Hydration/Nutrition for a half marathon

runrabbit

To date I have never bothered with bringing water on a run with me, however with my LSRs now getting a bit longer I've started to feel like I "should" take on some fluids. Reading other peoples logs they seem to arrange to hide bottles or stop at a shop and I'm wondering if my not taking on much fluid may be hampering my performance without me knowing it?

Last week I did 10 miles (LSR pace just under 10mins/mile) and arranged to pass my car just after the halfway point so I stopped for a couple of mouthfuls of water. I didn't really feel like I needed it. This weekend I ran 12 miles, which took just under 2 hours. I took a little bottle of water (around 300ml) with me and sipped that, again, not particularly feeling I needed it but more that I should drink it. I don't feel thirsty or anything during the run, however I probably feel a bit dehydrated afterwards for a couple of hours until I get a few pints of water into me.

My current routine before a weekend LSR is as follows:
- wake up around 6am and down a pint or more of water
- big bowl of porridge with fruit, some tea and another glass of water at 7am
- out the door at 8.30 for my run
I keep myself well-hydrated day-to-day anyway (3-4 litres of water).

Can anyone advise as to how much water I should drink during a 2 hour run to keep my body ticking over?

I've never really considered nutrition as I think I eat enough before the run. I can't stomach sports drinks at all, and I've never even tasted a gel but considering lucozade sport makes me gag I can't imagine I'd like them! Would I be right in my opinion that I don't need to worry about that until I tackle longer distances?

Thanks in advance for any advice - I want to start practising drinking more on the go if I really need to as my stomach is weak enough at the best of times so I'll need to try it out on runs before race-day!

Krusty_Clown

Sounds like you already have your hydration and nutrition spot-on! Really, the only thing you should need for a half marathon is some water, and given that this will be supplied (I hope!) on the course, if you are planning on taking on some water, you might as well practice with it (as you have been doing).

Some people will take a gel during a half marathon, but it's not absolutely necessary. If you have stomach issues and you find that you don't need it for similar duration runs, then skip it altogether. You could always try something simple like a few wine gums etc (though the boost may be psychological rather than physiological).

Eventually when (if? Are you planning a marathon?) you get to longer runs (15+ miles) hydration and nutrition will become a bigger concern.

runrabbit

Thanks Krusty! I'll just keep taking a little bit of water in the latter half of my run and hopefully that will keep me ticking over!

No plans for a marathon at any stage (famous last words! ) so I won't worry about eating on the run just yet!

5h4mr0(k

This is the sort of information I'm after as well. Did my first 10 mile at the weekend. Had a small bottle of water (250ml I think) with me, and some jelly beans. Can't say I really felt thirsty during it, but the legs started to get tight around 8/9 miles, which I guess could be early dehydration?!

Considering the long runs are getting longer, how much should you carry and what's the recommended ways of hauling it around?

I'm sure this is all obvious when you been at it for a while, but for us newbies need the info. (For a newbies stickie?)

ojala

I carry a small rucksack (8 litre) with a 1.5-litre water bladder (look up "hydration rucksack"). It's handy to carry around other essentials (rainjacket, bog roll).

MisterDrak

runrabbit wrote: »

To date I have never bothered with bringing water on a run with me, however with my LSRs now getting a bit longer I've started to feel like I "should" take on some fluids. Reading other peoples logs they seem to arrange to hide bottles or stop at a shop and I'm wondering if my not taking on much fluid may be hampering my performance without me knowing it?

Last week I did 10 miles (LSR pace just under 10mins/mile) and arranged to pass my car just after the halfway point so I stopped for a couple of mouthfuls of water. I didn't really feel like I needed it. This weekend I ran 12 miles, which took just under 2 hours. I took a little bottle of water (around 300ml) with me and sipped that, again, not particularly feeling I needed it but more that I should drink it. I don't feel thirsty or anything during the run, however I probably feel a bit dehydrated afterwards for a couple of hours until I get a few pints of water into me.

My current routine before a weekend LSR is as follows:
- wake up around 6am and down a pint or more of water
- big bowl of porridge with fruit, some tea and another glass of water at 7am
- out the door at 8.30 for my run
I keep myself well-hydrated day-to-day anyway (3-4 litres of water).

Can anyone advise as to how much water I should drink during a 2 hour run to keep my body ticking over?

I've never really considered nutrition as I think I eat enough before the run. I can't stomach sports drinks at all, and I've never even tasted a gel but considering lucozade sport makes me gag I can't imagine I'd like them! Would I be right in my opinion that I don't need to worry about that until I tackle longer distances?

Thanks in advance for any advice - I want to start practising drinking more on the go if I really need to as my stomach is weak enough at the best of times so I'll need to try it out on runs before race-day!

Hi RunRabit, Check out the "The Marathon Talk" Podcast (episode 5) covers LSR and Marathon Nutrition and hydration in decient detail. I just finished listening to it this morning...

The guest is from Lucozade, so there is a bit of promotion at the start, but it gets general after that. Pretty good advice from a professional guy. Could help you out, or at least explain why (and the sicence behind) Nutrition and hydration for LSR's and Marathons...

MisterAdam

Hydration is obviously really important - the less water you have on board the smaller your blood volume becomes and the less blood returns to your heart. This will decrease you cardiac output and therefore the rate of oxygen delivery to your legs. Also waste products will be cleared less quickly. Even small changes make a difference - apparently losing just 2% of your total body water produces a measurable decline in speed.
And you won't know why. You'll feel slow at the end of a long run but apart from that there's really very little clue that you're dehydrated. For some reason you won't feel thirsty until it's too late.
Anytime I go for a run of around an hour or longer I bring a drink with me. For shorter runs I usually just pre-hydrate. I drink around 500ml every hour. But your requirements might be different. They'll depend on your size, speed and the temperature and humidity on the particular day of your run.
Recently I read about a clever method for finding out your approximate requirements - simply weigh yourself before and after a run. The difference in your weight will consist mainly of the water you've lost through sweat. Next time drink that weight of water or more per unit of time. I've never used it but it makes elegant sense.
Maybe they mentioned all this in that podcast - I confess I didn't listen to it.