Long lost ahead. Skip to the final paragraph if you just want to quick gist.
Background - I run all of my morning runs after a 10-12 hr “fast”. This is not by design; I just run first thing in the morning which usually means 5:00am. I finish dinner around 6:00pm. I do have 12oz coffee when I wake up and typically have 16-20oz of water between 6:00pm and bedtime (9:30ish).
My overall diet is pretty good. I hate to use the catchphrase “keto”, but I am pretty high fat and get most of my carbs from the mountains of fruits and veggies that I eat. I avoid processed stuff as much as possible, but I do drink 10-12 beers per week.
For race day, I stick with my usual morning routine. No breakfast and 12oz of coffee. I usually add 16oz of water as well. During my races, I take nothing. Zilch. Nada. This includes all distances, even the marathon. In my last race, I managed to PR in the marathon and ran a negative split feeling good the whole way.
Everyone acts as if this no fuel approach during marathons is insane. I do not view it that way. It is just what I do every day. One of my more knowledgeable buddies has been trying to tell me that, with proper fueling, I could cut 1-2% off of my marathon time. I feel that water or fuel during the race would just make me need to use the restroom. No, thanks. Thoughts?