Sponsored by Lucozade
Your long runs are the perfect opportunity to tweak your fuelling strategy, determine which carbs agree with your gut, and nail your optimal pre-run breakfast. As well as figuring out how you will hydrate; either with a hydration pack or bottle belt or by using Drinks Stations on the course.
If you’re planning to use Drinks Stations, you’ll find Lucozade Sport at Miles 7, 15, 21 and 23. There is also Lucozade Sport Gels at Miles 14 and 19.
Everyone’s different. What works for you may not work for your training partner, but as a starting point, Lucozade’s Sport Scientist, Katherine Shaw, gives us three tips for success.
1. Remember - little and often
Fuelling is down to the individual, but as a starting point, whether it's a gel or a different form of carbohydrate, aim to consume something within the first hour and then every 30 to 40 minutes.
Taking on small amounts ensures your glycogen stores remain topped up for the duration of the marathon, which will help to stop you from hitting the wall and speeds up your recovery post-event.
The same goes for hydration, aim for little and often throughout. If you start to feel thirsty, the chances are you're already approaching dehydration, so don't let yourself get to that point.
If you want to get down in the data, you can work out your sweat rate if you have some scales handy. If you're doing a 10-mile training run, weigh yourself before, make sure you log how much you've drunk during, and then weigh yourself after. If you take how much you consumed, you can work out roughly how much body weight you have lost and the chances are most of that will be through sweat.
Don’t just consume water, either, as you’ll need to replace sodium - found in Lucozade Sport and Lucozade Sport Gels - to maintain your blood sodium concentration.
You lose fluid and salt, particularly sodium, when you sweat. You need to keep your blood sodium concentration constant throughout as it ensures you are functioning properly, from muscle contraction to brain function.
If you’re sweating a lot, but not replacing that sodium you can get hyponatremia. It's quite serious and can be fatal, it is also very rare to get to that stage, but it's a reminder of why it's important to keep your blood sodium concentration constant.
2. Experiment, reflect and adjust accordingly
Use your long runs to test when and how much fuel you need. To start, go with the strategy of frequent intervals outlined above.
Every 30 minutes, take note of how you feel, whether it's mentally or even when you get home. Did you get to a certain point where you needed more energy? Were you struggling?
On your next run, adapt your strategy. Maybe fuel sooner so you avoid reaching that point where you’re starting to run out of energy.
3. Increase the proportion of carbs in your diet
In the lead-up to Event Day you will be tapering, which means reducing the training miles and your intensity, but you will be increasing the proportion of carbs in your diet. This is known as carb-loading. You need to raise your glycogen stores to the maximum level so you’re raring to go on Marathon Day.
You should start carb-loading two to three days before the event. Carb-loading is different for everyone, but as a starting point think pasta, bread, bagels, couscous, oats, and white rice.
