Certainly in terms of practice for race day, it is worth practicing your nutrition plan in training. This does not mean you need to eat every day before you train, unless you find that you are feeling overly fatigued at the end of a run. once you adjust to longer training you will be able to go for 90 - 120 minutes on water only. In the meantime a couple of slices of toast or a banana or 200ml - 300ml of sports drink would work well to give you a bit of fuel. Some people's tummies cope with cereal and milk before running, others cannot take anything.

 

A power bar is one option, and to give you an idea 44 grams of carbohydrate is equal to 3 slices of bread in terms of what that is providing as fuel. However, i would stick to real food pre-training and then progress to bars, gels and sports drink when race day gets closer.

 

I find that if I eat before I train in the morning, I feel sick in the stomach, but if I don’t eat I struggle at the end of the run. Do you have any advice?

 

The good news for you is that you have two choices: you can either adapt to not eating before a run or if you do persevere with eating something, eventually you will adapt to that.

 

I suppose the key to running training is that you are training your body to adapt not only to increased workload, but also to either using fuel (food) or using glycogen and fat stores if you don't eat. Here are a few issues and tips for you to think about:

 

1. What do you want to do pre-race - eat or not?

If you want to eat on race morning, then it is a good idea to gradually build eating into training schedule. This would require gradual introduction of either a banana or 1/2 slice of toast, then build up the amount and variety as your gut adjusts. The main thing you are training is the bodies ability to digest food (which requires some blood supply to the gut) at the same time as using the muscles in your body to run (also requiring blood supply to muscles). The key therefore is gradual change.

 

2. If you are happy to obtain extra carbohydrate prior to a race by using sports drink, then you may wish to try this as a training option. A citrus flavoured sports drink would be best early in the morning, and 300ml would be equal to 20g of carbohydrate ( 1 thick toast with honey or small serve cereal). This can then be replicated pre-race.

 

3. You can adapt to having nothing to eat prior to training, and your body will eventually get better at doing this without fading later in a run. Your body will use glycogen stores, then if necessary switch to fat-burning. However, if you are racing long distance, you will still need to work out a pre-race strategy.

For anybody interested in caffeine 'loading' prior to a race, I have the following ideas and recommendations for you.

 

1. the effect of caffeine is to increase fat mobilisation from storage so they can become the predominant fuel for exercise once carb stores start to deplete. For this reason, caffeine is only really useful for events over 90 minutes, as carbohydrate will remain the predominant fuel for the initial 90 minutes

 

2. fat utilisation works much better in an event if the body has adapted to it during training, so avoid overconsumption of carbohydrate in training or you will never train your body to be carbohydrate depleted

 

3. caffeine consumption prior to a race works better if you have not had caffeine for at least a week prior. I know many good marathoners avoid caffeine pre race until a good hit on the morning of a marathon

 

4. the concentration of caffeine in caffeine tablets will determine the amount you would use.

 

The approximate amount of caffeine found in coffee, tea, chocolate, cola, energy drinks, and caffeine tablets is shown in the table below. 

Product                        Caffeine content
Typical tablet                        100 mg
Cup of instant coffee*             60-80 mg
Cup of brewed coffee*            60-120 mg
Cup of black tea                   10-50 mg
Can of cola 375 mL               48 mg
Red Bull 250 mL                   80 mg
'V' 250 mL                            80 mg
Guarana tablet 1000 mg         40 mg

5. Up to 200mg in one dose may be OK for some people, but may cause palpitations and other side effects in others that are not ideal for marathon running. Err on the side of caution and limit to 100mg unless you have used this method before

Are gels and sports drink enough fuel to get me through a marathon?

 

The benchmark for a marathon distance race is anywhere between 30 and 60g of carbohydrate per hour, plus 250 - 400ml of fluids per 15 minutes. This can be achieved using 1 - 1.5L of sports drink per hour (without gel) or 1 litre of sports drink plus 500ml of water with 1 - 2 gels per hour. So you are on the right track with the balance of fluid and food for a race. You don't need to eat anything else, as in solid food, and need not have any food before the race either. If you want to try going without breakfast, just replace with sports drink. 500ml of PB would be the same as two slices of toast or a bowl of cereal, to give you an idea. As long as you are taking in the right amount of fluid and carbohydrate, and have eaten well in the days leading up to a race, you don't HAVE to eat if your gut is more suited to the fluid and gel combination, and you don't get too hungry.