Marathon Weekend 2017!

[JeffW]

During long run training I wore a water belt which conveniently held my gels. Trying to decide if I should use the belt during the marathon or not. It's very convenient to have water when you want it versus having to wait for the next station. I've run a few half's and I've never used the belt for those? What do most of you do? Belt or no belt? If no belt then where do you put gels?

I have two belts, an amphipod that holds water bottles for long runs, and a SPIBelt that I use during races, which will hold my cell phone (for live casting my position via garmin connect to my family) and to hold gels. I don't like the weight of water bottles during a race, but I don't notice the SPIbelt at all with 5 gels and my phone.

 

[JeffW]

Bananas have around 27 grams of carbs from what I'm seeing so compare with your gels. But if you haven't done any test runs with them, I'm not sure the marathon is the place to start.

Agreed, if you haven't tried a banana during a long run, I really don't think rolling the dice in the middle of the marathon is a good idea. I personally have no problem with them, but my wife gets almost instant stomach cramping if she tries one during a race

 

[camaker]

I do a dress rehearsal about 2 weeks out from a marathon. I run close to race pace, usually cutting it off after 20 miles. Not sure what your running experience is, but I would not try that if you are kind of newish. I probably will run my dress rehearsal Saturday, but will slow the pace down. I have this tear in a tendon in my foot (been battling it since May--it shouldn't get worse and I have been green lighted to run) and I don't want to aggravate it. I typically have a one week taper, saving myself for race day (I don't know how you Dopey people race those consecutive days!). When I taper, I keep the efforts the same, just cut back the mileage. So if I would normally do a 10 mile progression run, I might only do 6-8, but at a similar effort.

Running the longer runs near to race pace as been key for me getting my times down--first cycle of it I took off 35 minutes.

I guess I'm not sure if this is addressed to me or the OP who asked about running at race pace during his taper. If that method has worked for you, great. I was just pointing out that the time to get acclimated to "race pace" is throughout the training plan, not crammed into the taper when you're trying to reduce the stress on your body so that it has full reserves come race day. Most of the plans I've looked at follow this philosophy and I used it to knock 88 minutes off my PR this year (if we're counting ).

If the dress rehearsal process works for you, great! Everyone has to find their own comfort zone.

 

[camaker]

Agreed, if you haven't tried a banana during a long run, I really don't think rolling the dice in the middle of the marathon is a good idea. I personally have no problem with them, but my wife gets almost instant stomach cramping if she tries one during a race

It might not have been a great idea, but man those bananas in the middle of last year's marathon were probably the best I've ever tasted!

 

[Keels]

Imagine, if you will ... what this humble parking lot will look like in a mere two weeks:



And the amazing bounty of riches - many believed by some to be previously unreachable - that will be bestowed upon all those brave and strong enough to pass through this unassuming backstage gate:



Less than two weeks, y'all. Let's do this. Happy Holidays to each and every one of you.

 

[rteetz]

Imagine, if you will ... what this humble parking lot will look like in a mere two weeks:

View attachment 211405

And the amazing bounty of riches - many believed by some to be previously unreachable - that will be bestowed upon all those brave and strong enough to pass through this unassuming backstage gate:

View attachment 211406

Less than two weeks, y'all. Let's do this. Happy Holidays to each and every one of you.

Can't believe how close we are. Happy Holidays to you as well Keels!

 

[DOOM1001]

Agreed, if you haven't tried a banana during a long run, I really don't think rolling the dice in the middle of the marathon is a good idea. I personally have no problem with them, but my wife gets almost instant stomach cramping if she tries one during a race

Bananas are great,I would eat one every mile if they provided them.I got off gels about 1-2 years ago,not because they mess with my stomach because my stomach handles well 99.9% of what I throw in there,but because they just make me thirsty and at some point I started disliking their thickness.I either bring GU chomps or some sort of chews,Welch's fruit snacks,whatever.I do stress out about not getting a cold before races,especially right now with some in my household who are sick.I had a nice comeback at the Mt.Dora half coming close to a PR after my bad full at Space Coast.I was even happier with my time as it was really humid and warm as it reached 85 degrees later in the day,that and that Mt. Dora has the hilliest course I've ever run,the race itself has a really beautiful course,starts and finishes in a quaint village setting surrounded by lakes but the race needs to improve certain aspects of the race that are pretty important,more water and Gatorade stops and put some more water in the tiny sippy cups,they were obviously rationing water and on such a warm humid day that was not a good thing.Better post race food is also another common complaint about the race.They had marathon legends Frank Shorter and Bill Rodgers at the tiny expo and the race and that's all great but they need to make those race improvements that are actually of more importance to the runners.

 

[FFigawi]

A nutrition question for everyone!

I usually have a gel every 4 miles. During a half marathon, that means bringing one gel for mile 4, and then using the course one around mile 8.

For the full marathon, it looks like we'll have 2 clif stops and 2 banana stops. Is a banana really a good substitute for an energy gel? I'd rather not lug 4 clif shots from the start, but that would be better than hitting the wall. I wish I could remember what I did back in 2015, but my brain don't good that work.

How do you guys view the banana? A replacement or little extra?

Go with what you've trained with. Bring the gels. They're not very big and are easy to carry.

 

[JeffW]

It might not have been a great idea, but man those bananas in the middle of last year's marathon were probably the best I've ever tasted!

For me, its the chocolates in DHS. There has never been a better piece of chocolate (now where's the Homer Simpson drooling emoticon...)

 

[Keels]

I HATE bananas. Hate. Think they give a bad name to fruit. But, man, I was so desperate for SOMETHING at Mile 19 this year, that I ate the cold, under-ripe banana in WWoS ... and it was amazing.

I'm pretty sure @mbwhitti yelled to me "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?" and all I could do was hold up my half-eaten banana in its peel and scream "This is the best thing ever!! I love bananas!!"

In other news, I tried to eat a banana two days later and nope ... still hate them.

 

[Barca33Runner]

I think the on course volunteers believe me to be a banana glutton. I take two or three at each stop. I balance that out by taking 0 greasy, unappealing chocolates later in the race and giving a look of pure disgust (not really, I very politely turn them down) when offered them. Am I crazy? Probably. Do the volunteers look at me like I just turned down a million dollars when I pass on the chocolates? Definitely.

 

[DOOM1001]

I HATE bananas. Hate. Think they give a bad name to fruit. But, man, I was so desperate for SOMETHING at Mile 19 this year, that I ate the cold, under-ripe banana in WWoS ... and it was amazing.

I'm pretty sure @mbwhitti yelled to me "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?" and all I could do was hold up my half-eaten banana in its peel and scream "This is the best thing ever!! I love bananas!!"

In other news, I tried to eat a banana two days later and nope ... still hate them.

I love bananas but they have to be at the perfect level of ripeness,like I have a serious problem with bananas when they start getting dark spots and when you peel it they have that mushy look.People say they're sweeter when they're like that but I seriously dislike them when they get overripe like that,not a fan of that mushy texture.Under ripe is not good either,the positive is that they don't look disgusting,the negative is they don't taste right.A perfect banana I do enjoy a lot though.

 

[FFigawi]

I HATE bananas. Hate. Think they give a bad name to fruit.

I'm with @Keels. I hate them too. The smell of them makes me nauseous, so I run very quickly past the banana stop during the race.

 

[BuckeyeBama]

I like bananas and chocolate, but not during a race.

 

[FFigawi]

I hope no one is too worried about the race

 

[ZellyB]

I love bananas and especially during a race. Love the ones for runDisney because they are usually cold and a bit under-ripe. I'm like @DOOM1001 I've yet to find anything that bothers my stomach while running. The chocolate at DHS is like manna from heaven as far as I'm concerned. I usually take several.

Regardless though, beer at some point in the race is the ultimate though. Our local half marathon runs us through the back of a local micro brewery and they hand out little cups of beer. Best part of the race! Wish they'd set something up like that in Germany.

 

[FFigawi]

Regardless though, beer at some point in the race is the ultimate though. Our local half marathon runs us through the back of a local micro brewery and they hand out little cups of beer. Best part of the race! Wish they'd set something up like that in Germany.

Beer stop at mile 24. Just sayin'

 

[ZellyB]

Beer stop at mile 24. Just sayin'

I keep forgetting that!! Totally looking for it this year.

 

[lahobbs4]

This banana conversation is cracking me up. Never knew there were such strong feelings about them! They do make me nauseous frequently, but I just thought I was a weirdo.

If I'm not running the marathon, can I still ride the bus over to Epcot with DH in the morning? Not that I want to stay there for 5 hours, but thought about taking the monorail around to catch him.

Also, at 4:00 am today all I could think about was marathon weekend and could not go back to sleep! I can't wait. And I'm trying not to think about how sad I will feel when it's all over....

 

[JeffW]

This banana conversation is cracking me up. Never knew there were such strong feelings about them! They do make me nauseous frequently, but I just thought I was a weirdo.

If I'm not running the marathon, can I still ride the bus over to Epcot with DH in the morning? Not that I want to stay there for 5 hours, but thought about taking the monorail around to catch him.

Also, at 4:00 am today all I could think about was marathon weekend and could not go back to sleep! I can't wait. And I'm trying not to think about how sad I will feel when it's all over....

Yes, you can ride the bus over, and then jump on the monorail to various good viewing locations (TTC, Grand Floridian, Polynesian). I've seen quite a few people boarding the monorail at Epcot on marathon mornings (usually pretty obvious they aren't running based on how bundled up they are) as runners are getting off.