The Sub 3:15 Marathon Thread
1 lurker |
333 watchers
Nov 2023
4:21pm, 2 Nov 2023
48,318 posts
|
HappyG(rrr)
Ooh, did I say that I carried my 4 gels in my hand this mara? Paul the builder would either have been horrified that I didn't use a gel belt or very proud of me that I shed another 10g by ditching it. Worked fine. 8 would not have!  G
|
Nov 2023
4:33pm, 2 Nov 2023
43,169 posts
|
SPR
Raptors claws are coming to town interesting. It's what I'd like to do if I did one but I guess since I don't hear of people doing it, it's seemed like a non-starter. I run in shorts that only have a key pocket as well so any fuel storage (other than a few sweets) would need a change. I recalled that Haile Gebrselassie raced with no fuel when he first started marathon running and it didn't go well. Thought it might have been an old wives tale, but googled and found a WA article about his debut run where he bonked. worldathletics.org |
Nov 2023
4:36pm, 2 Nov 2023
6,685 posts
|
Oscar the Grouch
I’ve an entry into Cornish this weekend, Chris. Although I’m not sure I’ll be there. I pottered around a trail marathon last weekend and I kind of said to myself if it’s due to be wet this weekend, I won’t be there as I got a soaking on Sunday. It’s my club chairman’s 200th marathon at Cornish though. I would guess you came across him at Dartmoor Discovery when you did it. He’s been Chair of Trotters since 1998. I got frozen at Cornish one year. I stirred up an injury on the course which caused a lot of walking, at around the same time the wind and rain came in. The event started in reasonable conditions and I wasn’t dressed for the cold weather of the moors, and it wasn’t a pleasant experience. A great race though. Reminds me of DD in terms of the nature of the course, organised by a club, etc etc. I bumped into Rog at Abingdon a couple of weeks ago and he mentioned his 200th. Quite the achievement. I tend to do long runs with fuel and water these days but used to regularly do my 20 milers without either until about 6 months ago. |
Nov 2023
4:38pm, 2 Nov 2023
22,503 posts
|
larkim
I'd love to have the guts to try to run a marathon without fuel tbh. I'm not 100% certain I need as much as I take on, but obviously I'm never going to risk a race result just as an experiment because I'm not going to waste the training time I've committed to it. Some people report "feeling" the benefit of the gel shortly after consuming it, and I've never noticed that at all. Doesn't mean, of course, that I'm not getting the benefit. I do recall Tom Williams of parkrun / MarathonTalk doing a 2:4x off only water after he made an effort to be highly fat-adapted. I don't know whether I'm sufficiently fat adapted though! |
Nov 2023
4:44pm, 2 Nov 2023
3,468 posts
|
tipsku
I don't fuel for easy runs up to 2:30 hours either, except if it's hot, then I take water. The longest I have run without any food, only a small bottle of water (0.2 l), was 4 hours and 22.5 miles. As long as it's below 10°C and I don't run above Z2, I'm good. If I run a LR with a MP paced section, I train with the gels I plan to take in the race to train the stomach. I found that during the marathon, my stomach loses the ability to process the thicker, more viscous gels so I switch to more liquid options, e.g. High 5 or PowerBar Hydro for the final hour. They tend to be a bit bulkier, 60 g vs 40 g so I only carry 1-2 of them. In Leipzig, I had 5 gels for the entire marathon and that was enough (500 kcal or about 125 g of carbs) for 210 minutes race duration, that's 36 g of carbs per hour from gels. I also had 3 or 4 cups of the electrolyte drink they had which probably also had some carbs but I don't think it was a lot. I'm perfectly fine with roughly 40-45 g per hour, I don't think my stomach could handle 60 g. Pacing was even, 2 seconds difference between first and second half (identical loops) so I didn't bonk. These recommendations usually assume the average athlete who's male and 75 kg or thereabouts. For a small woman under 50 kg, a smaller amount per hour is enough. (roughly 165 lbs and 110 lbs or just under 12 and 8 stones for the imperial folks here). HappyG, I am known for carrying bottles and gels, too, haha. On many race photos, I'm seen carrying either one or both. |
Nov 2023
4:44pm, 2 Nov 2023
66,110 posts
|
Velociraptor
Only one way to find out if it'll work for you, SPR But there are certainly some of us around. I seem to recall that eL Bee! was also able to be very relaxed about fuelling during marathons when he was racing.
|
|
Nov 2023
4:46pm, 2 Nov 2023
66,111 posts
|
Velociraptor
I don't have any reason to believe I'm at all fat adapted, my everyday diet is awash with carbohydrate, much of it in the form of sugar and things made from white flour.
|
|
Nov 2023
5:30pm, 2 Nov 2023
43,176 posts
|
SPR
larkim there was a study that showed there was benefit from rinsing and spitting so I presume that's the immediate benefit people are feeling. Over two hours the science suggests actual ingestion is beneficial though. Raptors claws are coming to town I don't think I'd be brave enough to go into one on the limit racing and risk feeling like the last couple of miles in my HM Maybe if I was doing an end of season tester run though 😉 |
Nov 2023
6:05pm, 2 Nov 2023
18,211 posts
|
KinkyS
I've happily raced 20 milers and maras nil by mouth, and I've never been fat-adapted - my standard diet in my racing days was porridge for breakfast, toast for lunch and pasta for tea, with some fruit thrown in as snacks. It wasn't a particular strategy or plan, it just never seemed that important to me other than as a way of relieving the tedium if I was bored. The number of times I've carried a gel for miles and finally taken it at 20 miles just because I felt I maybe should... I once got into an argument with a gel-peddler at the London marathon expo who claimed I would perform better if I took 4 of his gels every hour. He said when he did that he started finishing in the top 10 in bike races so I pointed out I was reigning British 100km champion and was doing quite well enough thank you very much. His face was a picture as I wandered away! |
Nov 2023
6:58pm, 2 Nov 2023
25,840 posts
|
Bazoaxe
My need to fuel in training reduced over time. Only on very hot days would I take money should I need a drink for any long run. I would take gels on long runs with MP in them, more as training for race day prep I was never brave enough in a marathon to do without and in fact running that long at pace needs fuelling. I rarely however drink or take a gel in a half |
Related Threads
-
RW sub3/3.15
Dec 2024
-
Sub 3Hr Marathon
Dec 2024
-
The sub 3.30 marathon thread
Dec 2024
-
Sub 2:30 Marathon
Oct 2024
-
Sub-4hr marathon support and celebration thread
Jun 2024
-
The sub 2.45 marathon thread
May 2024
-
The sub 3.45 Marathon Thread
Oct 2023
-
The sub-5 hour marathon thread
Apr 2022
-
5:43 Marathon to Sub 5hrs
Dec 2018
-
Sub 3.05 Marathon Plan / Advise - Help please
Aug 2016