Marathon training questions

How much are you running right now? IN other words, what's your longest run?

I use Gu and Jelly Belly Sports Beans when I do long runs up to and including the half marathon I did in October. Every 45-60 minutes you should fuel up. It seemed to work well for me. Good luck on your full marathon!

I like Nuun as an electrolyte replacement rather than Gatorade. I have used it on my long runs and during half marathons.
I prefer to use Honey Stinger Chews as fuel during long runs over any other Gu, chomp or beans that I have tried.

p.s. I am beginning to consider marathon training myself and am curious about training plans.

I use energy gels for anything over 90 minutes. Try to find isotonic ones so you don't have to glug down gallons of water. And don't use them and energy drinks too.

For my one marathon to date, I had a friend stashed along the route to feed me cold full-fat Coke and pretzels. The chill and salt were heaven after warm sticky hell!

I really like to use natural stuff so I use chia seeds. Yes, they are the same as used on the chia pets! :-P They are quite nutritious and, taken with water or a mixture of water, sugar, and lemon or lime juice, are a good fuel source.

There are a lot of variables including weight, age, distance, speed etc... so what I will tell you is what works for me. First thing is that I gag on gels... something about their texture I can't tolerate.

During training, I take fluids every 20 minutes. Which fluid depends on the duration and intensity of the workout (i.e. easy runs will be water, intense workouts gatorade, Long slow runs I'll alternate if possible).

For food, I like something along the lines of granola bars every half hour or so during training. Cheap but fills the gap. During a race I go for Gu Chomps or Sport beans (just a few every water station).

Post workout, I reach for a jug of chocolate milk and a peanut butter and banana sandwich.

I don't use a lot of protein powders and really don't need them as I get adequate protein and carbs from regular sources (i.e. peanut butter/chocolate milk/banana's etc). Yes there is some merit to them, I'm not going to argue that. They work well when used properly. Unfortunately, I don't think they are properly used by most and certainly over sold by many companies... there is little to them that proper nutrition won't provide.

Good for you! I've run three Marathons and 6 half marathons. Trying hard to get back on track. When I run long distance I am a much happier, healthier and sane person. I signed up for a half in March.
I always drank water or water with a splash of gatoraide. Also, for Energy I liked those sports beans. I tried gels, goo, bars...a lot of them upset my stomach or gave me cramps. You don't want "runners trots" during a long race. I actually use a few spice gumdrops or a couple mini tootsie rolls. Banana works well too. I just crave the sugar..I know thats not super healthy, but they did the job. Good luck and keep posting.

Sounds like I should get the jelly beans. They sound convenient. So...does it sound right that I drink gatorade, take electrolyte pills, and jelly beans??? Then do protein post-workout?

-Kate

The SportBeans are the best! Being small, they are easily consumed. They taste like normal jelly beans but also contain electrolytes. Keep in mind that gatorade also contains electrolytes.

The question is how much electrolye do you need?

You need to think about some way of carrying whatever you plan to take. If your marathon gives out gels and sports drinks I would suggest trying those out and if you like them rely on them during the race. I dont think you need to be using them for every run you do but certainly for your longest and one other. Gels are v expensive in the Uk so I tend to use other things in training and save gels for races where I dont want to be messing around with real food.

I find having real food on training runs is also good as I can persuade myself just one more mle then I can have X so I look forward to it. You are never goig to look forward to a gel!,

My favourite is marzipan ( it melts in the mouth so doesn't need much chewing), coconut mushrooms, jaffa cakes and cereal bars. I tend to steer clear of dairy as that can give me the trots

Some Poeple have problems with sports products and the trots/ cramps. Some get one with none some get on with one or two brands so it is worth experimenting in good time. I find I am OK with gels but some energy bars give me the trots so I have to be careful. Also, just because you are OK on one gel that does not mean you will be ok throughout the race so you need to try them on your longer run.

In the summer I did a 12 hour race. They were giving out energy bars which I hadn't tried before. Decided to risk it and was OK but 3 bars later and I was in and out of the portaloos!

I have seen the Jelly belly beans everyone has talked about but if you compare those ingredients to plain old gummy bears it really is not much difference unless you want the caffeine ones. I use gatoraide, gummy bears, and GU gel packs. I do agree with others on training using different ones to see what works best for you. But, gummy bears keep my mouth moist are soft and don't require a "lot" of chewing. PLUS you get a huge bag for a 1.00!