Fueling advice for first time Half Marathoner

miche_smash

My first half is coming up on November 2nd and I'm now realizing that I should have researched how to fuel myself properly WEEKS ago! I eat a little something before I run and I stop about 2 times for water during my long runs but that's obviously not enough.

My first 9 miler 2 weeks ago was great! My 10 miler last week was not as great, and my 11 miler today was a DRAAAAG.

The half will have 4 stations with water, Gatorade and restrooms along the way. I read some articles about how to fuel during a run but I'm wondering what advice you fine people might have for me? What do YOU use for fuel on long runs or on race day? Anyone use Gatorade?

Thanks for your help!

sjohnny

I'm not anything close to an expert but I ran my first half last December and another in February. I never took water on long runs. I ran all of my runs fasted except for those that went over ten miles. On those I would eat a piece of bread with peanut butter and maybe honey at least an hour before the run. I never "fueled" during any training runs. For both races I ate the peanut butter and honey bread before the race. During the race they had water and gatorade at each water station. I alternated which I got at each one. I ended up using a GU at about mile 8 in bother races when I felt like I was starting to drag a little bit - and it helped a LOT. I was better prepared for the second one and finished it a lot stronger (I could have pushed a lot harder but I had a sprained ankle so I was holding back a little).

That's what worked for me.

soehlerking

Obviously every GI system is different, and every person's tastes are different. But personally I find that gatorade (or too much of any liquid) makes me feel jiggly when I run. Not the fun jiggly either. I just ran my first Half (wooo!), and I drank about 45-60 oz of water each day for a couple days beforehand. Then I drank about 20 oz of water with a bagel w/ peanut butter 2 hours before the race. It kept me full until mile 10, when I suddenly wanted to chew on the arm of the girl next to me. I can't do GU (tummy trouble), and I don't run w/ pockets or anything, so I just suffered through. Some lady handed me a twizzler on the side of the road at mile 12. That was awesome. I've heard people like jelly beans or mike & ikes or just granola bars...but alas, I couldn't figure out a way to attach those to my body without being annoying. And I stopped for water 3 times, but I probably would have done better with less b/c it made me jiggly near the end.

Not related to food: If it's a big race (mine was 4500 people), get there early. Porta-potty lines like you wouldn't believe--stood in line for 25 minutes. Nearly made me late to my corral.

TriLifter

I'm not anything close to an expert but I ran my first half last December and another in February. I never took water on long runs. I ran all of my runs fasted except for those that went over ten miles. On those I would eat a piece of bread with peanut butter and maybe honey at least an hour before the run. I never "fueled" during any training runs. For both races I ate the peanut butter and honey bread before the race. During the race they had water and gatorade at each water station. I alternated which I got at each one. I ended up using a GU at about mile 8 in bother races when I felt like I was starting to drag a little bit - and it helped a LOT. I was better prepared for the second one and finished it a lot stronger (I could have pushed a lot harder but I had a sprained ankle so I was holding back a little).

That's what worked for me.

I've run up to 17 miles so far fasted with no water breaks. Don't try anything on race day you haven't tried in training.

TheBrolympus

I use GUs on race day and sometimes during my training runs. I go by how a feel.
May sure you try your "fuel" out before your race day. Keep it simple, you really don't need to fuel that much (if all) for a half.

DavidMartinez2

Good advice here. Like PrimalRunner I normally do not take anything for training runs but come race day some fuel helps finish strong. I normally will take one gel in the coral prior to race start and another around the 10 mile mark.

Several people mentioned it but it bears repeating: try your fuel of choice prior to race day. I suggest grabbing one or two of several diffrent products and test them on your training runs. Some things go down smooth others require some liquid to wash them down.

ATT949

My first half is coming up on November 2nd and I'm now realizing that I should have researched how to fuel myself properly WEEKS ago! I eat a little something before I run and I stop about 2 times for water during my long runs but that's obviously not enough.

My first 9 miler 2 weeks ago was great! My 10 miler last week was not as great, and my 11 miler today was a DRAAAAG.

The half will have 4 stations with water, Gatorade and restrooms along the way. I read some articles about how to fuel during a run but I'm wondering what advice you fine people might have for me? What do YOU use for fuel on long runs or on race day? Anyone use Gatorade?

Thanks for your help!

Don't worry - it's almost a non issue. Really.

Can't see your diary but it would be good if you were eating 60% CHO or above. If not, push yourself to that amount and you'll have a lot of glycogen in your body when you race.

I've posted a link to Google Docs that shows my schedule, my eating schedule, and some calculations to figure out how much to eat.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccckey=0AtCsYuXopoFadHBfZ0wteWo2OHFZekRudExKSlRlS0E&usp=drive_web#gid=0

The food on that page was more than I needed to finish the half (I use hardware and software that calculates my CHO vs Fat % for every run so that's how I'm able to do my estimates). After my Half in August I used the data from my run and found that I used about 210 grams of CHO to run the 13.22 miles (who runs 13.1?)

Hydration - drink to thirst. It's that simple. But, then again, I'm not trying to sell you anything! :-)
There's nothing wrong with "pre-drinking". It does absolutely nothing to help you on race day but some folks like it (OK, it might help on race day but no one has been able to demonstrate that it does any good and every test conducted indicates that it doesn't).

During the race - drink to thirst.

Fueling during the race - we get the best performance in endurance events by taking in 80 grams per hour of CHO (I'm pretty certain it's 80 per Noakes but I'm going from memory - please provide a citation if that's wrong). The type of CHO matters - if you take in glucose, it gets in the system faster but you need a lot more water than if it's a higher order CHO. If you take in glucose and don't drink the water, it sits in the stomach. That's why energy gels are usually a mixture of different types of carbs. (In my Google Docs WKS, I use honey and raisins which are high in glucose but I'm taking in liquid and I eat 2 hours before the race which gives the glucose plenty of time to get in my system.)

There's lots of info around, some of it good. Runner's World just did an "article" on carboloading for a half (their justification is "It can't hurt" - ugh) but for info about energy gels, aim your browser to this site 'cause there's lots of good info:

energygelcentral.com

I use their Half marathon fueling strategy and take gels using the "high CHO" plan.

Only connection is that I'm a happy customer of theirs.

Enjoy your Half!

SonicDeathMonkey80

I've recently come to like going minimal on 10-18mi distances. I'll wake up, have half a banana just to quell my stomach, and about 8oz of sports drink (I prefer a more filling drink like Accelerade). About halfway through, I'll swing by the house and grab the other half of my banana and drink. I went completely empty once for 13mi and my GI was kinda pukey/burning the whole time, but eating a little something helps avoid that. Burn that fat!

SonicDeathMonkey80

I've heard people like jelly beans or mike & ikes or just granola bars...but alas, I couldn't figure out a way to attach those to my body without being annoying.

I did an Xterra triathlon and taped a gel to my arm with a small strip of mailing tape since the mountain bike portion was too bumpy to put it on the frame. Worked like a charm!

soehlerking

haha!! i might try that out next time!

ATT949

I've recently come to like going minimal on 10-18mi distances. I'll wake up, have half a banana just to quell my stomach, and about 8oz of sports drink (I prefer a more filling drink like Accelerade). About halfway through, I'll swing by the house and grab the other half of my banana and drink. I went completely empty once for 13mi and my GI was kinda pukey/burning the whole time, but eating a little something helps avoid that. Burn that fat!

Interesting - I couldn't imagine eating a banana while running. Different ways to skin a cat, right?

I'll sometimes drop an ounce or two of gel before a long run but I can take it or leave it. I will usually try to bring along at shot of gel, however.

What I have experienced for the past few LR's (10 to 12 miles) is that I've run nicely if I go over my cals the night before (Horror of Horrors! :-) ) by eating some whole wheat bread and some jam. As an "experiment of one" I realize that I can't state to a certainty that it's helping but it is "a data point" and I will bring my bread and jam with me for this Sunday's race.

I'm also going to make sure that I have a microwave in my hotel room. I don't like to complain but eating cold oatmeal with honey for breakfast at 5:30 AM is not the way to start my day!

miche_smash

Thank you so much everyone for your advice!!!! I have at least one more long run (12 miles) to try something out. Hopefully I hit on something that works for me. Maybe eventually I'll get more used to these long runs, but prior to starting this training, the longest I ever ran was 7miles.
I definitely found bananas don't work for me pre-race! I ate one before my first10K this summer and it sat like a pit in my stomach. Some kind of peanut butter granola bar/peanut butter toast usually works for me pre-run.

55in13

I am another little or nothing, but I just ran my first half a few days ago. I did take a few sips of water at mile 9. On my training runs, many of which were 10+, I rarely took water and never any gels/beans/food. I do make sure I get plenty of carbs the day before. A half will not deplete your glycogen stores; I just make sure they are full. I think any boost you would get would be mostly mental, but mental boosts count, so if you think it will help try it (before race day).

ibleedunionblue

Pre-race: Wheat bagel with jelly. Or oatmeal. I've also done a meal replacement shake and PR'd, but that is another conversation.

During the race: I use GU. I also take water and gatorade as supplied on course. I alternate a gatorade or water at each stop. In my last Half Marathon, I gu'd at mile 4.5 and mile 9. My last 2 miles were both 20 seconds under my pace for race. So I really like my GU schedule.

Long training runs: I will use GU for training runs 18 miles and more. Dont need it as much as I do it for training purposes as simulation for marathon I am training for.

miche_smash

It may be that I need to pay attention more to what I eat the night before a long run or race day. I never thought about it before!!

55in13

It may be that I need to pay attention more to what I eat the night before a long run or race day. I never thought about it before!!

In this thread:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1111573-carb-loading-before-a-race-when-to-do-it
someone points to an article that says for a half it really isn't necessary but can't hurt. That is sort of what I think about fueling during the half. But when I make sure I have loaded up the day before for long training runs and for a half, I did well. I have no idea if it helped, but it didn't hurt and now I don't see the point in changing it. So much is mental at this distance. Science says we really aren't taxing our bodies enough to worry about anything but normal eating habits, especially if we train for it. But what we believe helps does so...

SonicDeathMonkey80

Today was a fistful of Cheez-Its and a swig of VitaminWater Zero.