My Fueling Strategy

As regular Hammer Nutrition users, we get a bi-monthly magazine called "Endurance News."  The February/March issue had an article called "Running a Marathon?  Fueling suggestions from Steve Born."  Oh yeah!  That's what I was looking for!  Steve Born is one of the main guys at Hammer, so I trust his advice completely.  I read the article back then, and reread it this week.  Click on the link above to read the entire article if you'd like (go to page 58), but here are some key points to me:

Success starts sooner than you think!  
Proper nutrition and hydration during the weeks of training are key.  Carbo loading and drinking water like a fish the day before are just going to cause your body undue stress.

What to do in the days leading up to the race
1) Avoid the temptation to train too much and/or too close to race day.
2) Don’t let your diet deviate too much from what got you there in the first place.  (I won't be having any fish this weekend!)

How well your body is able to digest a particular fuel. 
Running is a more jarring type of exercise than other sports such as road cycling, and this may make it a bit more challenging for runners to digest a concentrated fuel such as Sustained Energy or Perpetuem as compared to Hammer Gel or HEED. To find out how your body responds to a particular fuel, thorough testing in training is essential.
This is a key point!  I have used Heed and Perpetuem during my long runs (i.e., thorough testing in training).  For some reason, my stomach does not like Heed, but does fine with Perpetuem.  There will not be any Heed in my water bottle on Sunday!

Steve gives a very detailed plan of what he would use if he were running a marathon.  I will be following this because I have trained with Hammer products and I know they work.  There will be free electrolyte drinks and some kind of gel on the route, but I don't plan on using them.  I haven't tried them and won't be deviating from what has worked, even if they are Free!  Les has also used Hammer liquid nutrition only for many endurance events, including finishing Death Ride twice - bike rides of over 11 hours!

My plan is this:

• Have pizza on Saturday night!  This is a must.  It works every time.  Simple, easily digestible carbs. Yes, I could go for the pasta dinner, but pizza has never let me down.
• Start drinking water when I get up Sunday morning.
• Consume one packet of Hammer Gel just before the race starts.
• I will be wearing my hydration belt, carrying one bottle with enough fuel (Perpetuem and Endurolytes) for 4+ hours. 
• I will also have an additional Hammer Gel in my pocket to consume at mile 13 or 14.
• I will supplement my hydration with water only at the water stops.
• Les will have a Recoverite waiting for me at the finish line.
• I'll have some solid food about an hour later, giving my body a little time to calm down before I start stressing it again!

So that's my fueling plan.  I know there are many variables for a race of this length, but I'm sticking with the plan that has gotten me this far and am going to trust my training for the rest.

Don't forget to enter the contest to guess my marathon finishing time!