I usually only use fuel on the 20 mile runs and then just to practice what to do for the marathon. I take about one gel with water every 5 miles, which is about every 45 minutes for me. During the race I alternated water stations with gatorade and water. Don't take gatorade with a gel. Try a bunch of different kinds. Some people can't stomach gu and like Hammer products, or hate gels and want something like honey stinger waffles. You have to figure out what isn't going to give you a belly ache. Also, fuel early and often in the race. (or on your practice run.) If you wait until you're feeling poorly then it's too late.

On training runs: zero on runs up to 22 miles

Race day, every 45 minutes, one gel (which I believe is 100 calories).

I've only run one marathon, but for it, I used gu chomps. For training, I used nothing up to 18 miles then started using the chomps. Race day, I used 3-4 an hour along with gatorade. Couldn't stand the taste and texture of gels. I tried raisins and dates for a while and it seemed to work nutrition-wise, but carrying and dealing with them was a hassle.

Long trail races, I need real food or my stomach gets unhappy and sloshy.

Ditto what the others said: have some fun experimenting!

I dunno about any universal truths when it comes to what to eat or not to, but for me, I'm having good luck lately with more natural crap like bananas, grapes, PB&J etc. These aren't practical to expect at a marathon, so I'm back to experimenting for portable stuff. I like gels, but I don't like to drink a lot of water, so they irritate my stomach. For training runs, I'm good to go with a Gatorade pit stop every 7-8 miles or so.

Thanks all! These are helpful. This is a 50 K trail race (5 mile loops with 2 aid stations). There will be copious food (bananas, PBJ, chips, gels, etc). I am not committed to completing it. I will be happy to complete 4 loops. However if my body holds up I would be thrilled to go longer. Thus the confusion about incorporating solid food. If I knew I was just running 20 it sounds like I could skip solid food but if I want to go longer do you think I'd be wise to eat some "real food" earlier on when I still might have some appetite? I'm guessing by 20 miles I will not have much desire for a PBJ....this is just a learning experience for me not a serious race. I want ot have fun with it but also not be totally stupid. I've never run longer than 18 miles and did that without solid food.

you may not want pb&j, but you might find you enjoy oranges, chips or pickles later in the race, so don't discount trying them if you see them. You might be surprised. and the extra salt and calories won't hurt!

Ah, a 50K trail race. Different, definitely. It will depend a lot in this case on how long you expect to be on your feet. If it's trail, but similar to road in terms of technicality and elevation, you don't need to do much differently than you normally would. But if it's the kind of 50K where you expect to be on your feet for longer than 5 or 6 hours...food. Real food. Banana, pbj, something solid in your belly. I eat about 100 to 200 kcal an hour in trail races. Usually, I take a Probar meal bar, break it into 4 pieces and eat 100 calories of it an hour in a 50k. More for a 50 mile. Nuun for electrolytes.

I start taking something on runs of 2+ hours (10 miles for me). I can do a 10 miler without, but prefer to take something.

Hammer gels are my go-to. They are 90 calories and I take them every 50 min to an hour. I am with everyone else though that any thing over a marathon will need real food. In my ultra, I had an amazing turkey sandwich 4 hours in. I just ate off of the aid station otherwise: tortillas with beans, grilled cheese, mashed potatoes.

But, I'm a good eater, so I don't have to worry about my stomach revolting...

Hi all,

Can you share your tips for fueling for long distance runs?

I'm wondering how many calories to try to ingest each hour and if it's advisable to ingest more calories early on v. later when the appetite might diminish (20 mile distance)

Also any "DO" or "DON'T" fueling suggestions most appreciated!

Without exception, the research that I've read reveals that we run best when we ingest 60 grams of CHO per hour while running so that's what I do when I run a race (HM's only…so far).

The best source of information on nutrition and fueling for a Half that I've found is Matt Fitzgerald's book on that topic. It's excellent value for < $15 from Amazon.

Another source that is very helpful is energygelcentral.com I've been using their gels for about a year (probably a little longer) and I recommend them as a good source for energy gels (buy the powder and make your own and you'll save about 50% over a commercial product), and also as an information source. I've corresponded with the owner of the company and she's been very helpful.

Per Fitzgerald, I have done 3 day carb loading (70% CHO in diet vs my normal 60%) as well as beetroot. For my upcoming Half in August, I will also take caffeine during the race (I'm going coffee-free now but still consume soda and iced tea so I'm still getting some caffeine).

Just saw a comment about ingesting sugar - nothing wrong with that but since table sugar is a simple sugar, you should be careful about taking in enough water. And, also, understand that since it's only one type of sugar, it's not ingested as a gel which uses 3 types of carbs to allow us to absorb more carbs, more quickly.

Per earlier vs later - earlier, no question. Per Fitzgerald, the body's ability to digest and absorb food diminishes with distance. Drop a gel about 15 mins before the race.

These Google docs worksheets cover pre-race fueling (what regular people call "breakfast"! :-) ) based on the course I've raced and data about how my body burns carbs vs fat.

Pre-run:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AtCsYuXopoFadEtwMGNfcElmQVFWUWRqb1pKOVpJaHc&usp=drive_web#gid=0

This is the post-run analysis:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AtCsYuXopoFadFEwWGVrMEgzS05OSFlLR3JGR3FZNkE&usp=drive_web#gid=0

The net is that a 175 pound man burned about 239 grams of carbs over a Half when running at 75% VO2 Max (I didn't run very hard).

One item that I've only seen mentioned once in the reading that I've done is that we can estimate with great precision how many carbs we will burn and adjust our fuel intake to suit but, unless you take in so much CHO that you have stomach problems, we're better off using more gels than less.

I learned through my training runs that I really can't tolerate gus/gels.

I use the chews. Honey Stinger in either the Cherry Cola or Cherry Blossom are my favourites. I find these to be the easiest to chew and digest and they don't leave my mouth feeling dry/parched. I believe 1 pouch is roughly 160 calories.

I do follow these with sips of water.

I also found that I am OK to consume chews and Gatorade on the same run - but not back to back, if that makes sense.