The Sub 3:15 Marathon Thread
2 lurkers |
336 watchers
14 Jul
5:20pm, 14 Jul 2025
18,976 posts
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jda
I wonder if that was more heat stress/dehydration related than carbs? It’s been hard work running for the past few days.
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15 Jul
11:40am, 15 Jul 2025
68 posts
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PJH92
Yeah jda think you're probably right. Combined with camping on Saturday night after a boozy dehydrated evening is probably as much to blame as the poor fuelling. Preparation will be better on the weekend of the actual marathon 
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15 Jul
11:47am, 15 Jul 2025
48,407 posts
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SPR
I was thinking a 15 mile long run wouldn't need fueling TBH unless it has significant fast portions?
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15 Jul
11:53am, 15 Jul 2025
69 posts
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PJH92
You're probably right SPR although I would have said a 2hr run probably warrants some fuel? I did 14 miles the week before with nothing, just trying to get back into the swing of taking gels on the long run again more than anything. Given the heat/sweating I think it was probably necessary for that run, mostly so the rest of the day wasn't a total write off. |
15 Jul
11:58am, 15 Jul 2025
53,271 posts
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HappyG(rrr)
PJH92 wrote: You're probably right SPR although I would have said a 2hr run probably warrants some fuel? I did 14 miles the week before with nothing, just trying to get back into the swing of taking gels on the long run again more than anything. Given the heat/sweating I think it was probably necessary for that run, mostly so the rest of the day wasn't a total write off. I did 12 slow miles in the heat on Saturday which took 2 hours. I had an apple! But I shouldn't really speak as I'm not training for a 3:15. In fact, I'm not training, just plodding! G
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15 Jul
12:00pm, 15 Jul 2025
27,696 posts
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larkim
You probably don't need fuel to complete a 2 hour non-race run from a performance perspective. Agree with jda, heat is the absolute killer here. Particularly heat when combined with being in the full glare of the sun which makes things even harder. Taking gels in long runs is starting to look beneficial for recovery though, by all accounts. |
15 Jul
12:04pm, 15 Jul 2025
6,798 posts
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Windsor Wool
my mindset has always been to fuel as little as possible in training and then reap the benefit of using gels etc on race day. Watched a few things recently where some of the influencers fuel quite hard in their sessions / long runs. My cynical streak says that's to push the products provided by their sponsors but someone like Matt Rees comes across as pretty straight up. So, I think I was probably wrong. Expensive though.... |
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15 Jul
12:05pm, 15 Jul 2025
6,799 posts
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Windsor Wool
can confirm that Sunday afternoon was an absolutely nuts time to go running around here PJH!! With 'sub-optimal' prep added in, I wouldn't worry. I know I keep trying to tell myself that it'll be easier come September. It has to cool down at some point, please!! |
15 Jul
12:38pm, 15 Jul 2025
23,108 posts
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Chrisull
I suppose the one thing here to consider is the "training the gut" as a lot of people struggle with gels (I certainly did), as nausea becomes and issue or other related problems. The gut is like any other part of your body and can be trained so that you don't suffer to the same extent. And therefore it makes sense to train/experiment on training runs with gels/drinks.
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15 Jul
1:05pm, 15 Jul 2025
27,697 posts
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larkim
There's loads of good evidence coming out at the moment that fuelling is going through a small revolution at the elite end. e.g. Ben Healy at the Tour at the weekend (yes, on a bike) was consuming 116g of carbs per hour in his stage win a few days ago, that's over a 4hour+ period. But no-one on here has the efficiency, resources or capability of working at the same rates as the elites, and our work rate is significantly less than an elite, so fuelling for our races should not be at their extremes; and as WW says it would be prohibitively expensive for us to be necking gels regularly on runs simply to train ourselves even if it is likely true that all our guts could be trained to handle higher carb loads for hard sessions. I had the same mindset as WW in terms of train low and then reap the benefits, but it does look less and less like that's a good way to approach things. |
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