Even seasoned runners may not have as strong a knowledge of appropriate diet and nutrition as they should have, and yet what you eat can have an enormous impact on your success in a marathon.
Providing for your wellbeing goes far beyond having a bowl of pasta the night before a race and drinking plenty of water as you run around the course.
Carb loading is one particular wellness tip that every runner should be aware of. This is when we trick our bodies into storing less glycogen in body fat, and more in the muscles and liver, as this can then be released to fuel our reserves during a demanding exercise. In order to do this, you should first deplete your carbohydrate intake, increase the intensity of your training regime and then follow this with a major carb feast, where you cram great amounts of carbohydrates into the diet.
In rough terms, about a week before your marathon, you should do one workout that is longer and higher intensity than normal. You then keep carbohydrates at around six to seven grams of carbohydrate per kilo of body weight up until about three days before the race, and then in the last three days you should increase this to 10 – 11 grams of carbohydrate per kilo.
The night before a race, you should load up on carbs, but steer away from anything fatty, greasy, spicy or fibrous, as this may irritate your digestive system at just the wrong time and lead to digestive discomforts.
On the morning of the race, you should eat around three hours before the race, and have a snack about 30 minutes before, and this food should include a good level of carbohydrate, such as porridge, bagels, toast or energy bars.
Many runners also like to have small snacks during the race, such as jelly babies, dried fruits or sports drinks, to avoid depleting their glycogen reserves.
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