(15-04-2013, 01:43 PM)marathondan Wrote: Actually, now I think about it... in the last couple of years I've ditched gels and gone for jelly babies instead.
Hmm well yes. Jelly babies are just glucose, which is what the marathoners of yesteryear used to put in their drinking water (the most famous example being Abebe Bikila) ... I've often thought about doing this but the danger is that if you don't get it right you can have negative repercussions. I used glucose in the P2P for example, and it didn't work at all well - I think the intake of too much simple sugar is a problem to be avoided (especially if running for JDRF!) ... more work required on that front.
Of course the trouble is that we don't generally train to the marathon distance, and so race day is very much venturing into the unknown until you've completed several of the buggers. And as every runner has a diffrerent metabolism it's hard to draw on the experience of others without putting it to the test ... which means running more marathons.
The main thing seems to to getting the stomach used to digesting food whilst on the run - if you can do that, then you can refuel to your heart's content. And that seems to be a matter of training, training, training. Bugger, bugger, bugger!
Orange Silver April
