It’s New York City Marathon race week!! I’ve been practicing my race day fueling plan on every single long run for the last 12 weeks, and I feel so ready to go! For marathoners, research has shown that runners who consume at least 60-90g of carbs per hour are: ✔️Significantly more likely to run a sub 3 hour marathon ✔️On average running 11 minutes faster than runners of similar fitness levels who fuel less ✔️Are almost 2x less likely to end up in the med tent Most gels have 20-30g of carbs, which means you need to take 2-3 gels per hour depending on your goals and what you plan to use for fluids. This might sound like a lot, but if you slowly build up to your race day fueling goal throughout your training block, it’s much more doable than it sounds. Regularly practicing your fueling strategy allows your GI tract to adapt over time and reduces your risk of GI issues on race day. Current guidelines also recommend at least 300-600mg of sodium and 400-800mL of fluids per hour. These are also key factors for fueling because we need fluids and sodium to digest and absorb carbs, and many GI issues on race day stem from fluid and electrolyte imbalances. I’ve been putting all of this research into action, and have dialed in a race day fueling plan that hits these targets. Keep in mind that this is what works for me based on my personal sweat rate, sweat composition, and body size. Everyone is different, but this is my marathon race day fueling plan ⬇️ ✔️30g carb gel every 30 minutes ✔️3-4 sips of Gatorade endurance every mile This comes out to: ✔️Around 70g of carbs per hour (depending on how each aid station is mixing the drink mix) ✔️Around 600mg of sodium per hour (each gel has 200mg and again depending on how they mix the gatorade at each aid station) ✔️Around 400mL per hour Let’s do this!!! 💪 If you have a marathon in your future and are looking for some support developing your fueling plan, reach out and let’s chat! #nutrition #sports #runners #performance #athletes #sportsdietitian #sportsnutrition #marathon #fueling #newyorkcitymarathon