Marathon - no gels/food?

Experiment in your training. I have run 4 marathons with a slightly different fuelling technique in each.

1 gel I can handle, more than 1...,no way. There are runners who can have 5 or 6 with no bad effects, and some wouldn't be able to tolerate that.

I liked sweets (maom stripes, extra strong mints, jelly babies), a banana if you can find a friend to pass you one mod race, water with some electrolytes and a trail / muesli type bar have all worked well.

And overnight oats ready for when you finish.

My running coach says fuel is essential and to have 60g carbs per hour especially if you want to achieve a good finish. I don't know anyone who exercises hard for hours and doesn't take something, even something like jelly babies.

I hated gels at first but I persevered until I found ones I didn't mind. I also like the cliff energy blocks but gels are better in terms of more value for a smaller volume. I've just got some kendal mint cake to try to mix it up and I also take an energy drink with me on anything over a 10K. The veleforte chews are nice and really easy to eat but they also get really sticky so I found them difficult to get out during my run.

Try different brand gels (I like the high 5 ones, the aqua ones are less gel like but the caffeine ones are horrible, very bitter!) I've also just got some SIS beta fuel, more carbs per gel so I need less in total, good for those who get sick of the gels. 40g of carbs Vs 23g for a standard high 5 one.

Try different types of gels it’s not a one size fits all 💩

I'm a Jeffer and do my long runs on 10 minutes running/2 minutes walking, so I eat a little bite of flapjack and have a swig of water on each walk break. In my running days I used to have a gel every 45 minutes.

My DH uses jelly babies

I have never had a gel- done a couple of marathons.
I had proper food instead- slices of apples were nice. But- I'm slow and steady, so eating isn't too bad.
Not really sure of what suits me best yet.

I nibble.

I like Nakd bars because they're relatively moist and easy to chew compared to similar bars. I have a 30min timer to remind me to eat and have half to a whole bar. I get on better by grazing from early on so there's little to digest in one go.

Only at big races like London! Small races you can rock up near the start time and have no hanging around at all.

Does she really take on nothing at all during a marathon? That's pretty unusual (and not recommended).

Try tailwind, I did an Ironman on just this alone. It's really easy on your stomach x

Just asked dd, she doesn't eat during the run but does take a banana and flapjack to the at queuing up to set off, usually over an hour to get going minimum

You have a short walking break - I do this for drinking as well.

Or combine refuelling with a pee break - some out, some in!!
(Edited to add - not literally simultaneously! Just during the same break)

BTW, talking of pee breaks, with carrying a small tin of Vaseline or similar in case anything chafes

Me neither... but plenty of people do!

Divide into small pieces and eat them one at a time, I assume.

For me, the issue with 'real' food isn't the practicality, but the digestion. When you eat, your body then has to process it, and doing that can make running a lot harder. It's different for ultras when you're out for 10/15/24hrs, but for a marathon, I'd stick to fuels that are designed to be taken on the go.

Following.
I can’t use gels due to hyperthyroidism, the caffeine shot would send me mad and they really affect my stomach.
I get by on jelly babies but tbf I haven’t done a full marathon yet.

Ive done 5 marathons (the same one and a glutton for punishment as its a toughy!) and I struggled with gels.

so i took jelly babies, some flapjacks and chocolate. Mini mars bars.

water freely available on route but I also had a hydro vest. Just a litre.

I did. I have a real problem with eating and running. I started late (11.15) so unusually I did eat before as usually I I’m on empty. I did have things with me (food like jelly babies and flapjack rather than gels) in case I felt poorly but I didn’t have them. When I finished I still couldn’t eat and had about 3 crisps.

I am marathon training at the moment and it’s a real problem. Last week I thought I’d eat first so ate 2.5 hours before I ran and was sick so now I’m scared to eat again! I wouldn’t recommend being like this though.

i think I did have some jelly babies training for my last marathon: I also remember someone handing me a jelly baby towards the end of a brutal half about 10 years ago

I think you will need something to avoid running out of carbs and "hitting the wall" but it doesn't have to be gels, so practice and experiment. Your gut does get better with practice. Personally I can't stand gels but fuelled my last marathon with tailwind, plus soft dried apricots. I also find I crave something savoury but options there are harder to transport so I tend to hoover up tortilla chips at the aid stations.

I find most gets slimy and disgusting, but am OJ on Roctabe and on the orange SiS ones. I like the Clif shot bloks too.

Mini packets of pretzels or even twiglets can be good to get a bit of salt in to you

And sweeties are good for morale (I would go for mini haribo or extra strong mints)

You can hit the wall very badly if you do not take on fuel after a couple of hours, and it’s probably better to start before you get close to depletion.

If I’m running a half, I don’t usually fuel (but carry bloks and sweeties just in case, with twiglets for after the finish line). But for a marathon l would start at about 8-10 miles and every 2 miles thereafter

The night before, for breakfast on the day and afterwards I’ll have a sachet on electrolyte powder in water

Edited to add: try out different fuelling strategies on your longer training runs. And always remember nothing new on race day

I use Kendal Mint Cake too.

I'll have a couple of Nakd bars in the first half then the KMC is more refreshing, and instant energy in the second half.

Another suggestion is drinking Tail Wind.

A random tip I came across in training is that it's helpful to change flavours through the run. It helps with the monotony.

I never got on with gels, but I did find the clif shot blocks a lot easier on my stomach. It sounds silly, but when I did a marathon I used packets of puréed baby fruits. Downside is you need more of them than you do gels as they're not as thick. They taste better though!

I did mine in just under 4 hours and I don't think I'd have finished if I hadn't had anything. You can train your stomach to take food better when you're running, and you've got plenty of time

It wouldn't be sensible to try and run a marathon with no fuel - your body simply isn't geared up for it.

Have you tried different brands of gels? I find Torq much more palatable than SiS, for example.

Jelly babies (or similar) will do a decent job, but you need quite a lot of them.

I did my last marathon with mainly Kendal Mint Cake. It's much more refreshing than gels, and gets plenty of sugar in you. There are some versions that also have electrolytes in them too (which can be important if you're a sweaty runner).

I have recently started using Velo Forte chews. They are very easy to eat on the go, and give you plenty of carbs - they're easier to eat than Jelly Babies. They're not cheap though, so I save them for longer runs.

I have a friend who uses dates as her 'on the run' fuel. Not something I've tried, or am keen to, but it works for her.

You've got plenty of time to experiment - start fueling on all your longer runs now, even if you're not officially training yet, and you'll find something that works for you!

Try Spring- they are not gels but are rice based. Used a lot by endurance runners. The black ones are berry favour and about 200 cals each.

Jelly babies or
Dextrose ( globose ) tablets
May suit you better

I have, but only when I was running slower than I normally would have raced it to support a friend. If I were pushing myself to run the best time I could, I'd take the gels. Have you tried different brands? I couldn't stomach the Hi-5 ones, but the SiS ones were okay for me. Also I can't stomach any caffeine when racing, so I only ever used the non-caffeinated ones.

The other thing you could focus on in your training is running on an empty stomach. The idea would be that you'd do this at a very slow easy pace, and it helps your body to become more efficient at burning fat instead of glycogen. You have to do LOTS of this, but then on the day if you set off at a pace that is not too much effort, you would be able to benefit from fat reserves before things get tougher and you need your 90-minutes' worth of glycogen stores.