I’m a regular stalker of Dave Roche’s blog and I was a little surprised by his remark in the Hyner 25k Race Report (http://beautyandchange.blogspot.ca/2014/04/hyner-25k-race-report.html): “I didn’t eat or drink during the race (other than the mix of Gatorade and sweat that trickled into my mouth from my forehead), and I felt surprisingly limber on the uphill.”. This was a 25K trail race, with a massive elevation, which he finished first, with a 16 min over 2nd place.
I have a half-marathon race on Sunday, when I plan to break 1:28 for the first time, and I’m considering skipping the water stations. The main reason is that I really suck at drinking liquids while running. Most of the time, if I don’t slow down considerably, I end up choking myself and then I have to stop and heave until I clear my windpipe.
So, what’s your fuelling strategy for a half-marathon?
I didn’t stop at any of the water stations in my last 13.1 race, I chose to wear a small camelback with the drink/nutrition that I intend to race with in my A race this year.
I would think that the temperature and environment would make or break a no-stop strategy. If the race is warm or hot, you might suffer or injure yourself by not taking in fluids, but a cooler race might make it entirely possible. Your fluid levels before the race might make a difference as well, if you are “full” it might be possible to race without taking in more fluids but if you are less than fully hydrated, it could be dangerous to go that long without additional liquids.
I am not a coach, doctor or professional, so don’t take my advice and get one of those three to advise you before you decide to race without stopping for fluids.
Thanks. I just checked the weather report and it’s going to be around 7-9C / 45-48F on Sunday, which is kind of the ideal temperature for a running race.
I think that the only risk I’m running into is that I might get muscle cramps in the second half of the race and have to slow down …
water at 3 or 4 aid stations and a gu at between mile 8-10 somewhere. I never get a full cup of water down, just a mouthfull or two. If you really can’t drink and run it’s something you should practice
An 1:28 is a short time without water/gatorade but you should “learn” how to sip water when you are racing.
I typically just squeeze the cup and take a tiny sip and dump. I doubt it slows me down much if at all.
Sounds like it is going to be cool for you that day, I wouldn’t recommend using a camel pak or a fuel belt if you are worried about being slowed down.
My fuel strategy for half, 1 gel and water before race, 2-3 plain water stops throught the race and 1 gel at mile 7 and a back up gel if needed for mile 11(ish).
What’s unclear to me is why you would even consider adopting what Dave, an elite runner, did during his race, for what was probably a broad combination of reasons ranging from how he trains to how responsive the aid stations were (ever been at the front of a race and watched snoozing volunteers scramble into action?).
Know thyself! Need water? Drink water! Don’t need water and feel like you’re on the tipping point for making your goal time? Don’t drink! Dave /= you, and I don’t mean that in any unkind way. So why would What Works For Dave be in your handbook of race execution techniques?
You’re right, I should practice drink & run. I guess that I’m lousy at it because I usually never fuel during training. I train using Maffetone’s low HR training formula http://philmaffetone.com/180-formula, so my long runs (24K) are slow and seem relatively easy so I don’t feel the need to hydrate.
IMO, you don’t need water or gu with a sub 90 minute stand alone HM. I might grab a cup of water and splash my face and get a taste in my mouth to wet it and that’s it.
Why not consider it? Part of the reason people come to ST is to learn new things and to get advice about implementing them into their training/racing. The answers you are likely to get range from, “That’s not a good idea.” to “everyone does that, I can’t believe you don’t.”
In any case, this is a good question to explore. 90 minutes is my cutoff for whether I carry fluids with me on my runs. That said, I don’t think I would do it in a race because I don’t know how the higher exertion of race pace would affect my fluid needs.
A possible alternative would be to get some paper cups and practice drinking from them while running. As mentioned above, I also crush it to make a sort of funnel at the top. In fact, I think I learned this from Bill Rogers (even though he was an elite runner and I was nowhere close).
It really isn’t that hard. I grab both a gatorade and a water at each stop, take a swig of the gatorade, toss that cup, then a swig of the water and toss that cup. At best I get a small splash in my mouth. But it is more than enough to keep my mouth from drying out and a little sugar to stoke the fire. I finished 4 sub 1:30 half marathons that way last year.
Unless it’s hot outside and I’m feeling overheated, I’ve never needed to eat or drink during a half mary. This depends on my adequately fueling and hydrating before the race.
I usually grab some water at every aid station and walk just long enough to drink it. I’m not fast enough where it’s going to make much difference in my race.
I’ve had some bad experiences with sports drinks during races, so just stick with water to be safe.
My regular strategy for HM was to have a gel at mile 7 and stop at 3-5 water stations, depending on the temperature. It worked OK for me in the past, but I felt like I lost 10 seconds or so at each water station due to my poor drink&run ability.
Running wise, I’m in the best shape of my life, so I want to take advantage of it and hopefully finish in under 1:28 (my current PR is 1:30:48).
Honestly, so far my fuel strategy during the race was based on what I thought I was supposed to do. I’ve decided that I’m going to go by feel on Sunday and I think that I’ll probably end up skipping the water stations all together.
As a former pure runner I found it crazy that any decent runner would take anything in a half unless it was very very hot. Triathletes think they need sugar every 15 minutes so I get the cult.
Gel…absolutely not needed. Water? Only if hot.
I know there are cases where the winners of marathons don’t take a sip of water the entire way, but they are only out there about 2:10.
Properly trained, and decently talented no way you should need anything in a half. Heat is the only exception and even then water only.
You won’t get dehydrated from not drinking during a 90 minute run. You’d get dehydrated from not drinking properly in the days and hours before the race.
No need for a Gu either.
A few sips at a water station will do nothing. So skip if you want.
water at 3 or 4 aid stations and a gu at between mile 8-10 somewhere. I never get a full cup of water down, just a mouthfull or two. If you really can’t drink and run it’s something you should practice
This ^^ was my strategy as well (1:24 - 1:25 runner at the time). But only if you are at the pointy end of the field. If you are slower, then you may need to do more based on the length of time you are out there.
Given the temps I’d say you could skip all the aid stations.
I’ve never taken any sort of calories for a half marathon and think the suggestion of taking a Gu is absurd. If it’s super warm maybe a cup of water to wet your mouth and splash on your head, but other than that you’ll be fine. You’re not going to be left in a cramping heap, just go race!