Fueling a 20 mile training run?

Training Advice/Discussion Marathon

10 years ago 03/21/2014 7:02pm EDT

I'm 5 weeks out from my first marathon. Last week, I did 18 miles, and tomorrow I have a 20 miler scheduled. I run about a 10 min/mile pace (19 year old female, I know I'm slow). I'm wondering about fueling--I haven't felt the need to fuel during any of my previous long runs, but I know it's a good idea to practice fueling on a couple of training runs so I'm prepared on race day. I'm planning on using gels, but I'm not sure how many I need to consume. I'm small (5'), so I don't know if I necessarily need as many calories as someone larger.

Can anyone help me out here? If a 20 mile run will take me approximately 3 hours plus a little more, how many gels should I consume within that time frame? And how far apart?

Also, because I run slowly, do I necessarily even need to be fueling all that much? I know that the body runs on fat first, then glycogen, and at a slower pace, I won't have to use up glycogen stores for a while. I don't want to over fuel, because I know some people have issues with that and gaining weight and such.

Tips? Any further advice on fueling?

10 years ago 03/21/2014 7:14pm EDT

re: marafuel

Running a fasted (or just eat a little less than normal) long run can be good for training your body to metabolize fat efficiently. You'll run out of fuel stores slower if you don't fuel your long runs.

10 years ago 03/21/2014 7:16pm EDT

re: Just a suggestion

Just a suggestion wrote:
Running a fasted (or just eat a little less than normal) long run can be good for training your body to metabolize fat efficiently. You'll run out of fuel stores slower if you don't fuel your long runs.

I prefer to not fuel my long runs, just because it's another detail that I have to think about besides the run itself, but don't I need to practice for race day? I've never fueled before, so I don't want to just go into the marathon on race day never having practiced. That's why I'm asking this question. I can't do every run without fuel and go in blind on race day.

10 years ago 03/21/2014 7:57pm EDT

re: marafuel

Probably pats of butter are the best fuel for 26 miles.

10 years ago 03/22/2014 1:24am EDT

re: Just a suggestion

Just a suggestion wrote:
Running a fasted (or just eat a little less than normal) long run can be good for training your body to metabolize fat efficiently. You'll run out of fuel stores slower if you don't fuel your long runs.

I'd agree with this, if you plan on only taking sports drink during the race. (And for many people, that's all the fuel they need.) But if you plan on taking gels during the race, you'd better see how your stomach reacts to it.

And since the only reason to take a gel during a training run is to test the stomach reaction, all you need is ONE gel.

10 years ago 03/22/2014 8:52am EDT

re: Running Formula reader

I would suggest taking Cliff Shots (easy to chew on) or a gel every 45-60 mins. Take water with this or it won't digest well. Get your stomach ready for the race...at you pace you are burning fuel pretty slowly, but you are still burning a lot of glycogen by running for that long. Don't listen to these guys about not fueling--you will feel the difference by doing so.

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