I've been doing a lot of reading and thinking about this as I've got a marathon coming up in just over 10 weeks.
I've bonked for one reason or other in my five previous marathons and want to make sure that doesn't happen again.
My original thinking was that I needed to do one or two of my long runs as depletion runs but now I am reading that a certain amount of depletion runs are good but beyond that there is either no benefit or it is detrimental.
I am now thinking that based on what I am already doing (see below) I don't need to do any of my long runs as depletion runs:
-Will average low 60's mpw for ten weeks, then a three week taper
-I already have very little or nothing to eat/drink before and during all of my runs, with rare exception - my easy/recovery runs are usually around 90 minutes - I just did a 16 mile run (13 at MP) in 2:12 last weekend with nothing at all
-In addition to the regular workouts that I have left, I'm also going to be doing 8 medium-long runs (as per Fitzinger) - two each of 12 through 15 miles
Thoughts on this? In terms of carb depleting runs am I or will I be doing too little, about right, or too many?