How many gels do you eat during a marathon?

Live to run wrote:

I'm willing to bet though that those 2:30ish runners who mentioned they consumed 4-5 gels could run the same time just swigging down gatorade and water.

Not a chance, and we don't really have to speculate. The carbohydrate needs of marathoners are very well understood. Even if you're optimally carboloaded (which is not a given), you will not make it the full distance at your aerobic threshold. You will absolutely slow down. Some might get by with taking 200-300 calories, but that's the low end.

Getting 200 calories of Gatorade down during a marathon would be physically impossible for me. That's a lot of fluid sloshing in your stomach. For what it's worth, I do my hard marathon training runs without carbohydrates (though I try to be well fueled going into them), and I am always hypoglycemic by the end. And that's a run where I'm going 20 miles at 90% of MP or 20 miles with the last 13 at 100% of MP, which is significantly less stressful from a fuel standpoint.

Incidentally, in a cool weather marathon, there's no need to take any water as long as you start the race hydrated and carboloaded (burning glycogen releases water, so carboloading is sort of like super-hydration).

99% of the success in all endurance events depend on being properly trained, a solid effort within your capabilities, a proper prerace base of complex carbohydrates, hydration and some hydration during the race. Gatorade, gels, caffeine, shoes, breath right strips and compression socks, etc.; all combined probably will help about 1%. Athletes where running fast marathons before any of this stuff existed; put your faith in training and effort.

- 4-5 gels every 45 mins or so works well for me. I've had the best luck with Muir Energy gels they use all real food ingredients so they tend to sit better with my stomach. I usually stick to the fast burning gels, easier to get down

https://muirenergy.com/

- About a 3:15 marathon time

McGrupp wrote:

I've had issues with bonking and I am curious about what others are doing.

Please respond with:

-Number of gels per marathon

-Which mile(s) you eat the gels

-Marathon finish time

7

0, 3, 7, 11, 14, 17, 21

2:38

No gels ever . It's mostly in your head. H2O and liquid electrolyte replacement is what you mostly need during the marathon, coupled with adequate training mileage, proper tapering, and proper carbo-loading beforehand. How many gels do you see elite marathon runners take during a marathon? Sure, some have a concoction in their elite bottles that may be equivalent to those, but on the other hand Frank Shorter won an Olympic medal on taking de-fizzed Coca-Cola, so that worked well for him. Far too many of my fellow recreational runners I personally know seem to be looking for short-cuts to fast marathon results, PR's, and BQ's by only training 3-4 days per week and then cramming 18 gu packs down during the race to try to survive. But, it may just work for you if all you're looking to do is finish on minimal training, add more participation medals on your wall, or just want more marathon notches on your belt. Marathons (and other race events) are becoming more of a social club fun run than a race for most. But hey, we're an all-inclusive sport, so we"ll take anybody willing to lace up and RUN! There's a ton of bad or conflicting advice in Runner's World, on Facebook, and LetsRun.com .....or from old codgers like me, so experiment and do what works best for you. Good luck and happy bonking avoidance!

Karl Hungus wrote:

1 per half an hour, so 18 overall.

+1. But I rub them on my chest for a more constant rate of absorption. It’s also a hell of a lot easier on my stomach.

There is no way that HaileGebrselassie trank half a gallon of fluid.

This might be in the bottle he used but there is no way he drank that all.

During the race:

- 5K: 250 ml sports drink (one spoonful of "Performance Sports Drink" powder mixed with 250 ml water)

- 10K: 250 ml sports drink

- 15K: 250 ml sports drink

- 20K: 250 ml sports drink plus one gel (black current flavor)

- 25K: 250 ml sports drink plus one gel

- 30K: 250 ml water plus one gel

- 35K: 250 ml water plus one gel

- 40K: 250 ml water plus one gel

I take in 10 gels. Have 2 on the start line, 2 at 5 miles, 2 at 10 miles, 2 at 15 miles, 2 at 20 miles. Then have nothing for the last 6.2 miles. I also have experimented with having horseradish sauce for endurance about half way through, but it was difficult carrying it.

I have been running 29 marathon since 2013, the slowest in 2h59'46", the fastest in 2h39'12".

The first times I used to take two gels and water every 10km but when I became a regular 2h50' sub marathoner I stopped taking any kind of gels or food and I ran my best marathons with no water but that happened in cold or rainy days.

It's like any intake takes a toll on my body but I'm not saying that my way is right.

53 yr old hobby jogger; 30 marathons, almost all between 2:55-3:10; 5'9" 160 lbs.

Gels really helped me improve my last hour on the course. I think those of us requiring a 3rd hour of running need more than Gatorade, it is not a fitness issue. I take 2-3 along with plenty of Gatorade, maybe at 13, 18-20 and maybe a 3rd after that. Most taste like crap so I take a little at a time right before hydration tables.

Bonking is a result of something lacking in your training. More likely long runs and marathon pace long runs, general volume and base aerobic volume, being unprepared for heat, cold, hills, turns and so.

It can also be a lifestyle issue, like daily nutrition, daily hydration and so.

Elites bonk rarely. They slow down a little, they might hit some bad splits of 10 - 15second slower miles for 5km or so, but not the giant bonks we can see in amateurs preparing for a 2:59 and hitting a 3:15 or 3:30 !

You can pose multiple questions to see where you are:

- Can you go out any day of the week and complete any of your workouts with no breakfast ?

- Can you complete your long runs with no fuelling, just on water ? Can you do them with no breakfast ?

- How many times you eat in a day ? Breakfast, lunch dinner ? What do you eat ? What do you eat before race and before important training sessions ?

- How long are your long runs ?

- What is your current mileage and what is your long run looking like?

- How long the preparation is for your marathon ?

- What is the longest m-pace block you put in ? (Example: 35km = 5 x (4km @ MPace + 3km @ MPace+15sec) or ( 30km = 5km progression + 25km mpace...)

- Can you do back to back or back to back to back long runs ?

- Can you do back to back medium long runs with mpace efforts on the same day ? Like 20km AM + 20km PM ?

Check out where the "elite" field actually ends up some time. They're not all finishing in 2:08-2:15 on their off days.

Levi.Run wrote:

Bonking is a result of something lacking in your training. More likely long runs and marathon pace long runs, general volume and base aerobic volume, being unprepared for heat, cold, hills, turns and so.

It can also be a lifestyle issue, like daily nutrition, daily hydration and so.

Snip///Snip

You can pose multiple questions to see where you are:

- Can you go out any day of the week and complete any of your workouts with no breakfast ?

- Can you complete your long runs with no fuelling, just on water ? Can you do them with no breakfast ?

Different from person to person, but in partial agreement with your post.

Last road ultra I did I could wake up, have a cup of coffee, glass of water and do a 30km run (2:18) just using the taps en route every 4 to 6km.

In the actual race, I had one gel in pocket, but didn't use it, and just using aid station electrolyte (sips actually) and water, I went through the marathon marker in 3:16 (at age 59 )

4-5 gels

2:46 marathon

cjb1988 wrote:

- 4-5 gels every 45 mins or so works well for me. I've had the best luck with Muir Energy gels they use all real food ingredients so they tend to sit better with my stomach. I usually stick to the fast burning gels, easier to get down

https://muirenergy.com/

- About a 3:15 marathon time

Do you get paid by the site admins to resurrect old threads? Or do you have nothing better to do than to look though 2 years of LR posts?

Levi.Run wrote:

Elites bonk rarely. They slow down a little, they might hit some bad splits of 10 - 15second slower miles for 5km or so, but not the giant bonks we can see in amateurs preparing for a 2:59 and hitting a 3:15 or 3:30 !

10-15 seconds slower miles for a final 5k split IS the definition bonking, IMO. I'd say 10-15 seconds per mile is very substantial.

"They didn't have this GEL stuff before and runners still ran x:xx".

Yeah, but they took de-fizzed cola, ie carbohydrates.

"Elites today don't take gels".

They have their own carbohydrate bottles. If they miss a bottle, they generally slow down.