Will racing a marathon with just 1-2 gels really be ok?

I do my 17 mile long runs at 6:40ish pace with no gels. So, I would think with one or two you'd be good.

Do not read any more posts on this thread. You have made your decision and it is, in all likelihood, too late to go back on that now; so why let others into your head?

Move on and run confidently.

I ran a bunch of marathons as a young man with nothing other than water. At one time there was a rule against drinking water prior to the first 10K (not sure on the distance).

Igy

If it's indigestion from gels why don't you just drink Gatorade instead?

Ghost of Igloi wrote:

I ran a bunch of marathons as a young man with nothing other than water. At one time there was a rule against drinking water prior to the first 10K (not sure on the distance).

Igy

Can you expand upon this "rule?" You'd be DQ'd if you were seen drinking any water? That's pretty harsh...

There was a time when all the elite runners would run marathons with no gels and no water and they ran faster than 2:48.

I ran my last one without any gels. Did fine. I had 2 cups of Gatorade Endurance along the way. That was the only fuel.

You don't have to rely just on gels for race nutrition. You could drink gatorade or something similar. Anything that gives you fuel.This is why practicing your nutrition routine prior to a race hammered so much in training guides. I doubt your chest pain was caused by gels. Usually the symptoms are more nausea or sour stomach.As far as duped, I'm not even going to go there. You believe someone like Maffetone......name a single high performing marathon runner who has trained by his "methods."

If you're carboloaded, then 2 gels is probably okay, but it's much better to take more if possible. Even if you technically have enough glycogen in your muscles to get you to the finish line, your perceived exertion goes way, way up when your stores start getting low.

I used to get very sick from taking gels, but I discovered that I can take plenty as long as I dilute it a bit with water and take frequent small sips. I carry a 5 oz flask with 4 gels in it in my hand and toss it after about 75 minutes. It sounds like a pain, but it's so small and light that once I'm going, I hardly notice it. If I wanted more, I could see using a belt with two 4 oz flasks. I realize that fuel belts scream "hobby jogger" to some people, but it's the best solution if you're not an elite with your own bottles on course.

Back when I ran marathons 20-30 years ago, I never used anything except water and a very occasional sip of Gatorade. You should be fine.

Just Gatorade is much preferred over gels. Very difficult to get the hydration mix of water and gels correct.

I've run my last few marathon PR with only Gatorade.

If you're fat adapted , you only need 300 to 500 calories.

................... wrote:

Ghost of Igloi wrote:

I ran a bunch of marathons as a young man with nothing other than water. At one time there was a rule against drinking water prior to the first 10K (not sure on the distance).

Igy

Can you expand upon this "rule?" You'd be DQ'd if you were seen drinking any water? That's pretty harsh...

See page 3 of the attached article (at the top); evidently the IAAF Rule was no fluids first 11 kilometers and every 5 kilometers thereafter.

Igy

................... wrote:

Ghost of Igloi wrote:

I ran a bunch of marathons as a young man with nothing other than water. At one time there was a rule against drinking water prior to the first 10K (not sure on the distance).

Igy

Can you expand upon this "rule?" You'd be DQ'd if you were seen drinking any water? That's pretty harsh...

Another point that was brought out in the article above coaches generally did not allow drinking water during practice. I started running in high school in 1965 and that general practice went thru my college years ending in 1973.

Igy

I ran my last marathon without eating or drinking anything. It was a cool day around 45. I generally never eat or drink for races up to 2 hours so an extra hour wasn't a big deal. What I did do was eat a bigger breakfast than usual so I had some extra calories for fuel.

In my previous marathon, I was drinking Gatorade and water and got an upset stomach. I did a couple ultras and did great with gels but I was running a slower pace. At a certain pace, my stomach pretty much shuts down so I'm not convinced gels would even help as I couldn't process them.

The Lopper wrote:

Just Gatorade is much preferred over gels. Very difficult to get the hydration mix of water and gels correct.

I've run my last few marathon PR with only Gatorade.

If you're fat adapted , you only need 300 to 500 calories.

Many marathons don't supply Gatorade, only Ultima or Nuun (CIM for example). SHould you carry gatorade in hand bottles in that case?

Nailed my PR 2:56 (1:29/1:27) with 3 gels.

GelConsumer wrote:

Nailed my PR 2:56 (1:29/1:27) with 3 gels.

Steve Jones ran 2:07 with Diet Coke and Mars bar. What you eat and drink is irrelevant.

All these people that claim to run marathons without anything are either not running hard enough or are full of it. You can't run a marathon to your true potential if you are not taking in any fuel during a 3 hour race.

My advice would be not to listen to these fools and do what works for you. Haven't you done a 20 mile training run yet? Once you figure out what you need to feel good for this run, you can replicate that in your marathon.

Did this chest pain only occur once? Try eating half of the gel at a time and not all of it at once. I eat a gel about every 5 miles but I take my time eating it over 2 or 3 minutes. Don't mix gatorade with gels. That will upset your stomach. Take salt tablets or endurolytes instead of gatorade. I carry some in a tic tac bottle that is small and easy to run with.

UPDATE:

The marathon was a success! 3rd time lucky, very relieved.

Ran it in 2:56:11 in Kelowna! Splits were pretty even. Previous PR was a 3:30:01 on 5 gels, 5 months ago.

Breakdown: I took 2 gels on the course, one at about 15 miles in, and the other at 23 miles. I took another gel 30 minutes before the race. I took 4 electrolyte capsules on the course too, roughly 45 minutes apart (one at the start). I sipped on gatorade about 4 times, and took water at every other station.

Thanks for the responses, even the guy who said not to look at this thread anymore. Points taken. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't doing anything CRAZY crazy, but partially crazy is ok ;)

However, the plan worked and I think the majority of people on this thread were right - you don't need gels to run a marathon to your potential. So I don't even feel partially crazy anymore.