Fall Races are just around the corner and many athletes are gearing up for events that are over 90 min in duration. Did you know that fueling becomes more important as your race gets longer? Many ultramarathoners attribute ‘fueling’ as their biggest barrier to finishing. When it comes to the marathon distance, fueling allows you to reach your potential on race day running faster paces for a longer distance as shown by research. We often hear about bro science of the benefits of fasting or we have heard people talk about fasted cardio… If your goals are to run to your potential going faster & further, fueling is a critical part. You will not run as fast in a fasted state over a long distance. Now we are approaching the season of long runs getting longer, it is important to start to train for how we will approach the race. You don’t want to wait until race day or a few weeks before your race to practice fueling. You need to start NOW. 

Races are great because they provide water cups you can grab on the course without the need for you to carry water (unless you want to) or plan out how you will stay hydrated. It seems like this would make things easier for you on race day but how do we expect to be able to ace the water stops in a race running at race pace if we have not practiced this skill in training. Today we are going to be talking about practicing our water stops/fueling. 

Research the course offerings

1- What will the race be serving?

2- How frequent are the water stops?

3- Am I allowed to run with water during the race?

4- Are they self served or manned by people handing them out?

Practice fueling on the run

1- Training the gut to take in fuel while running

2- Training the gut to run with water

3- Start NOW so body has time to adapt

4- Do you stop for a long run?

5- Can you run and drink?

Neurotic you don’t always need to run through the water stops

Putting it together

1- Mile by mile fueling plan

2- Gu every 30-45 min

3- water sips at every stop

4- walking or running through the stops?