Marathon nutrition

heatherjaber
heatherjaber Posts: 1 Member
edited November 16 in Fitness and Exercise
Hello everyone, working towards first marathon! Any tips much welcomed...

Replies

  • spiriteagle99
    spiriteagle99 Posts: 3,746 Member
    When is your race? Are you following a training plan? Have you done any half marathons?

    Nutrition for a marathon isn't that much different from nutrition for a half. You will want to pay attention to what you eat the day before and the day of your long runs, to see what works for you and what doesn't. I.e. I can't handle a lot of sugar before my long runs, but I have a friend who fuels on donuts and Mountain Dew. Generally I try to avoid a lot of sugar, fat and fiber before my long runs, but YMMV.

    Are you asking about nutrition during your race? Again, that's a matter of trial and error. I take a Gu or Gel every 5 miles or so, and drink Gatorade at every other water stop. I read an article in Runners World just prior to my first marathon that said that it is better to start taking in fuel early in the race than to wait until later because the stomach is more likely to reject it after it has been stressed for a couple of hours. I find, even on my long runs, that some days my stomach will cramp whether I'm eating a Gel or drinking water. I tried a lot of different things to see what my stomach could handle and what it couldn't. Shot bloks were easiest on the stomach, but harder for me to chew when I'm running.

    If you're concerned about weight loss/gain, I found that I generally lose a little weight during my training, but not a lot since I get so hungry after my longer runs. However I ended up gaining weight after the race, because of the three week taper and post-race recovery when I was running less but eating much the same as during peak training.
  • BuddhaWithLizard
    BuddhaWithLizard Posts: 2 Member
    The 2 most important parts will be fuel and hydration.

    For fuel, you should google glycogen stores for running. Rather than me making a long post, you should read the science. At some point your body will run out of glycogen stores and you will have to replace it with something. There are plenty of gels and bars as well as liquid replacements. The less you have to use, the better your race will be. Try as many as you can and find what works for you during training.

    Teach your body to make and use glycogen by not fueling before or during runs. There really is no need for this unless you are running 90 minutes or longer.

    Never miss your long run. This is the key to building, storing and using the bodies glycogen.

    Always stay hydrated. Before, during and after runs/races. Bonking and hitting the wall hurts but lack of hydration can put you in the hospital.

    Hope this helps some.

  • GaryRuns
    GaryRuns Posts: 508 Member
    What is you goal as far as the race goes? Just to finish or do you have a target time? Are you interested in nutrition leading up to the race or actual nourishment while you run the race?
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    spiriteagle99 wrote: »
    When is your race? Are you following a training plan? Have you done any half marathons?

    Nutrition for a marathon isn't that much different from nutrition for a half. You will want to pay attention to what you eat the day before and the day of your long runs, to see what works for you and what doesn't. I.e. I can't handle a lot of sugar before my long runs, but I have a friend who fuels on donuts and Mountain Dew. Generally I try to avoid a lot of sugar, fat and fiber before my long runs, but YMMV.

    Are you asking about nutrition during your race? Again, that's a matter of trial and error. I take a Gu or Gel every 5 miles or so, and drink Gatorade at every other water stop. I read an article in Runners World just prior to my first marathon that said that it is better to start taking in fuel early in the race than to wait until later because the stomach is more likely to reject it after it has been stressed for a couple of hours. I find, even on my long runs, that some days my stomach will cramp whether I'm eating a Gel or drinking water. I tried a lot of different things to see what my stomach could handle and what it couldn't. Shot bloks were easiest on the stomach, but harder for me to chew when I'm running.

    If you're concerned about weight loss/gain, I found that I generally lose a little weight during my training, but not a lot since I get so hungry after my longer runs. However I ended up gaining weight after the race, because of the three week taper and post-race recovery when I was running less but eating much the same as during peak training.

    That advice from Runner's World matches my experience for sure. I didn't fuel enough during the early miles in my first marathon last year and by the time I realized the issue, my stomach was cramping so much I could barely get anything down. I finished the marathon, but the last six miles were brutal. I'm doing another marathon next year and I'm going to focus much more on consistent fueling during my long training runs so I know what works and what doesn't for the marathon.
  • WhitneyDurham777
    WhitneyDurham777 Posts: 71 Member
    The worst problem that I ever had running a marathon is that my fingers tend to get cold real easy. My plan was to use Gels as fueling during the marathon, and I had even brought my own so that I knew they wouldn't upset my stomach. It was a cold morning and my hands got cold enough that I couldn't open the gels and had to switch to drinking Powerade. The race turned into a disaster. It is sometimes the little things that can get you.
  • MeanderingMammal
    MeanderingMammal Posts: 7,866 Member
    Big subject.

    Where are you in your training, how much mileage do you do at the moment? Have you raced HMs before and what are your objectives? What sort of terrain is the race?

    I aim to consume about 250 calories per hour, for trail racing. Experiment in your long training runs with options to see what works.

    I've used gels and honey stinger chews with success, also cake, water melon, grapes, jelly babies and beer depending on what's at the aid stations.

    At the moment my preference for long runs of marathon of longer is Tailwind. Very easy on the stomach but it means carrying the volume; 500ml per hour running.
  • _mr_b
    _mr_b Posts: 302 Member
    There are loads of online plans out there, customise one to your schedule and stick to it. It's a classic 'fail to prepare, prepare to fail' scenario otherwise.

    As for nutrition, find a plan that works for you, some (incl me) swear by various brands but in reality people were running marathons way before any of these existed - if jam sandwiches work for you then who are we to tell you otherwise.
    It can be worth finding out who is sponsoring the race and then training with their stuff, that way you find out if it works for you and you get a handy supply when you are there which means you can carry less. Am sure there are plenty of stories of races ruined by trying a different product on the day and it have less than the desired effect.

    As Buddha said, you don't need to go crazy fuelling training runs, you've enough glycogen to keep you going for 90 mins anyway. But when you're doing the long runs then little and often is the best plan, don't chase either thirst or fueling, keep on top of both to avoid the wall.

    Don't neglect recovery either, get a good 20g of protein within 30mins of finishing a session and you'll recover better - that can be shakes or just your normal meals.
  • BeeerRunner
    BeeerRunner Posts: 728 Member
    heatherjaber wrote: »
    Hello everyone, working towards first marathon! Any tips much welcomed...

    What are you wanting to know exactly? There is general nutrition, long run / race fueling, and the carb load that starts about 3 days before the race.

    Regarding general nutrition, I would just eat what you normally eat to maintain fitness...a healthy mix of carbs, protein and fat unless you have any dietary restrictions. I do try to get about 100g of protein a day. On long run days, I splurge a bit but not too much because it seems like I'm even hungrier the next day.
  • tiny_clanger
    tiny_clanger Posts: 301 Member
    I am using jelly babies for immediate sugar and pieces of energy bar (Tribe or Nakd) for longer release. I pre-open all my bags and just tuck everything into my bumbag. I've tried the gels, but I either end up dropping them or puking them back up down myself. I start eating at 5K, then allow myself a treat every 5K - I have a special little baggie of green jelly babies for that!

    It sounds fiddly and complicated, but actually I've found focussing on things like which bag is which is great for my brain further on in the run.
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