I did my first marathon in October and I have 2 more this year (after saying NEVER AGAIN!)

My best piece of advice is don't wait until your struggling to refuel by that point the damage is usually done !

At 14 miles I remember saying to my marathon partner "I feel good I'm going to have a few jelly beans now to keep this level of energy up" he said "no don't waste them, use them for when your struggling" well low and behold at 17 miles I was still feeling as good as I did at 14 miles and he was struggling, he ate a few jelly beans and they did nothing to improve his energy

Same with water don't wait until you're thirsty and then guzzle it down just keep hydrated with little and often

2- Speaking of your head. YOU WILL HIT A WALL. It may be at mile 7, it may be at mile 13, it may be at mile 20, it may be at all of the above. You will get over it. Everyone out on that course with you will hit that wall- so you'd be weird if you didn't. Have something ready to get yourself through. Think of the hugs from your four kids, think of all the chocolate you can eat at the end, think of the bragging rights or whatever it is that will get you through and keep going.

With this, I don't agree, unless you and I are defining "The Wall"differently. Hitting the wall occurs when the body runs out of glycogen. This doesn't happen to everyone, it depends on their fitness and how well they execute their plan. I've run 4 marathons now and I hit the wall in the first one and came really close in the 4th one. The middle two, no wall, no way.

Totally agree with Carson here. I'm two marathons in and have yet to make the wall's acquaintance. This is why race nutrition is important; and why I said don't be afraid to take on calories/carbs early and often (consistent with your long runs, but remembering you've got an extra 4-6 miles (assuming you ran 20-22 in your long training runs)). But there is certainly no requirement to hit the wall. Frankly, even if you mean a mental wall, I've also avoided that, too. I trusted in my training and went in knowing I could execute; on race day, I just carried out the plan.

2- Speaking of your head. YOU WILL HIT A WALL. It may be at mile 7, it may be at mile 13, it may be at mile 20, it may be at all of the above. You will get over it. Everyone out on that course with you will hit that wall- so you'd be weird if you didn't. Have something ready to get yourself through. Think of the hugs from your four kids, think of all the chocolate you can eat at the end, think of the bragging rights or whatever it is that will get you through and keep going.

With this, I don't agree, unless you and I are defining "The Wall"differently. Hitting the wall occurs when the body runs out of glycogen. This doesn't happen to everyone, it depends on their fitness and how well they execute their plan. I've run 4 marathons now and I hit the wall in the first one and came really close in the 4th one. The middle two, no wall, no way.

Totally agree with Carson here. I'm two marathons in and have yet to make the wall's acquaintance. This is why race nutrition is important; and why I said don't be afraid to take on calories/carbs early and often (consistent with your long runs, but remembering you've got an extra 4-6 miles (assuming you ran 20-22 in your long training runs)). But there is certainly no requirement to hit the wall. Frankly, even if you mean a mental wall, I've also avoided that, too. I trusted in my training and went in knowing I could execute; on race day, I just carried out the plan.

Agreed! Not everyone hits the wall. I've had a few races where I felt eerily amazing the whole time. Then there are other races where I hit the wall, hard. I even hit the wall during training. (I should know better than to not fuel properly early on). As others have said, don't wait until you're dehydrated or your stomach is grumbling to refuel. Fuel consistently and early on, as a proactive measure.