Marathon and gels

clareabu

Hi,

I have run a number of sub 17min 5k's and a number of 36min 10ks. I am stepping up to the marathon distance in April. I have started my training but now need to start upping the miles. For the shorter distances training I have never bothered with gels or isotonic drinks etc.

I was wondering what fellow runners advice would be regarding incorporating gels/drinks into my training and what would be the optimal plan for the marathon? As an FYI, I'm aiming for a sub 3hr marathon so will be training with this time in mind.

Thanks in advance.

Cartman78

I'm guessing everyone has their own method regarding this so you might get a fairly wide spread of recommendations.

(I'm very much open to correction on this but) I think a general rule of thumb would be to have a gel every 40-60 mins during a marathon. You'll need to drink water with most types of gels so obviously you'll need to co-ordinate the intake with water stations on the course.

re: Training - you might find that some brands of gels might make you queasy so it's worth trying a few and finding what suits during your weekend long slow runs

drquirky

Hey-

As far as gels/ drinks go I only use them on runs longer than 15 plus and I'd say you'll be fairly similar given your shorter distance times. The best advice I could give you would be to experiment with them and see what works for you. I personally use Power Gel and it seems to work fine- the key is finding ones that you can digest easily. Power Gel requires water w/ it to work perfectly but I know the Iso gels can be taken on their own.

In regards to training, I've recently stepped up to the marathon and I would just tell you to make sure you respect the distance. 26.2 is completely different from the shorter stuff and you will probably have to work hardest at building your endurance up. Make sure you don't cheat the long runs as the last 10k of the marathon will feel totally different from anything you've run before.

Do lots of miles at planned marathon pace (PMP) and read through the logs here as there is some incredible training insight sprinkled through them....Good luck!

macinalli

If you do a search of this forum you should find lots of info on gels, although some of it is pretty contradictory. I think that most people will agree that:

• You need gels of some type for a marathon. After that it's a case of finding a gel that works for you. You don't want to try a gel on race day that you haven't used before.
• All gels taste awful and can tie your stomach in knots. I use the SIS isotonic gels, can't take the powerbar ones. The isotonic ones are bulkier but I think easier to process. Other people find the volume of the isotonic gels too much and prefer the short concentrated ones. You need to find the one that suits you.

For training, some people will advocate trying them on your long runs, other will tell you that running without them is better for building endurance. Again it's a matter of choice! I've probably not given you the answer you're looking for, but with gels there is no "one size fits all" solution...

Gringo78

With a few sub 17min 5k time & a few 36min 10k's, you easily have the basic speed for a sub 3 marathon. I'd say you'd be well able for a Daniels Marathon plan and since you have a very good idea of your race times over 5k-10k, the training paces from a Daniels plan would be very easy to define from your VDOT.

As regards gels, I'd recommend trying the Isotonic gels first as you don't need to take water with them so you can develop a gel strategy that doesn't rely on water stops being at certain points on the course.

Start using them on any type of run, just to see how you stomach them. A good time to test them might be on a morning run where you've skipped breakfast and are running on an empty stomach. The more gels you can take on board, the better so aim for 1 every 20-25min on race day and during a training you can take one every 15min say to see how your stomach tolerates them (ideally on a 6-8mile run with a few tempo miles so you're really jigging your stomach around).

Theres no need to take them in training other than for the purposes of seeing can you tolerate them. No-one should require a gel to complete a 20-22 mile LSR, if you do you are running it too fast. So once you've worked out you can stomach them, I'd rarely take them again until race day.

Cartman78

Yep...there's a school of thought out there that you should train your body to cope with a lack of fuel (ie. not take on water, gels etc. on long runs) but I wouldn't recommend this for your first marathon.

The step up from 10k to marathon is significant alright but if you're already running 36 mins for 10k then presumably your weekly mileage is already quite high so you may only need to modify your training rather than completely overhaul it

G-Money

Slightly off topic, but has anyone here tried running a marathon and not taking gels and energy drinks and perhaps just taking something like a few jelly babies here and there and maybe something like flat coke or Fanta etc?

I suppose what got me thinking was an interview I heard with Steve Jones on Marathon Talk and it left me with the impression we perhaps over complicate things as back in the 80's, I don't think they had gels etc but the top guys could still run sub 2:10.

Cartman78

G-Money wrote: »

Slightly off topic, but has anyone here tried running a marathon and not taking gels and energy drinks and perhaps just taking something like a few jelly babies here and there and maybe something like flat coke or Fanta etc?

I suppose what got me thinking was an interview I heard with Steve Jones on Marathon Talk and it left me with the impression we perhaps over complicate things as back in the 80's, I don't think they had gels etc but the top guys could still run sub 2:10.

Ran Dublin in 2003 as a very very green (both at the start & finish ) novice without any thought of in-race nutrition.

Things got fairly hairy in the last few miles and if it wasn't for a few people randomly giving out sweets and chocolates at the side of the road I probably wouldn't have finished.

Heard the Steve Jones interview as well and see where you're coming from. Don't think it's a matter of over-complicating things tbh - just moving with the times. Could Jones & co. have run sub 2:05 if they'd have had today's nutrition, gear, treatments etc.?

TFBubendorfer

G-Money wrote: »

Slightly off topic, but has anyone here tried running a marathon and not taking gels and energy drinks and perhaps just taking something like a few jelly babies here and there and maybe something like flat coke or Fanta etc?

I suppose what got me thinking was an interview I heard with Steve Jones on Marathon Talk and it left me with the impression we perhaps over complicate things as back in the 80's, I don't think they had gels etc but the top guys could still run sub 2:10.

Brining flat coke and jelly babies along is actually much more complicated than putting a gel or two into your short pockets. The main plus of gels is convenience. I don't think anyone seriously argues that they are a miracle cure for slow times.

clareabu

Thanks everybody for the information. As a few posters have rightly pointed out, speed is not an issue for me, I can routinely knock out 6-6:30min miles in training. Doing the long slow run is going to be my issue. My longest run to date is 10 miles and I had to constantly keep myself in check. Not really looking forward to upping the mileage but I realise that it has to be done if I want to finish in a decent time.

Thanks again.