marathon

superbad50

hi ,

marathon tomorrow guys . is it ok to eat simple carbs all day to increase my carb intake for the race. I have been doing this all weekend , cereal , energy bars , etc etc . there is a lot of processed food thrown in the form of carbs . Is this ok > reason being the complex , high in fibre carbs wont allow you to take in as many carbs

How much carbs shouold i be aiming for today ?

tnx all

RacoonQueen

You don't need to eat that many carbs. My advice is to follow a normal diet. Have a good breakfast, good lunch with salad/veg and a good healthy dinner.

That's a lot of sugar you're taking on, it's unecessary. Eat what you would normally eat the day before a long run.

superbad50

RacoonQueen wrote: »

You don't need to eat that many carbs. My advice is to follow a normal diet. Have a good breakfast, good lunch with salad/veg and a good healthy dinner.

That's a lot of sugar you're taking on, it's unecessary. Eat what you would normally eat the day before a long run.

Are you not supposed to carb overload the days before the marathon to increase you glycogen levels . I am nearly sure i heard this at a nutritional presentation before.

I have been having my usual lunches but eating lots of fruit , fruit bars , cereal bars and cereal in between . every 2 to 3 hours I am eating something . I Know this is not an ideal diet anytime else but all i am trying to do is stock up the glycogen levels .

Also is 60 grams of carbs enough for brekie the day of the race with a further 30 grams about an hour before . I'm relatively new to this type of training

tnx in advance

RacoonQueen

Tomorrow is my 11th marathon (I think, something like that) and I've never eaten as many carbs before one as you're talking about there. It's not necessary, if you eat too much you're risking over doing it and being bloated and sluggish on the day and you risk putting on weight if you're eating a lot.

Get your carbs from fruit and veg, drink plenty of water. You definitely don't need to be eating energy bars and cereal bars all weekend.

Our body can only store so much glycogen, what do you think happens to the extras?

I'm eating as normal today;
Sunday fry up for breakfast with a cup of tea(already eaten)
Turkey salad for lunch
Out for dinner tonight, I'll probably have chicken and pasta or potatoes and veg.

I'll be snacking on fruit and carrots during the day and I'll drink about 2 litres of water, some orange juice and a few cups of tea.

Carb depletion and carb loading aren't really that important for your average runner. You want to arrive at the start line tomorrow feeling good - if you've been following a different diet than normal for the past few days you might not.

By all means, have some extra carbs than normal (I have been) but don't be excessive. Don't go out of your way to take in carbs.

Best of luck tomorrow. Looks like we'll get a bit of rain!

Edit: Re: Breakfast - when you were doing your long runs what did you normally eat before them? I'll be having a toasted bagel for breakfast - I usually toast two and try to stuff them into me and would maybe manage about a quarter of the second one, I'll also have a banana or a pear. I'll usually eat toast before a long run if I eat at all so a bagel is perfect for me.

Best practice is to eat whatever you would normally eat before a long run. Do NOT do anything you would not normally do before a race or run. A similar question about breakfast has been asked HERE that thread and THIS one are full of great advice.

lim abroad

Carbo-loading can make a massive difference ESPECIALLY to the average marathon runner, it can be the difference between hitting the wall and getting through the marathon without relative difficulty. Ideally you should glycogen deplete a couple of days beforehand by either going for a long slow run/bike and then have a high carbohydrate diet for the next 3/4 days in order to glycogen supercompensate.
Granted this info is too late for tomorrows marathon but a vital thing to remember is when you get to the 18/19 mile mark and can feel yourself getting tired and slowing down, try to pick the pace up for the next mile or two, reason being is that your slow twitch (type 1) fibres are running low on glycogen, whereas the fast twitch (type 2) will still be relatively full. By picking up the pace you will switch over and be predominantly using your type 2 fibres which gives your type 1 fibres a chance to replenish.
Just in case your wondering if i'm talking nonsense, i'm a sports scientist and have studied this stuff. Also in the aftermath,ideally within 40 mins post race try to get in a mixture of carbs and proteins in order to maximise glygogen resynthesis.

Nwm2

lim abroad wrote: »

Carbo-loading can make a massive difference ESPECIALLY to the average marathon runner, it can be the difference between hitting the wall and getting through the marathon without relative difficulty. Ideally you should glycogen deplete a couple of days beforehand by either going for a long slow run/bike and then have a high carbohydrate diet for the next 3/4 days in order to glycogen supercompensate.
Granted this info is too late for tomorrows marathon but a vital thing to remember is when you get to the 18/19 mile mark and can feel yourself getting tired and slowing down, try to pick the pace up for the next mile or two, reason being is that your slow twitch (type 1) fibres are running low on glycogen, whereas the fast twitch (type 2) will still be relatively full. By picking up the pace you will switch over and be predominantly using your type 2 fibres which gives your type 1 fibres a chance to replenish.
Just in case your wondering if i'm talking nonsense, i'm a sports scientist and have studied this stuff. Also in the aftermath,ideally within 40 mins post race try to get in a mixture of carbs and proteins in order to maximise glygogen resynthesis.

But do you/have you run marathons?

Can you tell me how fast you need to run to predominantly use type 2 fibres?

lim abroad

No, the furthest I have run is a half marathon due to the fact that up to recently that football was my primary sport. I intend participating in triathlon and marathon in near future, at the mo i'm recovering from 2nd ACL injury.
To answer your question, no matter what speed you run at you draw glycogen from both stores, the use of either store is dependent on the pace you run so it's all relative. The faster you go, the more fast twitch fibres you call into play and therefore the more glycogen you will have at your disposal. Obviously, after 19 miles this might seem a ridiculous thought, but my advice would be to increase it to a pace that you think you will be able to maintain for about 2 miles and see how you feel, you might be surprised.

RacoonQueen

lim abroad wrote: »

Carbo-loading can make a massive difference ESPECIALLY to the average marathon runner, it can be the difference between hitting the wall and getting through the marathon without relative difficulty. Ideally you should glycogen deplete a couple of days beforehand by either going for a long slow run/bike and then have a high carbohydrate diet for the next 3/4 days in order to glycogen supercompensate.
Granted this info is too late for tomorrows marathon but a vital thing to remember is when you get to the 18/19 mile mark and can feel yourself getting tired and slowing down, try to pick the pace up for the next mile or two, reason being is that your slow twitch (type 1) fibres are running low on glycogen, whereas the fast twitch (type 2) will still be relatively full. By picking up the pace you will switch over and be predominantly using your type 2 fibres which gives your type 1 fibres a chance to replenish.
Just in case your wondering if i'm talking nonsense, i'm a sports scientist and have studied this stuff. Also in the aftermath,ideally within 40 mins post race try to get in a mixture of carbs and proteins in order to maximise glygogen resynthesis.

Have you run many marathons though? Have you tried this out yourself?

Anyone can study, read and regurgitate text books. I'm not saying you're wrong, carb loading is great, if you do it correctly - but most people who try it do it wrong and it is not necessary. The whole point of the training and long runs is to train your body to work off your fat stores when glycogen runs out, no matter how many carbs you take on during the lead up to the race, your glycogen stores will run out.

Carb depletion and carb loading is way too complex for your average novice marathon runner, people have enough to be worrying about coming up to a marathon without adding the strain of calculating how many carbs you're takin on into it.

lim abroad

RacoonQueen wrote: »

Have you run many marathons though? Have you tried this out yourself?

Anyone can study, read and regurgitate text books. I'm not saying you're wrong, carb loading is great, if you do it correctly - but most people who try it do it wrong and it is not necessary. The whole point of the training and long runs is to train your body to work off your fat stores when glycogen runs out, no matter how many carbs you take on during the lead up to the race, your glycogen stores will run out.

Carb depletion and carb loading is way too complex for your average novice marathon runner, people have enough to be worrying about coming up to a marathon without adding the strain of calculating how many carbs you're takin on into it.

What you have just posted is wrong on so many levels, look all i am posting is advice, take it or leave it i don't care

Nwm2

lim abroad wrote: »

No, the furthest I have run is a half marathon due to the fact that up to recently that football was my primary sport. I intend participating in triathlon and marathon in near future, at the mo i'm recovering from 2nd ACL injury.
To answer your question, no matter what speed you run at you draw glycogen from both stores, the use of either store is dependent on the pace you run so it's all relative. The faster you go, the more fast twitch fibres you call into play and therefore the more glycogen you will have at your disposal. Obviously, after 19 miles this might seem a ridiculous thought, but my advice would be to increase it to a pace that you think you will be able to maintain for about 2 miles and see how you feel, you might be surprised.

You are saying that as you run faster you are recruiting more type 2 muscle fibres. No argument with that. But you are also saying that you are recruiting significantly fewer type 1 fibres, not as a proportion of energy output, but in total. Enough to allow them to replenish. Is that definitely the case?

Your advice for an average marathoner is to pick up the pace around mile 18-19 to the level where most of the energy comes from type 2 fibres (let's assume type 2a) for a couple of miles. To throw out a few badly thought out numbers, let's say go from 9 min mile to 6 min mile pace for a couple of miles. Not sure if that's going to work.

RacoonQueen

lim abroad wrote: »

What you have just posted is wrong on so many levels, look all i am posting is advice, take it or leave it i don't care

So you're saying your muscles won't run out of glycogen? You're saying that one of the reasons for doing long runs is not to train your body to work off fat stores? Seriously? The best coaches, experienced sports nutritionists and athletes in the world would all go on that and you're saying that they are all wrong? Seriously? Even one of the most experienced marathon runners and marathon coaches in the country, who advocates carb loading for runners would tell you your body can not store enough glycogen and you'll be working off fat in the latter stages of the race, and you are saying he is wrong?

Have you ever put into practice what you're saying here? Do you also think all saturated fat is bad and that cholesterol laden foods should be avoided? Genuinely interested.

lim abroad

RacoonQueen wrote: »

So you're saying your muscles won't run out of glycogen? You're saying that one of the reasons for doing long runs is not to train your body to work off fat stores? Seriously? The best coaches, experienced sports nutritionists and athletes in the world would all go on that and you're saying that they are all wrong? Seriously? Even one of the most experienced marathon runners and marathon coaches in the country, who advocates carb loading for runners would tell you your body can not store enough glycogen and you'll be working off fat in the latter stages of the race, and you are saying he is wrong?

Have you ever put into practice what you're saying here? Do you also think all saturated fat is bad and that cholesterol laden foods should be avoided? Genuinely interested.

Who said this? I would love to speak with them about it and maybe help him/her improve their athletes. Look, I can tell by your tone that you already think you know it all so why bother explaining this stuff to you?

Nwm2

lim abroad wrote: »

Who said this? I would love to speak with them about it and maybe help him/her improve their athletes. Look, I can tell by your tone that you already think you know it all so why bother explaining this stuff to you?

Well, I had posed some questions that I hoped you could answer, and I hope my tone didn't come across as know-it-all.

By the way, when you say you are a sports scientist, this means you've done your 4 year degree and are now working in the field?

lim abroad

Sorry, didn't see your earlier reply. Ok, so marathon running works out at about give or take 5m/sec, 100 m sprint at 10m/sec, you should up the pace to somewhere between this.
You cannot run a marathon on fat or carbohydrate alone, if you were to run on Carbohydrate alone you would utilise about 750g, this would equate to 5 grams oxidised per min, this is impossible as the body can only oxidise a max of 2-2.5 grams per min, thus a marathon is run on a mixture of fat and carbohydrate. Carbohydrate when burned produces about twice the amount of energy when compared to fat, thus allowing you to compete at a higher power.
At low intensity exercise such as the marathon, fat and carbohydrate contribute roughly 50% each to the total energy requirements, the fat contribution comes from intramuscular fat (fat within the muscle) as opposed to subcutaneous fat which lies beneath the skin. You will hit the wall once about 80% of the glycogen in the muscles is depleted, this 80% is very much specific to the motor units being used (fast twich slow twitch), there will still be glycogen in the fast twitch units. So, in short to answer your question, yes this is definitely the case.
And I have done my degree and am currently working for a football team playing in the championship in england

menoscemo

lim abroad wrote: »

Carbo-loading can make a massive difference ESPECIALLY to the average marathon runner, it can be the difference between hitting the wall and getting through the marathon without relative difficulty. Ideally you should glycogen deplete a couple of days beforehand by either going for a long slow run/bike and then have a high carbohydrate diet for the next 3/4 days in order to glycogen supercompensate.
Granted this info is too late for tomorrows marathon but a vital thing to remember is when you get to the 18/19 mile mark and can feel yourself getting tired and slowing down, try to pick the pace up for the next mile or two, reason being is that your slow twitch (type 1) fibres are running low on glycogen, whereas the fast twitch (type 2) will still be relatively full. By picking up the pace you will switch over and be predominantly using your type 2 fibres which gives your type 1 fibres a chance to replenish.
Just in case your wondering if i'm talking nonsense, i'm a sports scientist and have studied this stuff. Also in the aftermath,ideally within 40 mins post race try to get in a mixture of carbs and proteins in order to maximise glygogen resynthesis.

lim abroad wrote: »

No, the furthest I have run is a half marathon due to the fact that up to recently that football was my primary sport. I intend participating in triathlon and marathon in near future, at the mo i'm recovering from 2nd ACL injury.
To answer your question, no matter what speed you run at you draw glycogen from both stores, the use of either store is dependent on the pace you run so it's all relative. The faster you go, the more fast twitch fibres you call into play and therefore the more glycogen you will have at your disposal. Obviously, after 19 miles this might seem a ridiculous thought, but my advice would be to increase it to a pace that you think you will be able to maintain for about 2 miles and see how you feel, you might be surprised.

:rolleyes:

Great in theory, but doesn't work in practise. The one and only time I actively carb loaded before a marathon(my 1st- doing my 12th tomorrow) was the one and only time I bonked. I felt bloated and uncomfortable from the start and was in bits by 19 miles.

If the average marathon runner can hold 2000kcal worth of glycogen, there is no point eating loads of carbs for days before the race. It is not as if you start with zero levels of glycogen when you started carb loading Anything over 2000kcal you have to get your energy from fat reserves or from taking on calories during the race.

My advice is just to eat what you normally eat, take in a little more simplecarbs with your evening meal and drink plenty of water the day before.

By the way there is actually a Running forum which is full of discussion like this:

The Davestator

superbad50 wrote: »

hi ,

marathon tomorrow guys . is it ok to eat simple carbs all day to increase my carb intake for the race. I have been doing this all weekend , cereal , energy bars , etc etc . there is a lot of processed food thrown in the form of carbs . Is this ok > reason being the complex , high in fibre carbs wont allow you to take in as many carbs

How much carbs shouold i be aiming for today ?

tnx all

Forget the sports science for a bit. The MOST important thing is NOT to do anything new in the run up to the marathon. By now, you will have done some 20+ mile runs - how did you feel on them. What did you eat before them etc. Eat the same as you did prior to your long runs. Dont try anything new and dont wear anything new - it'll ruin your marathon.

Also - If you are wondering who to believe, believe an experiecned marathon runner over a novice runner when it comes to asking for advice on marathon running. Kinda goes without saying really!

lim abroad

Ok, time to get out of here, the lunatics have clearly taken over the asylum. Best of luck to everyone is the marathon tomorrow. Shall i throw in a few smiley faces for good measure?? Ah sure what the heck

RacoonQueen

lim abroad wrote: »

Who said this? I would love to speak with them about it and maybe help him/her improve their athletes. Look, I can tell by your tone that you already think you know it all so why bother explaining this stuff to you?

Great response. Seeing as you wouldn't answer my questions I won't answer yours.

Nwm2

lim abroad wrote: »

Sorry, didn't see your earlier reply. Ok, so marathon running works out at about give or take 5m/sec, 100 m sprint at 10m/sec, you should up the pace to somewhere between this.
You cannot run a marathon on fat or carbohydrate alone, if you were to run on Carbohydrate alone you would utilise about 750g, this would equate to 5 grams oxidised per min, this is impossible as the body can only oxidise a max of 2-2.5 grams per min, thus a marathon is run on a mixture of fat and carbohydrate. Carbohydrate when burned produces about twice the amount of energy when compared to fat, thus allowing you to compete at a higher power.
At low intensity exercise such as the marathon, fat and carbohydrate contribute roughly 50% each to the total energy requirements, the fat contribution comes from intramuscular fat (fat within the muscle) as opposed to subcutaneous fat which lies beneath the skin. You will hit the wall once about 80% of the glycogen in the muscles is depleted, this 80% is very much specific to the motor units being used (fast twich slow twitch), there will still be glycogen in the fast twitch units. So, in short to answer your question, yes this is definitely the case.
And I have done my degree and am currently working for a football team playing in the championship in england

Thanks for this, but the key technical question I was asking was about your contention that by going from marathon pace to something much faster, you are reducing the number of type 1 fibres that your are recruiting. I thought type 1s were recruited first, almost no matter what, and that type 2a and 2b were added on top to hit the required force. Therefore, for running, there was no sense that you could somehow give your type 1s a break by running harder.

lim abroad

Yes, that is known as Hennemans size principle, there are exceptions to this however where type 2 motor units can be recruited first but that is a different topic entirely. As regards above, let me dig out the evidence during the week and i will post back here on it if you like?

SWL

lim abroad wrote: »

Yes, that is known as Hennemans size principle, there are exceptions to this however where type 2 motor units can be recruited first but that is a different topic entirely. As regards above, let me dig out the evidence during the week and i will post back here on it if you like?

Very interesting information in your posts, would love to have a chat with a qualified person like yourself. I am also a runner and cyclist I am not running in the marathon tomorrow but your theory is correct.

I was reading Laurent Figon autobiography and he depleted his glycogen stores 3 or 4 days before the Milan - San Remo classic race in 1988; he did some very high mileage and finished his training flat to make sure all stores were depleted. That weekend he won the Milan San Remo and commented in his autobiography how amazing he felt especially on the climbs he said at one point he may as well had a cigarette in his mouth.

Interestingly he followed the same principles the following year just increased the mileage and he won back to back moments classic tough thing to do.

superbad50

RacoonQueen wrote: »

Tomorrow is my 11th marathon (I think, something like that) and I've never eaten as many carbs before one as you're talking about there. It's not necessary, if you eat too much you're risking over doing it and being bloated and sluggish on the day and you risk putting on weight if you're eating a lot.

Get your carbs from fruit and veg, drink plenty of water. You definitely don't need to be eating energy bars and cereal bars all weekend.

Our body can only store so much glycogen, what do you think happens to the extras?

I'm eating as normal today;
Sunday fry up for breakfast with a cup of tea(already eaten)
Turkey salad for lunch
Out for dinner tonight, I'll probably have chicken and pasta or potatoes and veg.

I'll be snacking on fruit and carrots during the day and I'll drink about 2 litres of water, some orange juice and a few cups of tea.

Carb depletion and carb loading aren't really that important for your average runner. You want to arrive at the start line tomorrow feeling good - if you've been following a different diet than normal for the past few days you might not.

By all means, have some extra carbs than normal (I have been) but don't be excessive. Don't go out of your way to take in carbs.

Best of luck tomorrow. Looks like we'll get a bit of rain!

Edit: Re: Breakfast - when you were doing your long runs what did you normally eat before them? I'll be having a toasted bagel for breakfast - I usually toast two and try to stuff them into me and would maybe manage about a quarter of the second one, I'll also have a banana or a pear. I'll usually eat toast before a long run if I eat at all so a bagel is perfect for me.

Best practice is to eat whatever you would normally eat before a long run. Do NOT do anything you would not normally do before a race or run. A similar question about breakfast has been asked HERE that thread and THIS one are full of great advice.

tnx for that very informative advice. I wasn't saying for one minute that I didn't agree with you , curiosity often gets the better of me . You seem to know quiet a bit on the nutrition / training side of things so i will never doubt you again. ha.

I was at the pre race registration presentation and a girl over emphasised the importance of carbs before the race , thats were i was coming from , our bodies can consume 60 grams an hour , 75 grams if consumed with caffeine. i suppose it depends on various other factors. i totally understand what you are saying though.

I made it to the end at least , with 10 weeks training and a sinus infection under my belt i was delighted with my time of 4.22. I done one marathon previous to this but that was ten years ago.

I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and will for sure do the marathon again. To answer you question about my breakfast . i would either have weetabix , branflakes or a toasted bagel with butter or peanut butter . I will have a look at that breakfast link you posted.

congrats to you also on the marathon . i hope you kicked ass. 11 marathons , that is a tremendous achievement. i hve a bit of catching up to do .

superbad50

The Davestator wrote: »

Forget the sports science for a bit. The MOST important thing is NOT to do anything new in the run up to the marathon. By now, you will have done some 20+ mile runs - how did you feel on them. What did you eat before them etc. Eat the same as you did prior to your long runs. Dont try anything new and dont wear anything new - it'll ruin your marathon.

Also - If you are wondering who to believe, believe an experiecned marathon runner over a novice runner when it comes to asking for advice on marathon running. Kinda goes without saying really!

20 milers , no pal not me , ha. the furthest i ran was 16 miles. relatively new to the long distance running . i kinda came unprepared this year . started training ten weeks ago , ran a couple of 13 miles , ten miles , and one 16 mile .

Tnx for the advice . i completed the marathon , a time of 4.22 so i am delighted with that since the last marathon i did was ten years ago. it may be in my head but i do feel that the carbs i consumed for breakfast plus an hour before the race stood me well. felt good up until the 15 mile mark.

roll on next year

Nwm2

superbad50 wrote: »

20 milers , no pal not me , ha. the furthest i ran was 16 miles. relatively new to the long distance running . i kinda came unprepared this year . started training ten weeks ago , ran a couple of 13 miles , ten miles , and one 16 mile .

Tnx for the advice . i completed the marathon , a time of 4.22 so i am delighted with that since the last marathon i did was ten years ago. it may be in my head but i do feel that the carbs i consumed for breakfast plus an hour before the race stood me well. felt good up until the 15 mile mark.

roll on next year

So, do you think you could have sprinted from miles 19-21 as per the sports scientist's recommendations (or maybe 15 miles in your case if that's where you think you ran out of energy)?

superbad50

Nwm2 wrote: »

So, do you think you could have sprinted from miles 19-21 as per the sports scientist's recommendations (or maybe 15 miles in your case if that's where you think you ran out of energy)?

hi ,

i don't understand what you mean by your comment

The Davestator

superbad50 wrote: »

20 milers , no pal not me , ha. the furthest i ran was 16 miles. relatively new to the long distance running . i kinda came unprepared this year . started training ten weeks ago , ran a couple of 13 miles , ten miles , and one 16 mile .

Tnx for the advice . i completed the marathon , a time of 4.22 so i am delighted with that since the last marathon i did was ten years ago. it may be in my head but i do feel that the carbs i consumed for breakfast plus an hour before the race stood me well. felt good up until the 15 mile mark.

roll on next year

Well done on the time. I was on the sides this year instead of doing it but i'll be there next year too.

Nwm2

superbad50 wrote: »

hi ,

i don't understand what you mean by your comment

The middle portion of this thread was a discussion about switching from slow twitch to fast twitch muscle fibres late on into a marathon (ie going from the marathon pace you were running at to something much faster for a couple of miles). This was a theory from LIMABROAD, but the regular runners here didn't think this was feasible in practice:

"Granted this info is too late for tomorrows marathon but a vital thing to remember is when you get to the 18/19 mile mark and can feel yourself getting tired and slowing down, try to pick the pace up for the next mile or two, reason being is that your slow twitch (type 1) fibres are running low on glycogen, whereas the fast twitch (type 2) will still be relatively full. By picking up the pace you will switch over and be predominantly using your type 2 fibres which gives your type 1 fibres a chance to replenish."

RacoonQueen

superbad50 wrote: »

tnx for that very informative advice. I wasn't saying for one minute that I didn't agree with you , curiosity often gets the better of me . You seem to know quiet a bit on the nutrition / training side of things so i will never doubt you again. ha.

I was at the pre race registration presentation and a girl over emphasised the importance of carbs before the race , thats were i was coming from , our bodies can consume 60 grams an hour , 75 grams if consumed with caffeine. i suppose it depends on various other factors. i totally understand what you are saying though.

I made it to the end at least , with 10 weeks training and a sinus infection under my belt i was delighted with my time of 4.22. I done one marathon previous to this but that was ten years ago.

I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and will for sure do the marathon again. To answer you question about my breakfast . i would either have weetabix , branflakes or a toasted bagel with butter or peanut butter . I will have a look at that breakfast link you posted.

congrats to you also on the marathon . i hope you kicked ass. 11 marathons , that is a tremendous achievement. i hve a bit of catching up to do .

A lot of dieticians have a bit of an obsession with carbs alright. Barry Murray of optimum nutrition, link to his site HERE isn't a big fan of carbs, even in endurance sports. He represents Ireland in ultra running and has done Ironman tris. He practices what he preaches and would fuel himself largely on fats and proteins as opposed to carbs. Training on empty to train yourself to burn fat as fuel etc...

As I say, carb depletion and loading is great, if done correctly - but it's very easy to feck it up when you don't know what you're doing.

Well done in the marathon, thats a brilliant result for 10 weeks training. I had a ball on Monday. Ranks right up there with DCM 2008 as my most enjoyable marathon experience.

RacoonQueen

Nwm2 wrote: »

So, do you think you could have sprinted from miles 19-21 as per the sports scientist's recommendations (or maybe 15 miles in your case if that's where you think you ran out of energy)?

My pace naturally picked up for miles 17 - 19. Then I got cramp. :pac:

superbad50

Nwm2 wrote: »

The middle portion of this thread was a discussion about switching from slow twitch to fast twitch muscle fibres late on into a marathon (ie going from the marathon pace you were running at to something much faster for a couple of miles). This was a theory from LIMABROAD, but the regular runners here didn't think this was feasible in practice:

"Granted this info is too late for tomorrows marathon but a vital thing to remember is when you get to the 18/19 mile mark and can feel yourself getting tired and slowing down, try to pick the pace up for the next mile or two, reason being is that your slow twitch (type 1) fibres are running low on glycogen, whereas the fast twitch (type 2) will still be relatively full. By picking up the pace you will switch over and be predominantly using your type 2 fibres which gives your type 1 fibres a chance to replenish."

interesting . i'll keep that in mind for next year's marathon . tnx pal

mylesm

Hi guys

Sorry for off thread question but I cant find route times anywhere can some one please give me an approx time main body of marathon will be passing up Phoenix Park

Thanks and Good Luck to all Participants