Do you fuel your long runs? Long runs are over 2 hours with an easy pace.
No marathon or speed on those runs, not even steady long runs.
Do you fuel your long runs? Long runs are over 2 hours with an easy pace.
No marathon or speed on those runs, not even steady long runs.
Will you fuel during your marathon (hint the answer should be yes)?
Then you should fuel on your long runs
Easy long runs, no fuel.
Some long runs with MP and faster work, no fuel.
Some long runs with MP and faster work, practice fueling.
If you're someone who has had trouble fueling in the past, then you might need to practice it more often to dial things in. If not, make sure it works a couple times in the cycle and the rest of the time work on no fueling.
+1
If you're not going to practice fueling on long runs then at least do it on extended tempo/pace runs.
I can see the value in running long runs on no fuel, but you eventually should practice fueling on longer workouts as part of your race training.
No fuel. I've run enough marathons that I don't need to "practice" fueling on my runs.
itdepends wrote:
Easy long runs, no fuel.
Some long runs with MP and faster work, no fuel.
Some long runs with MP and faster work, practice fueling.
If you're someone who has had trouble fueling in the past, then you might need to practice it more often to dial things in. If not, make sure it works a couple times in the cycle and the rest of the time work on no fueling.
I don't disagree with this, but fueling your long run may defeat the purpose of teaching your body fat oxidization.
Side note that Kara Goucher's first marathon was a disaster for her because she admittedly didn't practice fueling and botched it at several points.
"Over 2 hours"? That's my cutoff point. 2 hours and under, I rarely fuel, over 2 hours, every other run if not more. I do it more for recovery than anything else. Same reason I drink on longer runs nowadays - if it's going to help me feel more recovered the next day, I'm in.
Pretty sure Kipchoge fuels and he's not just drinking water. And I highly doubt he wouldn't fuel in training only to go out and risk it in a race.
Just Another Hobby Jogger wrote:
itdepends wrote:
Easy long runs, no fuel.
Some long runs with MP and faster work, no fuel.
Some long runs with MP and faster work, practice fueling.
If you're someone who has had trouble fueling in the past, then you might need to practice it more often to dial things in. If not, make sure it works a couple times in the cycle and the rest of the time work on no fueling.
I don't disagree with this, but fueling your long run may defeat the purpose of teaching your body fat oxidization.
Unless you plan on not having fuel during your marathon, then you don’t have to worry about “fat oxidization”
A couple of simulator long runs with fuel should be enough. Those should be fast and include MP segments. It's much harder to digest whatever you're fuelling with at MP than at the easy pace.
itdepends wrote:
Easy long runs, no fuel.
Some long runs with MP and faster work, no fuel.
Some long runs with MP and faster work, practice fueling.
If you're someone who has had trouble fueling in the past, then you might need to practice it more often to dial things in. If not, make sure it works a couple times in the cycle and the rest of the time work on no fueling.
what this guy says.
You do need to test out anything you are going to want to use during a race. I found that powergel turned into a stone in my stomach but other products were just fine.
I think some people over do it with fueling. You really do not need any gels until about mi 16-17. And then taking one while you are still feeling good is all that is really necessary. The rest of your fueling should be from sports drinks. The only exception is people who have a heavier frame may be burning calories faster and can benefit from an extra gel or two. But for everyone else, it is only necessary to practice on your longest runs of 22+ so you can make sure the gel you are using isn't going to cause problems.
I say you don't need to. You DO need to practice it though. Assuming you race the marathon faster than an easy long run pace, practice fueling during your longer workouts. And then maybe once or twice during long easy runs just to get a little more practice... Except usually the challenge is fueling while running faster, not fueling while doing a casual easy pace.
No way am I toeing the line of a marathon without having practiced exactly what I will be injesting during the race. Throwing something that big to chance... no freakin way.
You need to know what works for you, not what works for your friend, or some guy you read about, how does your system handle X product.
What works for me is 1 gu at Mile 7 and 1 gu at Mile 14 (for my 20-22-mile runs), as well as water and nothing else.
It doesn't mess with my stomach and I'm happy about that. When I run the full, I just add a gu at Mile 22 to help me surge the last 4.2 miles.
Not every long run, but always when doing a long run workout. Without fuel I'll be slower, plus I don't like bonking on the cooldown. I always bring a gel on long runs 2hrs and up, though don't always need it.
Marathon training wrote:
Do you fuel your long runs? Long runs are over 2 hours with an easy pace.
No marathon or speed on those runs, not even steady long runs.
If it's a marathon prediction workout or a race simulation run close to race day, I will refuel during the run. Otherwise, on long easy runs even over 2 hours, I try not to. I'll hydrate as much as needed, but won't take in much if anything in the way of food, snacks or gels. I want to train my body to burn fat and store energy efficiently and not use mid-run calories as a crutch. But don't do what I do. I'm only a hobby-jogging, 48-yr-old 3:13 guy. Whatever Kipchogei does, do that.
47- year old hobby runner here (18:45 5k, 3:13M). I fuel on runs 15 miles or longer.
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