How do you fuel for a marathon?
EDITOR'S NOTE: Just a quick thanks to SuperSapeins for providing all the content and info needed to make this article happen!
For Freddy Ovett, pro cyclist, the Berlin Marathon was about more than a place on a results sheet. For world-record-breaking Eliud Kipchoge, well, it's kind of hard to ignore his place on the results sheet. For SuperSapiens content manager David Lipman, a new bar was set on his personal results sheet.
But why do we mention these athletes and what do each of these athletes have in common?
A keen awareness of their fueling, how to actually fuel, and a full visibility into key marathon performance metrics.
Let's take a look at this 👇
The first thing Freddy learned from using a CGM as a pro cyclist for running his best marathon?
The same thing most Supersapiens learn — he was under-fueling during workouts and races!
In Berlin, he fueled to about 100 grams/hour of carbohydrate, which is significantly above the average intake for a marathoner.
Check out his Glucose Score and trace, indicating his focus on fueling throughout training (on pedals and in sneakers).
6 quick tips to get your best glucose score for peak performance!
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Set Your Personal GPZ (Glucose Performance Zone) Correctly
Observe your glucose during high intensity sessions where you have good fueling. You’ll get a good indication of where you are. You can always keep experimenting, learning, and dialing this in.
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Get to Know the Best Fuel Sources for You and Your Workouts
More specifically, how does your chosen fuel (or different fuel options) impact your glucose levels? How long do they take to work? How much of a bump in glucose do they give you? And how long do these elevated glucose levels last? Do they cause glucose instability?
It’s important to know what a given fuel will do to your glucose so you can use it strategically to deliver stable energy and keep you feeling good.
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Know Your Fueling Preference: Sip or Gulp?
The the only way to know if sipping or gulping your fuel is better for improved blood glucose and carbohydrate levels for performance is to use the CGM to track which one works best for you!
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Effectively Prime: Carb Load at the Right Time with the Right Amount
Effective priming involves eating enough carbohydrates in the 24-72 hours prior to your workout or race. A lesser known part of the puzzle is knowing when not to eat. Rushing your glucose too close to the start of a workout can lead to metabolic imbalance and less metabolic efficiency. For some, this may be within 2 hours of the start, and for others it may be up to 4 hours.
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Ensure Your Workout Intensity is Appropriate
You need to be exercising at an appropriate intensity to get your glucose into your GPZ. If you are exercising in a purely aerobic and low intensity zone, your body will not need glucose as a significant fuel source. Therefore, at low intensities, don't expect to see your glucose rise into your GPZ.
Keep in mind that the Glucose Score (and GPZ) are intended for optimizing high-intensity and long duration efforts.
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Make Fueling Decisions with Your Real-Time Glucose Data
Any fueling plan needs to be able to be adjusted on the fly. Being able to see your minute-by-minute glucose levels plays a big role in this. For the first time, you can fuel based on your current glucose levels and its trend, maintaining a stability of glucose supply despite the terrain or conditions. Real-time visibility empowers real-time decisions. This is how you turn personalized fueling plans into truly personal fueling plans that can accommodate for different situational and environmental factors.
For more on this, check out our article on training with live glucose visibility.
To learn more about SuperSapiens and the importance of tracking your glucose, click here.
"While we can't disclose his specific strategies, Kipchoge's glucose control is in line with his race results and is based on the above strategies. This is also a big reason why the fastest keep getting faster—optimized nutrition and fueling."
Now, what about Dave?
In the days leading up to Berlin, David (content manager) was filled with excitement, nerves, and pasta. His daily Average Glucose was elevated by more than 10 mg/dL as he filled his glycogen stores (aka carb-loaded) on Friday and Saturday.
See graphs below of important glucose data:
As indicated by this graph (pulled from the Supersapiens Dashboard), large carbohydrate intakes quickly increase glucose levels followed by a dip. We call this a rush.
Having these ups and downs or "getting on the roller coaster" as we call it, increases Glucose Variability scores.
And here is David's Daily Rush Count. These are quick increases in glucose caused, in this instance, by high-carb meals.
When David ate 6 pounds of pasta in one day, it's was hard to maintain glucose stability, which is what you want to have for longevity and health purposes. So, the key of minimizing the risks of glucose loading is to tighten the range of glucose swings as much as possible, while still hitting carb-loading goals.
You can do this by eating proteins before carbs, playing around with macronutrient food order, eating more protein, walking after each meal, sleeping more, and being more active. More easy hacks can be found here.
With that said, here's a pic as well of an expanded 72-hour view of David's live trace Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
Let's zoom in. On Friday night you'll notice several food events, including a meal within 2 hours of going to sleep. Here's an opportunity for improvement as this caused elevated glucose levels during sleep — not ideal for recovery and sleep quality. More here.
Now check out his pre-race meal timing. He had a high carb breakfast about 4 hours before the start and that's it. Here's why you should try eating your pre-workout meal 4 hours in advance.
And finally, since we know you're all wondering—David (aka. the legend) walked away with a new personal best at 2:45:45! Thanks in large part to his efforts in the days before the race.
So, how do you perfectly fuel for a marathon? The easiest and most effective way is to use a SuperSpaiens CGM system and app to help you dial in your optimized fueling and nutrition system. All times otherwise, you'll just be guessing and potentially hurting your performance.
END OF ARTICLE BONUS: Top 10 Marathon Tips
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Get to Know the Best Fuel Sources for You
More specifically, how does your chosen fuel (or different fuel options) impact your energy levels?
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Know Your Fueling Preference: Sip or Gulp?
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Race Week Fueling Strategy
Slowly and steadily increase your carbs. Your goal should be 10-12g of carbohydrate/kg/24h of bodyweight for 36-48 hours prior to the race.
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Track your Carb Loading
Try to increase your Trailing Average Glucose by 5-10mg/dL in the 24 hours leading into the race.
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Race Day Priming
Have a carbohydrate rich meal about 4 hours before your race and try to avoid any additional metabolic imbalance (glucose instability) over the next 4 hours before the start of the race, unless you want to have something small on the start line.
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Make Fueling Decisions with Your Real-Time Glucose Data
Once the gun goes, nail your fueling using live glucose data to ensure you are fueling optimally – high enough glucose levels, no steep drops or lows, and more glucose stability.
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Recover: Refuel appropriately
The recommendations for intake in this timeframe are: 1.2g carbohydrates/kg of bodyweight/hour for 3-4 hours (this should be a mixture of fructose and glucose) and around 1g protein/kg of bodyweight. The combination of carbs and protein help facilitate more efficient muscle protein synthesis. Don’t forget that hydration is a key part of this recovery process too!
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Train Your Gut
Marathons depend heavily on intake of carbohydrates, and intakes about 60g/hr mean you need to train your gut to properly absorb this fuel without causing any gastrointestinal issues. Gut training can take many forms, but the easiest is using a similar strategy to what you plan on race day during at least a few longer training runs.
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Track Your Status
Underfueling and overtraining is a deadly combo.
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Enjoy the Coffee Coffee
One of the most popular beverages in the world and runners are no different! Why not try UNBEETABREW! Enjoying a coffee with you post workout meal can help increase glycogen resynthesis rate, plus not to mention all the other benefits of this 9 superfood boosted blend!