Allen1959 wrote:
Part of me still views fueling during a marathon as sorta cheating. Of course that doesn't stop me from taking gels and drinking Gatorade, but thinking back to my first couple marathons, I consumed only water, and still ran big negative splits. No bonking whatsoever. Just have to train to efficiently rely on fat-burning, no?
Regarding my fueling strategy for the 20-miler...My aim was to consume four gels, two from my back zipper pocket, and two from the race volunteers. We were supposed to get Clif Shot gels at 7.5 and 12.5, and so my two would have bookended those, before and after. Well, that is not exactly how it went. Actually, I should write up a race report, as this was an interesting experience. The race was not well managed or well staffed. At each water stop, there were only two volunteers, and not a whole lot of cups of water ready to take. They were not at all proactive in announcing “water” or “gatorade” and so I was mostly just guessing as to what I would get. In a couple of cases, I got no fluids at all...just not enough people giving them out.
The story about the gels is pretty funny...we were getting close to the 7.5 stop, going by at about a 6-flat clip, and the guy next to me calls out something like, “Any gels here?!” and as we go by, I hear an “Ohhhh” in the background. Funny thinking of it now, but not when you need a gel in a race.
So, I ended up taking only one gel during the race. Could have taken the second one I had stashed, but did not because of all the bad cup transfers I had...kept getting choked by the fluid, not getting much down, and then got some type of side cramp (right ribs/side) later in the race (VERY rare for me). Thus, I was hesitant to try to down that last gel, especially since I was just not the same after about the 16.5 mark. And here is why...
Had been right on the shoulder of the fifth place (2:38) guy at 16, but the detour for construction at about 16.5 had a muddy/wet little downhill and then a quick, wet uphill that almost made me slip and go down, and left me feeling pretty nasty. It was like climbing a flight of stairs, and it was very unwelcome at that point in the race. The jelly legs then ensued, and I simply was not the same. The fifth place guy started to gap me. Prior to that, I felt good, not great but good, and was even thinking that the fifth place guy’s pace was too slow for me, and so I was thinking of passing him. Probably should have.
In any case, that is something of a race report, I suppose.