Fueling while running - am I missing something?

Hello everyone,

So I am training for a marathon in early October (my first), and my long runs will begin to move towards 15 miles next week. I am following a plan that I created and loosely based it on the Barry P principles. With that said, I have a question about fueling. Well actually my question is should I be fueling while running.

Currently, I do not eat anything while running, be it racing or training. For training, I am not the type that can eat when I first get up. I would rather go run (or whatever workout I am doing), then I have a breakfast smoothie on the drive into work. I do carry a bottle of Gatorade on runs of an hour or more, sometimes less if it is supposed to be really hot or humid. I know I am getting some calories from the Gatorade, and I am never "starving" when I get done. I also have never "bonked" while running. Last summer I trained for a 30K using a marathon plan. My mileage got up into the 50 miles per week area with long runs of 20 miles, and I never fueled while running. I also did not fuel during the 30k and never was at a point to where I felt like I needed to eat.

My typical pre-race breakfast is two cups of coffee (with cream and sugar) and three scrambled eggs, three slices of bacon, and a slice of cheese between two pieces of toast. My most recent race was an international length triathlon in April. It was my first go at that distance, and I was pleased. I did take two "shots" of a homemade energy gel (honey, molasses, and salt) while on the bike. The rest of the time it was just sports drinks. Gatorade on the bike and Heed on the run. While the gel sort of tasted good, I am not sure I really needed it. I more decided to give it a go because it seemed to be conventional wisdom.

So while this is my first marathon, I am hoping to finish strong. I am curious if the collective wisdom of the community is that I am being foolish to not be developing a fueling strategy, even though I do not perceive myself as needing it. Since my long runs are going to begin to trend up and above 15 miles in the coming weeks, I feel like now is the time to decide if I want to develop a fueling plan so I could begin to implement it in training.

Thanks in advance for the thoughts.

Matt