What To Eat and Drink on a Long Run

Workout Summary:

2 Mile Warm Up – 9:30 pace
13.1 Miles (Half-Marathon, training run) – 1:37:06, 7:25 mile pace
1 Mile Cool down
Course: 2014 Mississippi Blues Half Marathon

My training plan called for me to run a half marathon this past weekend or at least run 13.1 miles steady. I decided to test myself on the same course on which I will be running a full marathon in January. I was very happy with the result, cutting a minute off my previous half marathon PR but on a course that is significantly more challenging. As you can see from the elevation profile, there are a lot of hills, some quite steep. I was winded at times but the legs kept hammering away. Here’s how I kept up my hydration and energy.

Pre-Run
Breakfast 2 hours prior to run: Toast with peanut butter and honey. 3 large glasses of water, about 40 ounces total.
Set out water and food on course at 4 mile and 8 mile.

Ran 2 mile warm up and 4 miles of the half marathon course (6 miles total):
Drank 15 ounces of water and ate saltines with peanut butter. I just stopped and chugged the water, then started running and nibbled on the two saltines and peanut butter sandwiches until they were gone. Easier to eat than you would think while running, just don’t take regular bites but small nibbles.

Ran to 8 mile mark:
Drank 15 ounce low cal Gatorade, I think it has 20 calories. Again I just stopped and downed it. Grabbed my little baggie of Goldfish and started running. For the next mile or two I slowly snacked on Goldfish one at a time.

I stayed well hydrated and the salt from the saltines and Goldfish along with the Gatorade provided plenty of electrolytes. Pretty basic. Water, some electrolyte fluid without many calories and salty food. One added benefit; it’s cheap.

9.5 weeks until the 2014 Mississippi Blues Marathon which means about 6.5 weeks of serious training left before the taper. If you are training for a race, make every training mile count and good luck!

Related posts:

Marathon Long Run – Throwing Out The Playbook
15 Miles Closer to the Blues

Category : Running
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