Well It's been nearly a year and a half since my last blog. A lot has happened in that time, but one thing that has not happened is blogging! In this past year and a half, I have officially retired from competitive running(I still do local races), we have gotten pregnant with our second child( a boy again!), and I have become a partner at the physical therapy clinic I work at. So needless to say my coach blogging has suffered.
However, now that things have settled down with the clinic, I'm not running a 100 miles a week anymore, and the second baby has not come yet (due early september), I'm going to do my best to start blogging again!
For my first blog back I would like to touch on water and gel consumption for a marathon...
So this is a topic I get asked quite frequently by my athletes. Luckily I have done a good amount of research on this topic so I am able to provide some good evidence based insight into this subject. According to a research article by John Bennet MS and Michael Kehoe phD, out of University of Florida, they have found what they believe to be the basic formula for marathon nutrition. Their formula is of coursed based off your pace during the marathon.
I'll lay down a couple basics, but I have also copied the link for the article for all to see.
Alright here is the research article on marathon nutrition I use. Towards the end is a good summary chart. I am unable to do a direct link to it, so just copy it into google and it will come up. https://www.nsca.com/uploadedFiles/NSCA/.../marathon_fueling_techniques.pdf
Comments are welcome!
However, now that things have settled down with the clinic, I'm not running a 100 miles a week anymore, and the second baby has not come yet (due early september), I'm going to do my best to start blogging again!
For my first blog back I would like to touch on water and gel consumption for a marathon...
So this is a topic I get asked quite frequently by my athletes. Luckily I have done a good amount of research on this topic so I am able to provide some good evidence based insight into this subject. According to a research article by John Bennet MS and Michael Kehoe phD, out of University of Florida, they have found what they believe to be the basic formula for marathon nutrition. Their formula is of coursed based off your pace during the marathon.
I'll lay down a couple basics, but I have also copied the link for the article for all to see.
- Rule #1: you should be taking at least 3 gels during your marathon weather you are running 7:00 pace or 5:00 pace. And probably more if you are running 8:00 and beyond. Basically every 40-45 minutes is a good rule of thumb. With the gel, you should take water right before, and right after to help in the absorption of it.
- Rule#2: You should be taking about 6 to 8oz of water or sports drink every 10 to 15 minutes. You can alternate taking water or sport drink every other stop, but the main idea is to replace a lot of those fluids you are loosing. This is because the more fluid you are loosing during the race, the less total blood volume you have, which in turn raises your heart rate and decreases stroke volume. So yeah, it's important!
- Rule #3: Keep taking the fluids up to mile 25! A lot of athletes will stop taking fluids around mile 20 cause they think, "oh I can make it without any water for these last few miles". But the reality is the longer you are running, the sweat continues and you are decreasing your total blood volume. So yes, getting fluids early is important, but so it getting them all the way through mile 25!
Alright here is the research article on marathon nutrition I use. Towards the end is a good summary chart. I am unable to do a direct link to it, so just copy it into google and it will come up. https://www.nsca.com/uploadedFiles/NSCA/.../marathon_fueling_techniques.pdf
Comments are welcome!
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