The Short Version
I wrote about my marathon journey in 2022. How being locked down during the initial Covid outbreak made me turn to running and tackling a marathon. I then ran a 1:17:50 City2Surf. In July 2023 I ran the Gold Coast 63.3km Double, Half Marathon on the Saturday and Marathon on the Sunday. And I finished Sydney Marathon in September 2023 after jogging the City2Surf while getting over flu.
I’m currently on a clinical trial for a new weight loss drug NNC0519-0130. I have experienced some really hard runs on the drug and have started experimenting with fuelling to manage my performance on race day. Last Sunday I ran the City2Surf in pretty much my exact goal time of 75 minutes. An improvement of 2:51 on 2022. As part of my fuelling I took on way more carbs and calories than I usually would for a 14km run. But it was necessary to get the job done. My next race is Sydney Marathon where I will have to take on even more carbs and calories on race day to survive.
The Long Version
I’ve been running for about 4 years now. You can read about My Marathon Journey and Becoming a Marathoner in my previous blogs so I won’t go into too much detail on that here. Cramps are still a concern. I have managed them pretty well lately with strength training and sodium intake.
2023 Running
2023 was a good one for the continuation of my running. I increased my mileage in training and was ready to take on a few more challenges. One of the hardest challenges I took on was the Gold Coast 63.3km Double. Half Marathon on the Saturday, Marathon on the Sunday. Somehow this marathon was the fastest of the three I have completed. I set an official PB of 5:07:33. By the end of that weekend I was absolutely spent. I swore I’d probably never attempt that again. Probably.
By City2Surf 2023 I was in really good fitness and ready to shave some time off my 2022 result. I thought 75 minutes was a realistic goal. Alas, I got the flu in the week leading up and was only just getting over it by race day. I still ran the course, but at a leisurely jog. I stopped and checked out all the musical stands and took a selfie overlooking Sydney Harbour and another heading down onto Bondi Beach. It wasn’t the race I was hoping for, but still a fantastic day out with 80,000 other runners in the World’s Biggest Fun Run.
Sydney Marathon was very hard. Training indicated I was on track for a sub-5 hour marathon which would be a PB. Unfortunately Sydney turned on an absolute stinker. By the time I crossed the line in 6:17:21 the temperature was up around 30°C. The only positive from this day was that I finished and was there when a mate finished his first marathon.
Brisbane Half Marathon
In June 2024 I drove up to Brisbane to run the Brisbane Half Marathon. Training had been really strong. I was working on a goal pace of 5:55/km or a race time of around 2:05:00. I was confident of running the goal time, if the weather wasn’t too bad and I handled the hills alright. When I left home I was 120kg. In the back of my mind was the idea of running my mass for a half marathon. I’d heard Dr Ross Tucker mention it on the Science of Sport Podcast. He said running your mass in kg for a half marathon was akin to a golfer shooting their age. I didn’t think it was a realistic goal for my fitness level so I left a 2 hour Half out of my plan entirely. I started out conservatively with the climb to Story Bridge in the first 2km being my slowest part of the race. But I conserved energy for later in the race and it paid off.
Through 10km I was going slightly over 6:01/km. I knew I needed to negative split and run about 5:48/km from here to reach my goal. It felt like the longer the race went, the stronger I got. There were a couple of cramp scares but they quickly went away with a Fixx Nutrition Crampfix. By the last 3km I knew I was on track to crack 2:05 if I didn’t blow up. At one point I heard another runner call out to the crowd and his group of mates “what are your legs?” I heard the call and yelled back “steel springs” I then took off for my last push to the finish line. By the time I reached the line I finished in an official time of 2:04:27.
It was a very pleasing result to have trained so hard to achieve a goal, and then to leave it all out on the course and make it. I’d shaved about 8 minutes off my previous Half Marathon PB which was set during my first marathon in 2022.
NNC0519-0130 Clinical Trial
Let me preface all of this with the following caveat. I am not a running coach. I am not a doctor. This is all my personal account of experimenting with running long distances while on a clinical trial of a GLP-1 GIP drug. It may give you an insight into how I fuel my runs. But if you are planning on doing similar, you should have a conversation with your doctor first.
In late June I received an email from Paratus Clinical Research regarding a clinical trial for a new weight loss drug. I was on their database because I was set to take part in a new Covid vaccine trial in January but contracted Covid just before I was to go in for my jab. As a result I was excluded from that trial, but I remained in their database with all my testing results from January.
This new drug is from Novo Nordisk, makers of the Semaglutide drugs Ozempic and Wegovy. Where Ozempic / Wegovy are GLP-1 agonists, NNC0519-0130 is GLP-1 / GIP similar to Tirzepatide, sold under the name Mounjaro. It slows gastric emptying like Semaglutide but also decreases blood sugar by promoting insulin secretion.
I wasn’t feeling depressed or even down about my weight. I felt incredibly healthy even though I was between 115 and 120kg. My running was strong and I was on track for some really pleasing results in races later in the year. I had even expressed interest in running UTA 50 next May. But my weight was a limiting factor of just how fast I could go. Running a sub-4 hour marathon was not even a possibility. So I contacted Paratus and expressed interest.
A week before the trial began I undertook a series of tests at Paratus. As part of the screening process I had a conversation with a doctor regarding my current diet and some changes I could make. As a result of that conversation I started to have the recommended serving size of my meals. A bowl of weetbix went from 5 to 2 biscuits. When I made porridge I used the recommended 1/2 cup measure instead of just eyeballing it. By the following week, just by making a few simple changes I dropped 1kg.
I began the clinical trial on 4 July 2024 weighing 116.2kg. The clinical trial is a double blind trial comparing different doses of the test drug NNC0519-0130, with placebo, and Mounjaro (Tirzepatide). Mounjaro is administered via the Mounjaro pen, while NNC0519-0130 and placebo are administered via the Novo Pen. I am on the Novo Pen, so I either have NNC0519-0130 or placebo. But if I’m on placebo it’s the best placebo effect ever. I noticed the effect of the drug on the first day. Straight after getting my first injection I had lunch at the shopping centre as I was pretty hungry after fasting blood tests. I didn’t feel hungry again until late on that first day and it wasn’t even strong hunger. Six weeks in and I’ve barely felt hungry in that whole time. It’s amazing how full I feel, for how long.
I’ve been measuring my weight every Thursday since the trial started. Through 6 weeks I am down 9.1kg or 7.83% body weight:
Week 0: 116.2kg
Week 1: 112.5kg -3.7 -3.7
Week 2: 112.9kg +0.4 -3.3
Week 3: 109.3kg -3.6 -6.9
Week 4: 107.2kg -2.1 -9.0
Week 5: 107.7kg +0.5 -8.5
Week 6: 107.1kg -0.6 -9.1
Running on NNC0519-0130
I searched all over the internet looking for info on running while on these types of peptides. I searched long distance running on Mounjaro, marathon training on Ozempic, running with Wegovy and all of the combinations of each. I tried Google, YouTube, I even turned to Twitter. Turns out there isn’t much out there. I guess most people who get onto these drugs aren’t coming in with three marathons under their belts. Not a judgement. Just a fact, because there was zero information available. On Day 0 I had a chat to the Paratus doctor about my plans to run City2Surf and Sydney Marathon. Carb loading is pretty hard to do when you’re on a calorie deficit. They suggested I might have to intake gels on the run to make up for my lack of available carbs.
3k Time Trial – 24 July 2024
For the first three weeks of the trial most of my runs had been easy Zone 2 jogs. I was getting used to the effects and trying to prioritise consistency over high effort. There were a couple of short interval type runs. But nothing resembling a full send. 20 days into the trial, I had a crack at a 3k time trial. My legs were burning after 2km. It was like I just had no way of replenishing my muscles as they worked. I’d had porridge for breakfast and this run began at almost 11am. Usually that would be fine for a relatively short hard run. But I just had nothing to give. In that moment I became worried about my ability to run out 14km of the City2Surf, let alone finishing a marathon. The following day I tried for a steady 10km run. Slightly faster than easy Zone 2 pace. My legs gave out after 7km of that run too. I decided I couldn’t do a hard run without fuelling on the day with simple sugars from gels and drink mixes.
Hard 10k Fully Fuelled – 28 July 2024
This was my first fully fuelled hard run. It was a hard 10k in the morning.
My intake for this run was:
2 x sachets of Maurten Drink Mix 320 plus added electrolytes in the form of Salvital before. 158g carbs, 640 cal.
90g Precision Hydration gel during the run. 90g carbs, 360 cal.
Total carbs 248.
Total calories 1000.
Stats for this run courtesy of the Garmin Connect App are as follows:
Distance 10.15km
Time 55:22
Avg Pace 5:27/km
Avg Heart Rate 158 bpm
Calories 1,059
Almost an exact match in terms of calories in and calories out. Noting I’m still in a clinical trial to test the efficacy of a weight loss drug. I need to maintain about a 500 cal daily deficit. So I was very happy with how the drink mix and gel worked for fuelling the run. At the time it was my 2nd fastest 10k per Strava. City2Surf was back on!
I then went back to easy jogging and controlling my food intake. I don’t want to take on gels and carb loaded drink mixes for daily jogging. Only for the hard efforts. I can still jog in Zone 2 for about an hour with relative ease. And this has helped to keep lowering my weight as time goes on.
3 x 3km Intervals at City2Surf Pace – 7 August 2024
My final hard effort to lock in my fuelling strategy for City2Surf. The plan was to run 3 x 3km at goal C2S race pace 5:20/km with a warm up, cool down and 3 minutes between intervals.
Intake:
1L Precision Hydration Carb & Electrolyte Drink Mix mixed at 1.5 strength for added electrolyte concentration before. 90g carbs, 360 cal.
30g carb, 100mg caffeine Precision Hydration gel before. 30g carbs, 120 cal.
90g Precision Hydration gel during. 90g carbs, 360 cal.
Total carbs 210g.
Total calories 840.
Stats for 3 x 3km interval from Garmin Connect:
Distance 11.93km
Time 1:06:16
Avg Pace 5:33/km
Avg Heart Rate 151 bpm
Calories 1,156
A bit of a calorie deficit and I definitely felt my legs going by the end of the run. This run set a new 10km PB (53:16) since I started recording my runs on Strava. I now felt very confident in my strategy for running a hard City2Surf.
City2Surf 11 August 2024
My favourite event of the year, running 14km from Sydney to Bondi Beach. This year with 90,000 other runners and walkers. Buoyed by the last hard interval I went in with a plan to run under 75 minutes. I wanted to average around 5:20/km up to the start of Heartbreak Hill. Then just to give steady effort for the 1.5km climb up to the top of Vaucluse before trying to pick up the pace a little knowing I had a long downhill to make up the time lost going up Heartbreak.
The first few kilometres were fantastic. I eased off on the climbs and let gravity do the work on the downhills. It was really fun getting up to speed on the downs. One of the drops was particularly fun where I found another runner who was doing about the same pace as me. I acted like I was a running back and they were my lead blocker as I just followed them through every gap in the crowd.
I was averaging right on 5:20/km to the base of Heartbreak. Kilometre 7 took 6:19 with 56m of elevation. The first half of kilometre 8 was about the same. So I had 6.5km to make up about 1 minute. Across the top of the ridge of Dover Heights averaged about 5:20/km again and I had the huge downhill to make it all up heading into Bondi Beach. By this stage my legs were really tired. But I dug deep heading along Campbell Parade to the turnaround point. My watch hit the 13km mark about 100m before the 13km flag on the course. Once I reached the 13km flag I had exactly 1 minute to go under 75 minutes. It was going to be touch and go but I didn’t think I had another 5 minute kilometre in me. I tried my best but it appeared out of reach.
To my amazement, the finish line appeared on the road before I expected. And as I stopped my watch going over the timing mat, I hit exactly 75 minutes.
The text message came through shortly after: Congrats Josh, You finished the 2024 City2Surf in a time of 01:14:59. Keep up the training! See you in 2025! You couldn’t get closer to your target time if you tried.
Intake:
1L Precision Hydration Carb & Electrolyte Drink Mix mixed at 1.5 strength for added electrolyte concentration before. 90g carbs, 360 cal.
30g carb, 100mg caffeine Precision Hydration gel before. 30g carbs, 120 cal.
2 x 90g Precision Hydration gel during. 90g carbs, 360 cal.
Total carbs 300g.
Total calories 1300.
Stats for City2Surf from Garmin Connect:
Distance 14.02km
Time 1:15:00
Avg Pace 5:21/km
Avg Heart Rate 164 bpm
Calories 1,399
Moving Forward
I am entered for Sydney Marathon on 15 September 2024. I plan on easing right back on the pace for the marathon distance. I will have one practice long run out to about 3.5 hours to test fuelling on a long slow run. Other than that long run, the rest of my running in the lead up will be unfuelled by gels and drink mixes. Afterall, I am still on this clinical trial and I don’t want to have too many days where I’m taking on large amounts of simple sugars.
After Sydney Marathon I will get back on the bike and prepare for Sydney to Gong bike ride. It’s a charity event raising money for MS. I’ve always thought it would be a fun event but was never sure I’d be able to make the full trip. But now I am certain 82km from Tempe to Wollongong will be no problem. For that ride I will definitely have to fuel appropriately.
For both of these events I’ll be estimating my calorie output beforehand and planning on taking on about the same amount of calories in the form of drink mix and gels. For the marathon I’ll be running with a running vest and water bottles. I don’t usually run with a vest in races. But there is a very specific reason to this year as I’ll be able to take on calories with my hydration and electrolytes.
Fundraising
We lost Mum 10 years ago to Pancreatic Cancer. I have been supporting PanKind for the last few years with my runs and other fundraising ventures. Their mission is to triple the pancreatic cancer survival rate by 2030 and dramatically improve the quality of life for those impacted by the disease. If you can afford to give just a little I would really appreciate it. Donate here to support PanKind and my Sydney Marathon run. If you can’t, I understand. A few words of encouragement on my socials are always welcome.
@PiesJosh on Instagram
@PiesJosh on Twitter
I also have a Sydney to Gong fundraising page if you’d like to support MS research.
Anyone Else?
If you are going through similar experiences of running or other long distance events while on GLP-1 / GIP medication, I’d love to hear from you. Hit me up on the socials above, PiesJosh in most places.
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