re: Official Running Log/Marathon Training Thread

I don’t have experience in the marathon distance myself (longest run 18 mi). However, I have found what works best for me is a gel every 45 mins. You want to make sure when you intake nutrition that you are washing it down with some water or sports drink. Could mess up your stomach otherwise and make for a bad time.

I’d be interested to hear what the longer distance guys in the thread have to say. They will be able to provide better insight, but just wanted to share what works for me.

There are gels that don’t require water. I used one Science In Sport gel for a half I ran and it worked fine. Everyone is different though, so best to try different gels on training runs and see what works/doesn’t work.

As for water/hydration, I have a small Nathan handheld soft side bottle I use. Only use it on long runs over 8 miles when it’s really hot and I’ll be sweating a lot. Again, everyone is different though…I’ve seen some people say hydrate every 45 minutes regardless of temps, I’ve seen others that only hydrate if running 10+ miles.

Edit: Isotonic gels are the ones that do not require water. Do some research on the different types of gels and determine which you think will work best for you.

As you can see this isn't a one size fits all situation. General rule of thumb is nutrition every 45 minutes if activity is longer than 1.5hr. Drink before you are thirsty. once you are thirsty you could already be in dehydrated zone. with that said no one probably follows this for every run that meets the base standard of 1.5hr. Your body has way more stored energy in it that you think especially if you run first thing in the morning and then if you eat something before heading out not much reason you would need any additional nutrition unless you are hitting 2.5hr, in my opinion and personal experience. My longest marathon training run is probably 16ish miles and I don't take food or water. During actual race I go through 3-4 gels and drink what i can grab on the course which they usually have water/sports drink every 2 miles maybe even every mile. I would guess in total I may take in 8oz of fluid. grabbing and drinking out of those little cups on the move ain't easy.

I never take hydration supplements of any type before runs. There are electrolytes in my recovery drink (Tailwinds, which rocks BTW). I always drink a good bit before races and try to pee a few times, but nothing excessive.

Should I up my water intake for the full marathon?

Yeah I have had some of these issues as well. Guess I’ll just splurge and get the hrm - dual for $55

Start experiencing on your long runs to see what works. Like others said it all depends on what your body needs.

Hal higdon always like to point out that bill rodgers took four brief brakes including tying his shoe on one of them en route to his 1975 Boston marathon win. If you need to stop to drink the cup of water it won’t kill your race time. It definitely won’t hurt on long runs.

What are you training for right now? If you have a cross training day built in you could switch that day.

Personally I wouldn’t do a big bike with any sort of run.

Yeah that’s a far way out. I’d just do the bike ride. No reason to risk overworking anything this early in the cycle.

Tempo run of sorts today. 4.25 miles at a 8:50 pace. Middle two miles at an 8:00 pace. Ran in downtown Savannah, GA. The 200 yr old roads aren’t the greatest to run on. Lots of people out walking and running this AM. Kind of impressive. I’ll try to find a longer route tomorrow and get 10+ in if possible.