Breakfast before Dublin City Marathon

dekbhoy

right guys this is my first marathon so any advice welcome ....My plan for day is as follows...

Rise at 6:30 a.m to a large bowl of porridge multi seed with a banana and a pint of water. A smoothie containing mixed berries ,apple ,banana, fruit juice ,honey and natural yoghurt. Cup of cofffee with brown bread and peanut butter. I will then eat another banana with an isotonic drink(500ml) 1 hour before race. As soon as race begins I will be drinking water and sports drink throughout with gel .

Is there anything I should add to boost performance or leave out ? I am aiming for sub 4 hour marathon.

Thanks guys

(From a nervous 1st timer)

myflipflops

Seems like a lot of food.

I had a banana and a bagel with extra light cream cheese about 2 hours 20 minutes before I started. I drank about 400 mls of water with that and sipped water/Gatorade in leading up to the gun without consuming much. I made sure I drank a LOT of water the day before.

I suspect there are no set rules for this though. What will suit one person will ruin the next.

ger664

Have you tried out this nutrition routine before any of your long runs ?

Cabaal

My routine, hydrate very well starting 7 days leading up to the marathon, morning of the marathon have porridge the same as I do every morning and before every other marathon or long training run.

Stop drinking fluids 2hrs before race, start drinking again with sips around 30-20min before race.

OP, unless you've eaten/drank like that before you'd be very foolish to start trying things out the day of the race, eat and drink only what you are used to

robinph

myflipflops wrote: »

Seems like a lot of food.

It's a lot of words to explain their breakfast but is really just porridge + banana + smoothie + bread and a coffee and water to wash it down with.

As others said though, just do exactly what you've done on the morning before any previous long runs. If you do anything different then you are likely to have problems of some kind.

ray lanigan

dekbhoy wrote: »

right guys this is my first marathon so any advice welcome ....My plan for day is as follows...

Rise at 6:30 a.m to a large bowl of porridge multi seed with a banana and a pint of water. A smoothie containing mixed berries ,apple ,banana, fruit juice ,honey and natural yoghurt. Cup of cofffee with brown bread and peanut butter. I will then eat another banana with an isotonic drink(500ml) 1 hour before race. As soon as race begins I will be drinking water and sports drink throughout with gel .

Is there anything I should add to boost performance or leave out ? I am aiming for sub 4 hour marathon.

Thanks guys

(From a nervous 1st timer)

as long as it all comes out the other end u can eat what ever you like:D,usually 3 hours for digestion,good luck with your sub 4hour

endswell

as posters said, don't change from your routine.

no need for a pint of water though. (i would) drink 5 pints of water for 5 days, sunday included. bare minimum on race day. start drinking after you've started race.

re food, i will start eating porridge oat biscuits peanut butter 75 mins before race to be finished 60 mins before ... completely different to others so just do what you normally do.

robinph

Don't get too carried away with the drinking guys or you may drown yourselves. Nobody ever died from not drinking enough water during a city marathon, the opposite is unfortunately not the case.

dekbhoy

Thanks for replies.... Yes I eat porridge on a regular basis so will defo stick to that ,might leave the smoothie out and replace bread with bagel. Have never ran that distance hence why I want to cram in as much calories as possible to prevent my body hitting wall.

plodder

Be careful about "cramming" on the morning. Best thing is to eat extra carbs for a few days before hand, and to rest so that you don't use them up. Breakfast on the day should be just a top-up imho.

Sara2002

Also my first marathon so no expert but I would definitely leave out the smoothie if I were you. May just be a bit too much for your stomach to handle on top of everything else. I'd be careful about drinking coffee too as that always makes me want the loo but if that's your routine before your long runs then you'll already know how you are with it.
Best of luck with it, hope all goes to plan for you.

Rogue Runner

I'd leave out anything like seeds or berry smoothies as these might act as a laxative.
Sweet potatoes and whole grain pasta the day before work for me. The morning of the race have your porridge and banana at least 2 hours before your race. I made the mistake of having too big a breakfast b4 the marathon and it felt like I had a bowling ball in my stomach for a lot of the run.

Outside

I'm going to stick to the usual porridge, couple of bananas, coffee, pint of water all consumed 2 hours before the marathon starts. Nothing in the two hours before starting. Nothing worse that feeling the need to use the loo 2 miles in and 24 to go.

Discovered the hard way chocolate and a lot of fruit such as your smoothie is a laxative, for me anyway! Stick to what you normally do for long runs. Simple.

jebuz

dekbhoy wrote: »

Thanks for replies.... Yes I eat porridge on a regular basis so will defo stick to that ,might leave the smoothie out and replace bread with bagel. Have never ran that distance hence why I want to cram in as much calories as possible to prevent my body hitting wall.

I'm not one to talk from experience, this is my first marathon and I've yet to experience the dreaded 'wall' but in my opinion If you hit the wall on the day it's not entirely down to what you ate or didn't eat that morning. It's much more likely that you have got your pacing wrong, haven't put in the training or you've simply thrown in the towel mentally (not saying this is you btw).

On that last note, I was at Barry Murray's series of talks on eating for endurance recently (really good by the way) and he mentioned that runners who hit the wall during a race actually have more than enough energy stores left to finish the race. it's a case of destructive disassociative thinking rather than physiological exhaustion where the thoughts of exhaustion actually grind your race to a halt. It's a very interesting theory, essentially the wall is a myth, it's in your head, and this sort of mental approach could prove a very useful ally if and when you start feeling the effects 20+ miles in, though I say that now...

jprender

jebuz wrote: »

It's a very interesting theory, essentially the wall is a myth, it's in your head, and this sort of mental approach could prove a very useful ally if and when you start feeling the effects 20+ miles in,

I hit the wall in my one and only marathon, and I can tell you something, it wasn't all in my head

I think if someone had actually said that to me while I was in that state of hell, I'd probably have used my last drop of energy to punch them in the snots

Of course it is a physical thing. No amount of positive thinking is going to keep the body going if it has not been trained properly.

jebuz

jprender wrote: »

I hit the wall in my one and only marathon, and I can tell you something, it wasn't all in my head

I think if someone had actually said that to me while I was in that state of hell, I'd probably have used my last drop of energy to punch them in the snots

Of course it is a physical thing. No amount of positive thinking is going to keep the body going if it has not been trained properly.

That would have been one weak punch I'd say

But yeah I agree, it is a physical thing and I'm not saying it isn't, it's total glycogen depletion. If you haven't done the training, you WILL crash but that was more aimed at those who have put in the training. As I said I've never experienced it but just regurgitating what I've heard about it from people who (may) know what they're talking about

It's just interesting that it's been shown that people actually still have the energy resources to burn but can't tap into it, that's the mental aspect of it. The whole idea behind Barry's talks were based around flipping your conventional way of thinking that you need to burn carbs, but instead teaching your body to burn fat resources for energy and that's the difficult part, it can take years, but it made a lot of sense.

walshb

myflipflops wrote: »

Seems like a lot of food.

.

Was thinking this myself after reading the OP. Maybe overcompensating here. Decent breakfast and some water 90 mins before race time.

nosnagaoithe

dekbhoy wrote: »

right guys this is my first marathon so any advice welcome ....My plan for day is as follows...

Rise at 6:30 a.m to a large bowl of porridge multi seed with a banana and a pint of water. A smoothie containing mixed berries ,apple ,banana, fruit juice ,honey and natural yoghurt. Cup of cofffee with brown bread and peanut butter. I will then eat another banana with an isotonic drink(500ml) 1 hour before race. As soon as race begins I will be drinking water and sports drink throughout with gel .

Is there anything I should add to boost performance or leave out ? I am aiming for sub 4 hour marathon.

Thanks guys

(From a nervous 1st timer)

In addition to the advice already offered, I would caution against mixing gels with isotonic/sports drinks - likely to cause stomach probs in my experience. If taking a few gels, only drink water with them....

TFBubendorfer

nosnagaoithe wrote: »

In addition to the advice already offered, I would caution against mixing gels with isotonic/sports drinks - likely to cause stomach probs in my experience. If taking a few gels, only drink water with them....

It's different for everyone. I've never had any troubles mixing gels and sports drink.

Solution: try it out beforehand!

plodder

jebuz wrote: »

I'm not one to talk from experience, this is my first marathon and I've yet to experience the dreaded 'wall' but in my opinion If you hit the wall on the day it's not entirely down to what you ate or didn't eat that morning. It's much more likely that you have got your pacing wrong, haven't put in the training or you've simply thrown in the towel mentally (not saying this is you btw).

On that last note, I was at Barry Murray's series of talks on eating for endurance recently (really good by the way) and he mentioned that runners who hit the wall during a race actually have more than enough energy stores left to finish the race. it's a case of destructive disassociative thinking rather than physiological exhaustion where the thoughts of exhaustion actually grind your race to a halt. It's a very interesting theory, essentially the wall is a myth, it's in your head, and this sort of mental approach could prove a very useful ally if and when you start feeling the effects 20+ miles in, though I say that now...

I think it depends on exactly what is happening. The way I read it is when your liver runs out of glycogen that lowers the blood sugar level going to the brain, and your brain starts to tell you 'maybe it's time to stop this sh!t' :pac: But you might still have energy in your leg muscles. So, that situation can be overcome psychologically. But, if you run out of glycogen in the legs, then that means the game is up. Even though you still have plenty of fat energy, you can't burn it fast enough to maintain pace.

nellocono

How do people carry 4 or 5 gels on a run?

I wouldn't fancy one of those belts at all

robinph

nellocono wrote: »

How do people carry 4 or 5 gels on a run?

I wouldn't fancy one of those belts at all

SPI belt.

They are great for stuffing loads of things in an I don’t have a problem with them bouncing around or moving.

PaulieC

+1 for the spibelt.

Cabaal

nellocono wrote: »

How do people carry 4 or 5 gels on a run?

I wouldn't fancy one of those belts at all

I used to think that for ages....that belts wouldn't be comfortable or they'd annoy me.

However a few months back I bought SiS gels and got the below belt for free, barely notice I have the thing on, its great!



I used one of these gel arm bands for two years before getting the belt and it always annoyed the hell out of me, have stopped using it altogether now

dekbhoy

Cabaal wrote: »

I used to think that for ages....that belts wouldn't be comfortable or they'd annoy me.

However a few months back I bought SiS gels and got the below belt for free, barely notice I have the thing on, its great!



I used one of these gel arm bands for two years before getting the belt and it always annoyed the hell out of me, have stopped using it altogether now

Ok from advice I will begin with water plain porridge with banana followed by tea with bagel and peanut butter, 3 hours before start time. 5-10 mins before race I will begin drinking isotonic sports drink then drink water every station with gels. Will also have brother meet me at certain points with sports drink. Some excellent advice to take on board but I suppose the best thing to do is take part and learn for yourself as everyone is different. Good luck to all participants it will be a fantastic day.

PGF

dekbhoy wrote: »

5-10 mins before race I will begin drinking isotonic sports drink then drink water every station with gels. Will also have brother meet me at certain points with sports drink.

Drink water every station and sports drink also? Sounds like way too much liquid. See the quote below. Drink when you're thirsty and you'll be fine.

robinph wrote: »

Don't get too carried away with the drinking guys or you may drown yourselves. Nobody ever died from not drinking enough water during a city marathon, the opposite is unfortunately not the case.

JohnnyBingo

Hotel I'm staying in starts serving breakfast at 7 am which is just a tad later than I'd like. Ideally like to he tucking into my bowl of porridge with a slice or two of toast and have all done and dusted by 6.30am. I asked hotel if I could get access to microwave in the kitchen but couldn't get a definite response..... "There might be somebody in about 6.45 who would make me a bowl ". I guess I could bring one of those pot noodle type porridge thingys
What are the chances of a place serving early breakfast near Grafton street on bank holiday?

nerraw1111

JohnnyBingo wrote: »

Hotel I'm staying in starts serving breakfast at 7 am which is just a tad later than I'd like. Ideally like to he tucking into my bowl of porridge with a slice or two of toast and have all done and dusted by 6.30am. I asked hotel if I could get access to microwave in the kitchen but couldn't get a definite response..... "There might be somebody in about 6.45 who would make me a bowl ". I guess I could bring one of those pot noodle type porridge thingys
What are the chances of a place serving early breakfast near Grafton street on bank holiday?

I used the pot ready ones a few times and hotels have no problem microwaving them for you. The night porter usually does it for you.

Krusty_Clown

JohnnyBingo wrote: »

What are the chances of a place serving early breakfast near Grafton street on bank holiday?

Slim, unless you fancy a Macdonalds breakfast. Pot-noodle porridge and a bagel and you're laughing.

robinph

I'll be bringing over some that just need a kettle to make the porridge myself as you'll always have facilities for that in any hotel room. I prefer to get fed as long as possible before a run due to my diabetes and the effect of insulin. That makes it tricky before a morning race as it's then a toss up between whether I'm more scared of the effect of the insulin or would rather risk it and have an extra hour in bed.

The time in bed usually wins, but I'll take my own food along before a marathon because you can never be sure what will be on offer.

rom

I asked my hotel and they do provide a "take away Breakfast". Might be of help to some people

RubyK

JohnnyBingo wrote: »

What are the chances of a place serving early breakfast near Grafton street on bank holiday?

Buswells Hotel (Molesworth St) are serving breakfast from 6.30am. HTH

McWotever

nellocono wrote: »

How do people carry 4 or 5 gels on a run?

I wouldn't fancy one of those belts at all

I pin them to the inside of my shorts. I wear under-crackers (compression shorts) so no lube needed.

Watch this video, turn down the cheesy music thou!

http://youtu.be/NWkNXH2aUD8