cake, flapjacks, date and walnut cake, malt loaf are some good examples. If you run after work, take a peanut butter sandwich, fruit or some fruit and nut flapjacks to fuel your evening run...much better for your endurance, your heart (and your soul) than a few biscuits or a doughnut.