Not eating before marathon?

I'm the same way. I can't eat anything three hours prior to running. I usually eat fairly heavy the night before and then just a little water and coffee morning of, with a gel or two along the way. Unless it's ridiculous weather (very hot/very cold) your body has enough energy to complete a marathon. Granted, a little food energy would help your performance slightly.

a marathon is different - it is much slower and way way longer. I have to race with an empty stomach too, and still end up with dry heaves at the end of most races.

A marathon - you need food for a marathon. And unless you are elite, you are runnig so bloody slow that it might be ok. Or at least you can deal with it for 30 minutes until the discomfort is gone.

I eat a bowl of oatmeal (made with water not milk) before 2-3 hour runs - it is annoying early on, but I finish way stronger.

Galloway would take nothing but water twelve hours before a race.

I eat 3 hours before I race. Sometimes this means getting up before 4 am.

I've done your plan before and it was fine. You can also try eating something totally bland, like a plain bagel with nothing on it. That will at least get you to not worry about being hungry. Bananas seem to be a good option as well

Thanks for the input. It's always ends up being an "experiment of one", so it's good to know that others have tried it.

I like an Ensure a few hours before a marathon. I might end up also eating half a bagel, but chocolate Ensure plus is awesome.

I tried this for the first time before Boston. Ate a little larger dinner than normal, then nothing else after 8:00 the night before. Coffee in the AM, a little water, then shut it down until I drank a couple of ounces of Gatorade just before the gun went off (within 5 minutes).

Took gels at 2, 7, 12, 17 & 22 since I was starting the race 'on empty' and this was the first marathon where I've never hit the wall. Finished feeling strong and set a nice 2 1/2 minute PR along the way.

I did this, idiotically. For 5ks and 10ks I would always fast for 8-16 hours before the race because my stomach is so terrible, and it seemed to work...so I tried it with a marathon...had a small plate of pasta about 14 hours before the race, then nothing. My stomach was okay (not great) but my legs, predictably enough, ran out of energy at about 14 miles. Death march the rest of the way.

If you overfeed 2-3 days before, you could fast 24 hours before a marathon, and not bonk. It's hard to believe people eat bagels and pasta as gluten might be the worst thing to put in your stomach before a race. Not everyone is allegic but it's still hard to digest. How many people do you know that eat a porterhouse for two the night before a race? It's easier to digest than gluten.

I've done it without much trouble. Like others have said, I also never eat the morning of any race. Obviously you are going to be stronger if you can take some gel and/or gatorade during the race. In addition, I never eat a heavy dinner the night before because of stomach/GI issues.

I do my carb loading 2 days before the race. But I have to eat the morning of the marathon; I am always hungry as soon as I get up in the morning, and race morning is no different. I eat a pb sandwhich when I get up, and a banana 45 min. before the start of the race. I usually don't need more than 1 gel during the race.

Boston was different for me because I was awake 5 hours before I started running which isn't typical. I found that I was still hungry at the Athlete's Village, so I ate a bagel. For the entire 2nd half of the race, I thought I was going to do #2 in my pants, it was brutal (but I didn't stop because I was right in pace for a PR). Everything turned out OK, but in the future I will take Immodium before a marathon; it's helped a lot of other people.

No solid food within 12 hours of marathon. Drink a high-calorie, high-carb drink 3 hours before race. Aussie-carbo load day before. Haven't hit a wall in the 7 marathons I've done this.

A 24 hr fast would not be a good idea. Liver glycogen would be pretty low. That is where the brain gets its glucose.

Last marathon I woke up about an 90min before the race. Downed a Gu with water, took another about 45min before the race. Had another at miles 5 and 16. Ate pasta twice the day before.

Worked well for me. If I had to be awake 4 hours before the race I would have eaten a full meal.

Try different things before a 20mi run. If you are good at the end of them then you will be able to take in carbs during the race to finish strong.

old geezer wrote:

Galloway would take nothing but water twelve hours before a race.

Jeff Galloway

During my first 70 marathons or so, I didn't eat anything. On each of these, my blood sugar level was so low at the end that I hardly enjoyed the exhilaration of even the better ones.

I thought that low blood sugar was a given, that it would crash regardless of what I did on all runs beyond 20 miles. Even on my best marathons, I finished feeling exhausted, unmotivated, unable to concentrate very well, and very hungry but often nauseous.

A good nap usually turned into a long evening hibernation. Without eating, the vitality wasn't in the legs or spirit the next morning - even after some 12-hour slumbers.

I've now run my last 40+ marathons using an energy bar as my blood sugar booster and have enjoyed the afterglow of each - even the tough ones. By attacking the blood sugar condition before it got too low, I learned that you can not only feel good during the latter stages of a marathon but you can also have a good attitude all evening.

Each runner needs to try out various blood sugar boosters during training runs and then stick with the plan that works best: how much to take and when to eat.

i think he was saying you could fast if you had overfeed yourself the days before... in theory if you ate 10,000 calories a day, the days leading up to a marathon, you could go 24 hours without eating and still have full glycogen capacity in your liver/muscles etc. this would be true, but i'd bet you'd feel sick

Another wrote:

No solid food within 12 hours of marathon. Drink a high-calorie, high-carb drink 3 hours before race. Aussie-carbo load day before. Haven't hit a wall in the 7 marathons I've done this.

Glad it works for you but this is rubbish advice

Do any of the elites do this. They are the experts

Have something by your bed then you can eat it and go straight back to counting sheep, There must be something you lilly livered stomach can handle - just have a light snack

Get some rabbit food down you

ukathleticscoach wrote:

Another wrote:

No solid food within 12 hours of marathon. Drink a high-calorie, high-carb drink 3 hours before race. Aussie-carbo load day before. Haven't hit a wall in the 7 marathons I've done this.

Glad it works for you but this is rubbish advice

Do any of the elites do this. They are the experts

Have something by your bed then you can eat it and go straight back to counting sheep, There must be something you lilly livered stomach can handle - just have a light snack

http://www.the-gi-diet.org/lowgifoods/

Get some rabbit food down you

1. I am not elite. So I don't run a marathon in 2:04. More like 2:4x.

2. I've done the same thing for 7 straight marathons and has worked everytime.

3. Others have followed the same strategy. They have been amazed by how it worked so well.

4. I don't think the elites are chowing down on a bagel and toast a couple hours before the race....

5. As #1 said, I am not a professional runner. I can't really be bothered with having a specific diet during the week before the race. So the Aussie carbo loading thing is simple and as stated in #2, works for me. Might not work for everyone, but you'll never know.

So I'll gladly take my well tested methodology and stick with it.