Hi,
During marathon training I have been having NO FOOD on my runs. No gels nothing. I figure it was a good idea because my body wouldn't need to rely on them to do 17, 18, 20 miles. And, during the race, I would eat carbs, and my body would excel even more than usual!
Runs are going great, but was this a dumb idea? I was recently told not to do anything different on Marathon day. I am nervous.
Thanks!
Just try out the gels that will be given out on course during 1 of your long runs and you can use them on race day as long as you don't crap your pants/puke from it.
Alternate. One long run without, then the next long run use the calories you will use in the race (exact stuff at exact mile markers).
Not dumb. Smart. Just make sure you've tested what gels/food actually work for you on race day.
I do the same thing. You're fine.
im an idiot wrote:
Hi,
During marathon training I have been having NO FOOD on my runs. No gels nothing. I figure it was a good idea because my body wouldn't need to rely on them to do 17, 18, 20 miles. And, during the race, I would eat carbs, and my body would excel even more than usual!
Runs are going great, but was this a dumb idea? I was recently told not to do anything different on Marathon day. I am nervous.
Thanks!
You're good. In the winter I run up to 22 miles no water or fuel. Summer is a different story.
For all my marathon buildups (8 of them now), I've alternated long run workouts one week with easy-but-longer long runs the next.
For half the buildups, I did the easy long runs not just without calories during the run, but no calories before the run either (I did the runs in the morning, so the last calories I had before these runs were the night before). I would hydrate, but with water only. During the workout long runs, I would fuel beforehand and then use what would be on course to fuel during the workout.
For the other half of the buildups, I fueled before and during all long runs, including with the drinks and gels that would be on course.
The outcome: The races for which I did the "no fuel" easy long runs all went well and I never felt like I was bonking in terms of energy (I was still feeling it muscularly, of course, but never had the "out of fuel" feeling). The races for which I fueled during all long runs did not go as well, including a couple of definite bonks (second half 10 minutes slower than the first for a 2:30-ish marathon, for example).
I'm just a sample size of one, but I seemed to handle the "no-fuel" runs just fine in training, and seemed to race better with them. I would definitely recommend trying it for a training cycle to see how it works for you.
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