Good Fueling Strategy for ~2:25 Marathon

Pitiful bump (probably should've ended thread title w/ question mark?), but need to figure out to buy stuff this PM

It seems you are not planning for anything going wrong.

I would start fueling from the first station. It's better little and often than big batches, and if you happen to miss one station you have the next one to catch up.

I would double the intake you plan to have. You can always skip stations and throw the bottle with half the content.

You should be pushing down at least 80g/hour of carbs. Maurten 160 has only 40g.

But, of course, if you have not practised and have no time to practise, stick to what you know.

What is your current weight?

13 Maurten gels is the optimal strategy according to the runfluencers.

I hadn’t considered the possibility of missing anything, seems like good sense though. I haven’t weighed myself in a long time but ~140 lbs. Bc I haven’t done nearly enough practice w digesting stuff and don’t have pocketed shorts I’ll probably try and stay w fluids, is a Maurten Tailwind combo perfectly fine? Will try for that 80/g hr figure, I think being on the lower side makes sense given my lack of experience w/ it.

Sounds like you have a decent enough plan. 60-90 g/carbs/hr is the recommendation. Practice in training & try to build up to closer to 90g. Some people can take on 100-110. Wall is avoidable with good training/good pacing/good fueling.

Idk if you need to do the shake out. You're running a marathon -- not a pm 3k on the track. Maybe 5-10min warm up 45min-1hr before the race. Would rather see someone open 5-10s/mile slow/in control versus burning through some fuel stores. I would just make sure on the timing of the caffeine + UCAN. I like closer to an hour before for caffeine & I wouldn't mess with something on the start line. I usually cut food/liquids ~90min before a race. Small sips of something after a warm up but I would rely on the few days before the race versus the start line to top off fuel stores. Again, just practice in training. If it works for you it works for you.

Use all of the aid stations even if you're not planning on taking anything in. Have some carbs in those bottles at 13/16/19/23. It's a marathon. You might have the perfect pre race plan only to find out you need more of something.

I’ve run in the 2:24-2:26 range several times and that fueling strategy seems fine to me. I’m assuming you’ve done some long runs with Maurten, and as someone who rarely eats more than a bit before a morning race the marathon is the one time I make sure to get a decent amount of calories down beforehand. I wouldn’t wake up that early as its probably preferable to ease into the race anyway, but do what you’re comfortable with.

If it is supposed to get much above 60 or so I’d be very conservative for the first half and really make sure to take in a lot of nuun/your own drinks. I recently ran a race that was humid and 65-70 degrees and taking in more fluids/cals than normal likely kept me from totally falling off and allowed me to run a good race. Good luck.

This is what the research says you will need. If you don't have 3 weeks to practice....just get it right 3 days before and hope for the best.

CHO - Supercompensation
Min (g/kg) Max (g/kg) 24-hr Total Min (g). 24-hr Total Max (g) (One day, up to 3 days prior to event)
10 12 636 764

CHO -Supercompensation (Day of Event)
Min (g/kg). Max (g/kg). Min (g). Max (g)
1 4 64 255

CHO - In Competition
Min (g/hr). Max (g/hr). Min (g) Max (g)
60 90 150 225

Pre-exercise Protein
Total (g). (g/kg)
19 0.3

In-exercise Protein
Total (g) (g/kg/hr)
40 0.25

H20
Min (mL/hr). Max (mL/hr). Min (mL). Max (mL)
400 800 1000 2000

Na+
Min (mg/hr) Max (mg/hr) Min (mg) Max (mg)
300 600 750 1500

Caffeine
(30-90min prior)
Min (mg/kg) Max (mg/kg) Min (mg) Max (mg)
3 6 191 382