Decatur217 - 2009-02-01 4:23 PM
1:45:00 run yesterday and one hour run today.
Felt great both days.
This is my first marathon so, question for those who have done ones and I am too lazy to lookit up somewhere else. When do I start practicing using like Gu or something on my long runs? The 14ish or whatever I did yesterday I felt fine, but obviously I will probably need something to help me out for the upcoming weeks?
When do you use those?
Start NOW!! It's never too soon if you're trying to figure out your nutrition for a long event like this. Usually you don't need them for anything under about an hour, but if you've never used them before you're going to need to experiment a little. You might try them out during shorter runs to see if you like/can handle the flavors and make sure they don't upset your stomach before you head out on a long run assuming it will be your nutrition. You'll need to swallow them with about 4 oz of water to get them into your system.
I would buy a couple of different brands and flavors. I would also experiment with timing. I take them every 40 minutes if they are my only source of nutrition. If I'm also using sports drink I can go a little longer. Some people take them more often, some less. Most people recommend ingesting them with water so you're not mixing up your sugars and things
(it's easier on your stomach
). And if it's cold, they can get chewy and gross so warm them up with your hand before you take them.
Edited to add: Whatever you use on a run, stick to the same brand the whole time. That way if it upsets your stomach you know it was that particular brand. If you used three different kinds you won't know which one it was or if it was the combo of the three together.
If you're planning on using just sports drink
(that's usually not enough for me
), do some training runs with whatever will be available on the course to make sure your stomach can handle it. If it can't, start working on your backup plan - what you'll use, how you'll carry it, etc.
Definitely report back and let us know what you tried and what you thought about it. Peoples' preferences on this issue are about as varied as your options so someone else might have some other suggestions.
Edited by MissKelly 2009-02-01 7:35 PM