1st Half Marathon -- how do you keep your energy up?

No, but I'd like to know as well

I like the sports beans - they are like jelly beans. I found them at my local Target. I ate some around mile 8/9 during both half marathons I've done and found they gave me a good boost. I found them much easier to stomach than the gels. BUT make sure you try them (or anything else you are considering eating during the race) prior to race day.

Strong cup of coffee beforehand... Then I usually eat a few Shot Bloks around the 6- or 7- and maybe 11-12ish-mile marks (basically every hour, I'm slow)... Some people who are better conditioned don't need any of that I live in a climate of extremely high humidity year round though so I get pooped earlier.

I personally like Shot Bloks because they're caffeinated and I don't find the texture or taste too nauseating -- they're like firm fruit snacks. The gels gross me out but some people love them.

The main thing is to start experimenting now while you have a decent amount of time before the race date.

I'm also running my first half this month. My longest run to date is 9.75. I've been trying different energy gels and whatnot to see what works and what I like. For example, I don't like the texture of the clif bloks, the power bar gummies are good and I like the texture but they didn't really give me any extra pep in my step. I really liked the Gu Roctaine... still have a couple more different things at home to try before I make my final race day decision... Good luck to you!

My recipe-
Carb-load the day before
Eat a good breakfast of 4:1 carbs to protein- banana, white toast w/PB
Take a gel 15 minutes before the start
Take a gel at 45 minutes, and every 30 after that.
Drink choco milk within 30 minutes of finishing to aid in recovery

That's my formula.

I did my 1st Half in April. I maintained my energy throughout the run by going with a pace group, drinking a bit of Gatorade at every water station on the run, taking a GU pack at mile 8 or 9, and listening to my MP3 player. I also wore light clothing, a runner's cap, and some compression sleeves on my calves to avoid cramping, lactic acid buildup, and general fatigue. I hate wearing the compression sleeves, but after 10 miles of pounding the pavement I start to appreciate having them on to keep my legs strong. I ran with my pace group to finish at 1:50.

Eat some pasta or something high in carbs for dinner the night before the race. I had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a banana nut muffin in the morning for breakfast. About 15 minutes before the run I drank a Gatorade Prime 01.

I'm running a half in two weeks. Up to this point I've done a 19, 20 and 21km run. So almost all of it. I'll be running to finish in 2:30:00

What has worked best for me is lots of carbs the day before. Coffee and immodium in the morning. Gatorade or water throughout the run. A gu at the one hour mark and a gu every half hour after that. Following that, I got through the entire run without bonking. I did have some cramping after I was done.

Most of the battle of running beyond 6-8 miles is psychological rather than physiological. You need to imagine yourself running strong, make a little video in your mind of your best run and how it felt when you were running well and then play that video to yourself as you run. Also image what the finish will be like, family friends, crowd cheering you over the line. Again 'play' this video in your mind as you run.

I have a Mantra I say to myself... For the marathon I ran it was this...

"I am a Marathoner. I love to run. I run 4 times a week. I am in great condition. I finish all my runs. I am a Marathoner"

Physical fatigue is due to 2 main problems, a lack of energy (stored glycogen and available glucose in your blood stream). The second is a build up of lactate in your muscles.

The more you train the stronger your muscles get and the capacity of your body to store glycogen increases. This will come with time... follow your training programme and you will be good on the day! A key part of any training is having rest days, cooling down after a run including stretching and strength exercises to build core muscles.

In order to run you need ready energy and this is usually in the form of glycogen. Your body can store around 2000 calories of glycogen in your liver and muscles. Before you race you will need to load up on glycogen by tapering, reducing the amount you run and not running or exercising at least 24 hours before the race (48 hours is better). As other people have said eat well before the race but avoid high fibre and spicy food...

When you run you need to keep you Heart Rate at 65-85% of your max HR... this usually means you can have a conversation whilst you are running. Or use a HR Monitor (HRM). At this heart rate you should not have too much of a build of lactate. If you find your muscles are feeling tired and crampy you will need some massage. You can do this yourself with a foam roller or go to a sports therapist.

To build up your tolerance to lactate you will need to do some zone 3 exercise. In a week I would usually have one long run at race pace. One medium run at race pace or a little faster & two short runs in zone 3 or putting your pulse up to 85-110% of your Max HR. This will help to build your tolerance to lactate and reduce fatigue in longer runs. NOTE: get yourself checked out by a doctor before you do this and warm up well beforehand otherwise you will get injuries!

I eat a good low fibre high carb meal the night before... Doing a run of 8-13 miles I would have an electrolyte tablet beforehand with 300 mls water or a mug of coffee. I'd take a 500ml drink like Lucozade / Gatorade with me. And finish the run off with an electrolyte tablet and another 300 mls of water. I liked chewy sweets sometimes but would usually not need to use these until I was running past 13 miles. I weighed before and after runs to calculate my fluid loss during a run. I would lose around 250-300 mls of fluid (sweat) for every hour of exercise in zone 2 (HR @ 65-85%) workout. I would do 13 miles in 2 hours so that would mean a 500-600 ml fluid loss, which would mean the Lucozade I drank during the run would cover my fluid loss.

For recovery you will find that a square of dark chocolate a day will help, drinking cherry juice will help too... Rember not to run the day before and the day after your long runs. Try to get 8 hrs of sleep a night when you are training. Also try to avoid empty calories in things like processed food, and alcohol.

Enjoy and have fun

As you've seen from all the different replies, lots of people do lots of things. You need to experiment, just not on race day!

For me for a half, my routine is pretty simple.

Breakfast - 2 packages Quaker instant oatmeal (I like maple and brown sugar) and a banana

Pre-Race: 1 gel with caffeine (cliff strawberry, gu mandarine, gu tri-berry) 15 minutes before the race starts

During Race: 1 gel at 30 minutes, 1 extra gel every 40 minutes following. I alternate a non-caffeinated gel / caffeinated gel. If it's only a half I will either take a small hand bottle with water and refill along the way, or rely on water station stuff entirely.

That works for me for a half. Anything longer than that though and I change things up.

S

I think it's important here to make the distinction between "not having the fitness" and "not having the fuel" to get through a run of a particular distance. These two feel completely different to me.

Not having the fitness will have you breathing really hard at a pace that you were able to run much more easily a few miles prior.

Not having the fuel feels like your lungs are okay, but no matter what, you just can't seem to make your legs move and you continue to get slower and slower.


The former can only be rectified by improving your fitness through running more miles. The latter requires a fueling plan that starts well before the run and continues through it. As a very general rule of thumb, your body isn't going to run out of glycogen until you reach about 90 minutes of activity, so if you are feeling this way after less than 90 minutes of activity, it's probably just your fitness. Maybe slow down the run a little bit and see if you can get through it a little easier.

I used Clif Shot Bloks and thought they were awesome. I took the first two at about ~45-50 min into any given run that was going to go more than an hour (~5 miles-ish) and then ate the rest spread out over the remainder of whatever the run was. Any run less than an hour I didn't bother, but my half marathon goal pace was 2:10 so many of my runs were long enough that I needed the fuel.

One thing I HIGHLY recommend is this: if you're going to start adding intake to your runs (whether it's a bar or a candy or the beans or in your drink), make sure you start doing it well before your race. Even though these things are supposed to help you run, your body still needs to get used to it, and shocking your system the day of the race could end badly. Give yourself a couple practice runs with it -- start feeding your next few long runs and see how your body responds. Don't wait until the day of the race to change things up.

I have a bottle of Powerade or lucozade sport every 6 miles

I've ran a bunch of half marathons... and for me I have a banana and a tablespoon of peanut butter an hour or so before the race. Then I have 2-3 of the Clif Shot Bloks at one hour... then the rest around the 1:30/2:00 mark (I generally finish around 2:20 to 2:30). Keeps me going! :happy:

My recipe-
Carb-load the day before
Eat a good breakfast of 4:1 carbs to protein- banana, white toast w/PB
Take a gel 15 minutes before the start
Take a gel at 45 minutes, and every 30 after that.
Drink choco milk within 30 minutes of finishing to aid in recovery

That's my formula.

this is what i do. i will just add to make sure you try ANYTHING new before race day. This includes foods, gels, clothing, shoes, etc... I wore a new pair of running shoes on my second half and it ubbed the backs of my feet raw. Although I would rather have a cliff bar or something more solid, try eating and swallowing while you are gasping for breath. so to prevent a potential choking scenario I use the mandarin gu. It really isnt that bad. as for recover, take your pick of "recovery" food after the race - ie pizza, bananas, cookies, sports drinks, etc... good luck!