RunningAHEAD - Topic: Evening Marathon

urano

posted: 3/24/2008 at 12:13 PM

Hi, I'm 12 weeks away from my first marathon. Right now I'm doing 80+ km/week and the preparation is going so far so good. Thinking about the race itself, it happens to be an evening marathon (starting 8:00 PM), my questions are: - Is there any specific preparation helpful, in the sense that I should try to move my long runs to the evening (right now they're either morning or early afternoon), or doesn't it matter at all? - About race day, I guess I should take a big lunch full of carbs, and then eat something around 5 PM, am I right? Thanks for your advice Rafa

Targets 1) No injuries 2) Keep having fun 3) Some kind of PR

Figbash

posted: 3/24/2008 at 9:45 PM
modified: 3/24/2008 at 9:46 PM

It definitely matters. If you are used to running in the morning then you better get some afternoon runs in, preferably long runs. Your body gets used to a routine and generally doesn't like change. I went for an afternoon run the other day after years of morning running and thought I was going to die. Race day is too late to carb load. You need to be loading up the 2-3 days before your race or long run for the best return on your efforts. Properly done, carb loading can increase your muscle glycogen stores by as much as 50%. It's not an easy thing to do though. You'll need to pack away 7-10 grams per kg of body weight to do much good and that is a LOT of carbs, enough to make you around 5 pounds heavier on race day if you've done a good job. Don't forget to get yourself well hydrated the day before as well. Tom

VictorN

posted: 3/26/2008 at 12:38 PM

Yes, move your long run to the evening, and perhaps a few other runs during the week too. You want your body used to running at that time of day. I respectfully disagree with figbash about it being too late to carbo load on race day, given that it is late day marathon. I've had a lot of luck using the 24 hour carbo loading program suggested by Chris Carmichael. With an 8 PM marathon, I'd probably eat a big, early, low-fiber, high carb breakfast and lunch. I'd top that off with a last meal finishing at about 4:30 PM. The most important thing is to practice whatever race day nutrition plan in training. You don't want to find out on race day whether your plan works for you. Everybody is different, and it does take some experimentation to see what works best for you. Victor

Figbash

posted: 3/26/2008 at 5:17 PM
modified: 3/26/2008 at 5:18 PM

Quote from VictorN on 3/26/2008 at 12:38 PM:

I respectfully disagree with figbash about it being too late to carbo load on race day, given that it is late day marathon.

I actually worded that rather poorly. Obviously any carb loading is better than no carb loading, especially for an evening marathon, but to get the most benefit from it I would recommend starting 2-3 days before a race or long run. Tom

Evening Marathon (Read 664 times)