First Marathon Experience.
London 2024 ❤️🩵🤍
First ever marathon in the bag, 3.14 benchmark for many more shifts to come. I listened to my body said give up, my heart said keep going, the heart won.
Thankfully I woke up ready to give it my all, and so I did. my splits clearly showed that, I went quicker than I should have from the start 6.45 min/mi then took a toll around Tower Bridge, it was painful I stopped prayed and carried on - my first thought was once I reach Canary Wharf I’ve basically done it. After that was easy, I had a couple more left in me, I was focused I was ill but we finished sub 3.15.
Nutrition:
They say never change your diet leading to the race, and this myth is true. Don’t. Pasta is going to be your bestie for the weeks in the lead up to the grand finale. Pasta every night? Grand. Trust me by the last dinner I was so pleased to say it was over. Freshen things up - change your pasta game (bolognese, pesto, chicken, aubergine/eggplant, you name it - keep it simple and delicious).
Remember veggies are also part of your gang!
On my menu pre race (15 hours from gun time):
Early Dinner before race day: Pesto Pasta + Portion of Baguette with Salad + CBD Drink, sip 1 litre water of Maurten 320 ~ 2 hours before bed.
Breakfast on Race Day: toast with butter and marmite and 500ml water with maurten 160 drink mix.
15 minutes pre gun time: 1 Maurten 100 gel.
The gel strategy:
3/5 gels down the hatch (exc. the one taken pre starting the race).
So what happened to the other 2 gels Sara?
My stomach couldn’t handle all of the 5 gels with the freezing conditions + the flu, otherwise I would have fully exploded.
What I did was slowly increased the carb ratio on the gel so my stomach could get used to it:
Gel 1 - Maurten 100 ~ 25g carbs (35mins)
Gel 2 - Maurten 160 ~ 40g carbs (1hr 15mins)
Gel 3 - SIS + nootropics ~ 40g carbs + 200mg caffeine (high af!) (last 15km for that sprint finish and not hitting a wall!)
What went a bit wrong:
Not doing negative splits, instead starting way too fast.
Not taking all of my gels at the according times.
Worked the day before standing on my feet! - definition not doing this again.
Resting way more before the race
Hydrating more in the lead up to the race.
Stopping 3 times whilst having some water (could have jogged)
So yeah carb up, drink water and enjoy the dance. See you in 2025 London!
💫💫💫
