No, really: what do you eat and drink for a Marathon?

What you eat and drink on race day is one of many factors that contributes to success.  While it can be very personalized, there are some tried and true tactics that most people use.

First off, you shouldn't really be thinking about what to eat race day until you have already figured out what works in your training runs.  This will give you a way to plan, feel confident, and get used to eating and drinking on the run.  On training runs longer than 12 or 13 miles you should be drinking along the way (especially in hot weather) and taking gels.  I like drinking an electrolyte drink to refuel, however if I need something to wash down a gel I stick with water.

What to pregame with?

And of course by pregame I mean what you will be eating the week before the race and the morning of.  There are lots of radical, alternative diets catching on now with runners and fitness enthusiasts.  Maybe they will work for you, maybe they won't.  I believe in sticking with a balanced diet, extra heavy on carbohydrates the week before your race.  Carbo-loading doesn't just have to only be the day before a race, better to start a few days out.  In fact, the day before a big race I like to make lunch my biggest meal, and then try to have an early dinner.  Eating too big a dinner too late in the evening can cause your digestive system to, ahem, get a late start on race morning and you don't want to be running to the port-a-pottie during the marathon if you can help it.

The morning of the race you should be sticking with whatever morning routine you have developed throughout your training runs.  For me, that's a bagel with PB&J on it, a small cup of coffee, a glass of water, and a banana if its a longer run or on marathon day.  If I'm going to be waiting around for a few hours before I actually start running I'll have a breakfast sandwich instead of a bagel.  Get something in your system, but be careful not to eat too much.

Just think, for an 8:00am race start, you might be waking up at 4:30am! Thats 3.5 hours of waiting around time, plenty of time to get very hungry.  While you don't want to start a race "full", you don't want to start hungry either.  You should just be sort of "not-hungry" when you start.

You should plan out the minute-by-minute logistics of your race day ahead of time, when to get up, how long it takes to get dressed, when and what to eat, when to leave for your race, what time you expect to get there, what you need to do before you get in the corrals, and finally an estimate of how long you'll be standing around until you hear the gun go off!

What to eat while you run?

There are a lot of Gels on the market now including Gu, PowerGel, Stinger, Hammer Gel, ShotBlocks and Vfuel just to name a few!  While its important to find the brand that sits well with you,  keep in mind the race will probably only offer one of them so you will want to be used to that.  For instance, I think Marine Corps Marathon gives out Gu brand gels, while Boston gives out PowerGel from PowerBar.  Make sure you are used to your race-specific gel if you plan on eating it.

On your long runs (any run more than 18 miles or 3 hours in duration) you may even want to add in some more solid food like chips or pretzels.  Salty foods are usually a good choice as they also help replace sodium loss.  These can be carried with you on race day in a hydration belt, or held by someone you know spectating to hand off as you run by.

A lot of these sports nutrition products come either caffeinated or not caffeinated.  You might want to stick with the non-caffeinated ones unless you really find a benefit to the ones with caffeine.  I'll usually do non-caff for the first couple, and then start taking ones with caffeine for an extra boost later on.  Gu offers an "extreme" version of their gels called "Roctane", which has lots of extra caffeine, sodium, and calories.  These typically are not handed out so I like to carry one with me for when I need a jolt!

How often?

In training runs I get by on less than in the marathon.  I'll still try to drink about every 45 minutes on runs longer than 10 miles, and take a Gu once every hour or so if I'm running more than 13 miles.  How much should you drink? It depends on how thirsty you are!  If its hot out you should be drinking more, like a full cup or two at aid stations.  If its cooler out, as races tend to be, probably a few sips or a half-cup of water should be enough.  You don't want to be drinking so much that you have to stop and use the bathroom, but its better to drink too much than not enough.  Find your sweet spot during your training runs!

On marathon day I like to eat a gel and a few sips of water about 15 minutes before the race starts.  Then I'll take a sip of water or electrolyte drink at every aid station which usually means about every 4-5 miles.  I'll eat a gel around the 9 mile mark, and then eat another every 5 or so miles, always washing it down with water.  I might even eat an extra gel or two between miles 18-23 as these are the crucial, make-it-or-break-it miles.