Fueling Strategy for a Marathon. Maybe? [Friday Five]

Happy Friday! I can’t tell you how relieved I am that the weekend’s here. We’re going to be super busy but it’s going to be fun so it’s all good.

I made brief mention of this before and it’s been slowly trickling out across the interwebs — I’m thrilled to announce I’m a Cleveland Marathon Ambassador for 2016! I’m really excited and I’m looking forward to this amazing opportunity. I haven’t decided 100% which distance I’ll be running. I’m like, 98% in for the full. But I gotta admit — my coach sent me a very rough draft of my training plan last night and I kinda, sorta freaked out. I mean, come on. 26.2 miles is a lot of miles all at once. Last time I was blissfully unaware of how ridiculous it was. This time I know better. But I also know better, which would definitely be helpful going into training. I would do a lot of things differently, that’s for sure. For one thing, I’ll wear shoes a half size bigger. For another thing, if I’m injured, I won’t be afraid to DNF.

In the near future I’ll have an entry to the Cleveland races as a giveaway to one lucky reader, so stay tuned for that. Check out my fellow ambassador, Jessica’s, blog for a chance to win an entry now!

*Shameless plug alert*

In the meantime, marathon training starts soon for CLE. If you’re interested in taking the plunge with a coach, lemme know. I’m not taking on too many marathon runners this year since I also may be running a marathon, so if you’re interested, speak now or forever hold your peace. Half marathon training will start in February so you do have some time to think about it if you’re racing the half. But again, I’m not taking on a ton of clients so if you’re at all interested, shoot me a line.

*End shameless plug*

This totally happens during a marathon!

I mentioned I’m gonna do a lot of things differently this year if I choose to run the full. One of them will be fueling. I did a pretty good job of fueling last year, but I wasn’t running to race. I was running just to finish the damn thing. This year will be different. No, I won’t be racing necessarily, but I don’t want to dilly-dally and take my time like I did in 2015. There are five changes I’ll be making to my fueling/hydrating strategy this year:

1. I’m going to effectively deplete and replenish my glycogen stores prior to the race. This will entail some meal planning and prep, but there’s proven science behind it, so I’m gonna do it. Wish me luck.

2. I’m going to focus on small, portable, nutrient-dense race food. I’m not entirely sure what these snacks will be, but they’ll be packed with calories and carbs to keep me going.

3. I’ll practice with more gels this time. I don’t love gels. They kinda gross me out. But they’re there for a reason. Honey-Stingers are actually pretty tasty if you like honey, which I do.

4. I’m going to run with electrolytes and pick up water at the aid stations. This is a biggie. I wasn’t dehydrated by any means in 2015, but it was so darn hot. I’m fairly certain had I had electrolytes in my bottle instead of just straight up water, I might have been in a better mood. Although maybe not, because I was really injured. SOS Rehydrate is amazing stuff, though. It’s tasty, not too sweet, and is salty enough that it keeps you sipping. Sipping = hydrated. Hydrated = good.

5. I used Tailwind a lot over the summer for my half marathon training so I’ll see what I can do with it for longer distances. I know a lot of people swear by it and never experience gut bombs or hunger pangs, so I’ll give it a whirl, too.

The only big decision I have left is what race distance to choose. Why is it so hard to commit??