After all the hard work in training and a well-executed taper, the final thing to do before you run across the starting line of your marathon is to eat and drink appropriately, but what can you do about these things to ensure you’re ready?

 

Race timing

Now this is a key thing to consider, the actual time you’ll be starting is where you should work back from when it comes to planning what to eat and drink, and when to do so. Some big city marathons had already started to implement staggered starts, even before Covid-19 made wave starts a common trend. 

Rather than planning based on the official start time, look at when you’re likely to be beginning to run your marathon from your wave time and where you plan to position yourself within the wave i.e. at the back or front of the pen.

 

What to eat

You might not feel like eating much if you’re nervous on the morning of the race, and that’s completely understandable, but you’ve got to get a decent breakfast even if you’ve nailed your carb load in the day or days prior. 

Your own digestive system and food preferences are going to dictate the exact strategy you opt for, but the classics of toast and jam, porridge or foods like bagels and pancakes are great choices. Try to eat this at least 2 hours before the race, and aim for 60-90g of carbs in total, some of which can come from fruit which will give you fructose to go alongside the starchy, glucose based carbs of the other items I mentioned.

I get hungry very quickly, so I tend to have breakfast like this 2-3 hours before the race depending on travel, then have something like a small Trek protein flapjack or 15-25g of cashews on the way to the race, around an hour before the start.

 

What to drink

Hydration will play a huge role in your success or struggle with a marathon. You should have increased your fluid intake for 1-2 days prior to the race, and come race day you should just be topping up what you lost overnight.

If you’re worrying that you didn’t drink enough in the days before, I wouldn’t recommend going overboard now as it could be harmful to your health at worst, or be an annoyance if you keep needing to go to the toilet before or even during the race. 

Caffeine is absolutely fine if it’s something you’re used to. If you usually drink tea or coffee in the morning with breakfast, there’s no harm in doing so now; however, if you’re not a regular caffeine drinker now might not be the best time, especially since your stomach and nerves are probably already doing flips.

Fruit juice can be a useful tool here as it is in your carb loading days. If you’re struggling with eating, but know you need the carbs, you can have a small 150-200ml glass of fruit juice to go with your breakfast, just be sure to not have other fruit with it ideally.

You’ll likely be awake for 3-4 hours before your race starts, so aiming to drink what would be a normal amount for you is my recommendation. At the very minimum though I’d aim for 500ml, mostly through regular sipping to avoid feeling bloated.

 

There you have it, some simple steps to take which should help you get the most out of your body on race day or allow you to enjoy the experience with as little discomfort as possible. 

 

Written by Kyle Brooks, Running Coach based in Norwich, Norfolk