The marathon.
42 kilometres of pure grit and perseverance. 2 hours of elite intensity or 5 hours of simply being at it, the marathon is unforgiving. Whether you’re an elite or a first timer at the marathon, one thing that cannot be ignored is your nutrition.
Get your nutrition right and you will power through the marathon. Get it even a tad bit wrong and you could be against an immovable wall.
The most important component of nutrition for a marathon are your carbohydrates, the energy stores of your body.
Why do carbs matter the most?
Your body has two sources of fuel that are used to power the body: fats and carbohydrates. Now, your body stores a significant amount of energy as fats. So, ideally, that should be the go-to source of energy, right?
But as it turns out, fat takes a lot of time to get converted into energy. And at race pace, your body needs a faster energy source, and that source is carbohydrates.
Unfortunately, carbohydrates come with their own set of problems.
Your body can only store a limited amount of carbs in itself. These carbohydrate stores are called glycogen and they run out quite quickly. Glycogen stores are typically enough to fuel two to three hours of running depending on intensity and how well topped up they were before the race.
For a marathoner running for anything between 3:30 to 5:00 hours will require an external, consistent & on-the-go source of carbohydrates.
The answer is Energy Gels! But how many gels should you consume?
Follow the magic numbers: 60-90 grams
Research recommends consuming 60 to 90 grams of carbohydrates per hour during moderate to high intensity exercise lasting more than two and a half hours.
A standard energy gel packs about 60 grams of carbohydrates. This means, you need to consume 2 to 2.5 gels per hour to be within the ideal magic range of 60-90 grams of carb replenishment.
But we runners are a defiant breed.
Even with research suggesting 60-90 grams of carbs, most runners take in closer to 30 to 40 g per hour.
In fact, a study conducted at the Seville Marathon found that the average carbohydrate intake among runners during the race was just 35 grams per hour, well below the recommended range, and that runners who met the 60 to 90 gram recommendation were significantly more likely to finish the marathon in under three hours.
So how should you ideally fuel during the marathon?
If you’re consuming gels with 30 grams of carbohydrates, here is a rule of thumb when it comes to gel consumption for the marathon: 1 gel 10-15 minutes before the race and then every 30-40 minutes of your race.
So during the race, for a:
- 2:30 marathon: 4-5 gels
- 2:30 to 3:30 marathon: 5-6 gels
- 4:00 and above marathon: 6-7 gels
Word to the wise
Try out your energy gels during your long runs in training. Do not consume them directly during a race. Your body will not be used to it and instead of helping your cause, it will do the exact opposite.
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