As many loyal readers likely know, we’re launching our Marathon Nutrition Blueprint today!
In the past two weeks and over the course of the last few months, we’ve written articles on everything from how to calculate your rate of glycogen use during the marathon to whether you need protein during the marathon itself.
If you’ve missed anything or need a refresher, you can see all of our nutrition articles here.
But, I also want to share how and why we developed the Marathon Nutrition Blueprint.
My struggles with marathon nutrition
You see, in 2006 I was set to run my first marathon, Chicago.
You’d think that at the elite level I’d have had even extra support resources available to help me figure out a specific nutrition plan.
But, that wasn’t the case. Like you, I was kind of on my own.
I could easily find generalized info, like take a GU every 45 minutes, but I couldn’t find anything that helped me specifically tailor the nutrition plan to me.
So, I put together what I thought was a good plan based off the generalized recommendations and went for it. In all honesty, I kind of underestimated the nutritional aspect because I knew I’d only be running or a little over 2 hours (that’s the benefit of running fast 🙂
I was fit, having just come off a 10k PR earlier that summer and 7 weeks at 140 miles per week. I felt awesome at half way. I remember crossing the bridge at 13.1 and thinking “wow, this is going to be a great day”.
Sadly, this wasn’t going to last.
I didn’t take in enough fuel because I couldn’t stand the taste of gels. I thought given my pace and what other elites were doing, I would be ok using only sports drinks.
But, I bonked at 23 miles and missed qualifying for the Olympic Trials by 2 seconds. Yes, 2 seconds!
In my second marathon at Twin Cities, I vowed I wouldn’t bonk again.
So, I ate extra pasta the night before and practiced like crazy during the training cycle to be able to take gels.
My stomach was full as I hit the start line and I began executing my strategy of a gel every 3–45 minutes.
Sadly, this strategy left me feeling bloated, lethargic and as a result I ran terribly.
This really sucked – I just couldn’t get my nutrition right. If you’ve been through this then you know exactly how I felt.
Getting my nutrition strategy right!
So, I spent hours reading research, talking with other runners, and attending US Olympic seminars and summits before the 2008 games to figure out exactly what I could do to get my strategy right.
Luckily, after lots of lab testing and research, I found the exact carbo-loading and race fueling strategy that worked for me.
But, when I started working with other runners training for the marathon, I quickly realized what worked for me wasn’t going to work for them.
My fueling plan was specific to my VO2max, sweat loss and stomach needs.
I needed to find a way to help other runners uncover what their physiological specific fueling plan was.
So, with the combined powers of our nutritionist, team doctor, head of running research and marathon coach extraordinaire (yes, we’re kind of like Voltron 🙂 we created the first of its kind Marathon Nutrition Blueprint.
Helping you can calculate your specific needs
This Blueprint calculates for you exactly how much, when, what products you need to fuel optimally during the race and provides you with specific, actionable information on how to practice during training, carbo-load, taper, and recover during training.
To test out the blueprint, I first gave the the system on 4 athletes I had running spring marathons (I was already coaching them).
I gave them the exact blueprint, calculators and information we created and took them through the step-by-step process for creating their individualized fueling strategy.
What happened after these 4 athletes implemented this system?
4 new personal best.
Greg PRd by 6 minutes, Stacy by 15 minutes, Tom by a whopping 35 minutes and Caroll by just under 7 minutes.
Moreover, each one of these athletes had struggled with fading at the end of their last marathon attempts in the Fall (particularly Tom, which is why he saw such huge improvements) and each had a final 5k split right on their target pace.
Honestly, I was a little surprised myself. I didn’t think we’d have 4 PRs.
Of course, some of this improvement can be attributed to better training, I’m sure. But, the fact that not one athlete bonked or had stomach issues means I know the system works.
After some tweaking and getting the calculators setup for you to use, we’re launching the marathon nutrition blueprint!
What’s included in the Marathon Nutrition Blueprint
Calculating Your Fueling Needs
You can’t have a plan unless you know exactly what amounts of carbohydrates, water and electrolytes you need during the race and in training. Too little and you’ll bonk, too much and you will have stomach and bathroom issues.
In this section, we’ll provide you with two very simple calculators that will determine your exact glycogen needs and how much water and electrolytes you need to replace for any given temperature.
Developing the Perfect Fueling Plan
Using the data from your calculations in the previous section, we’ll provide you with a detailed, step-by-step fueling plan for race day. No thinking, just input your numbers to the calculator and you’ll have a perfectly individualized race nutrition plan.
We’ll also detail the ingredients and nutrient contents of gels, chews, natural products, sports drinks and every type of fueling option available so you can make the best decision about what is going to work best for you and avoid the marketing fluff.
How to Practice During Training
Having a plan is the first step, tweaking, perfecting and practicing the plan will ensure that it is absolutely right for you on race day and you can execute to perfection.
We tell you exactly which runs you need to practice during, how to practice, and which runs you should perform in a glycogen depleted state to optimize burning fat as a fuel source, how to adjust for varying weather scenarios, and how to tailor and practice your pre-race nutrition.
How to Caro-Load and Taper
We’ll take you through exactly what, when and how much to eat in the weeks leading up to the race. You’ll learn the three types of carbo-loading and how to calculate exactly how many calories, carbohydrates, protein and fat you need to eat each day during the taper for optimal glycogen storage capacity.
Nutrition During Training
In this section, we provide comprehensive and detailed guide (along with calculators) for exactly how to structure your nutrition plan during training to:
- Fuel for recovery
- Avoid over training
- Lose weight
- Speed up injury healing.
Supplements
We help you determine which supplements are worth the money, which ones are a waste of time, and what to definitely avoid. A partial list of the supplements we discuss:
- Iron
- Caffeine
- Vitamin D
- Calcium
- And more…
Diet Specific Interviews
Because we know many people have special diets or needs, we have interviewed experts in the field to help you learn to tweak your training, taper and race day nutrition needs.
You’ll learn directly from some of the best vegan, vegetarian, paleo, gluten-free, diabetic authors, runners, and experts in the world about how they structure they’re fueling and how you can adapt your plan.
Pricing
So, the obvious question us, “how much does it cost”
Well, we actually have 3 options for you depending on how much information and hand holding you need.
We’re also offering special launch day pricing and a few extra bonuses for those that purchase by Wednesday, June 4th. These prices are only valid until June 4th at 8pm EST.
Option 1: The PR Buster
Our most detailed and comprehensive plan is the PR buster.
It’s everything in the marathon nutrition blueprint and the guaranteed way to smash through the marathon nutrition wall.
It comes with access to all 6 calculators (glycogen, sweat rate, race strategy, carbo-loading, carb-cycling and calorie) and instructions for how to apply each.
Every article in the planning roadmap to help you plan, supplement, practice and execute your nutrition strategy.
Plus, you have access to our stellar lineup of guest interviews, who include Rich Roll, Joe Friel, Stephanie Rothstein Bruce, Kimberly Mueller, and Kamal Patel.
Special bonus!
As a special launch bonus, you’ll get access to our ongoing question and answer webinars, webinar archives, and our forums to help answer all the marathon nutrition questions you might have.
The PR Buster is available right now for just $99
Option 2: The medal winner
Our second option is what we call the “medal winner”. It’s the perfect choice for those who want a step-by-step plan but don’t need any specific diet advice or need a lot of hand-holding.
It comes with access to all 6 calculators (glycogen, sweat rate, race strategy, carbo-loading, carb-cycling and calorie) and instructions for how to apply each.
Plus, you have access to all our articles on how to plan, practice, supplement and execute your strategy.
The medal winner plan is available for $79
Option 3: The finish line
For those of you that have a good handle on marathon nutrition and just need a way to calculate your specific needs, we have our “finish line” option.
It comes with access to all 4 calculators (glycogen, sweat rate, race strategy, carbo-loading) and instructions for how to apply each.
These calculators will allow you to create a personalized marathon nutrition plan with specific instructions for what, how much and when to eat and drink for the entire race.
It’s the foundation and most important element of marathon nutrition blueprint and it’s available for just $49.
Our guarantee
Of course, all three options come with our RunnersConnect guarantee.
Check out the full Blueprint and implement the calculators and guidelines into your training over the next month or during your next training cycle. If you don’t see progress or you’re not satisfied in any way, I’ll give you a full, 100% refund.
All you need to do is send an email to me, Jeff Gaudette and I’ll take care of it for you. Don’t you wish race registrations had a guarantee like this?
Sale ends Wednesday, June 4th at 8pm EST
To lock in these prices and the special forum and webinar bonuses available when purchasing the PR Buster plan, you must purchase by Wednesday, June 4th at 8pm EST.
Do you want to vanquish the marathon bonk? Then get your Nutrition Blueprint now!
2 Responses
Hi
this calculator assumes that during the race the runner is taking sports drinks and the calculator calculates the amount and rate of gels as a supplement fot the sports drinks
But in reality ,what happens if you don’t have sports drinks on race day,obviously,you are not running with sports drink in your hands.
Is the calculator gives an option to use only gels ?
By the way,Rocatan gels contains electrolytes as well so you don’t need sport drinks
Is that true?
Well, you need fluids regardless. So, what’s the difference between having water or sports drinks? All marathons have aid stations and 99% of them have sports drink at those aid stations. Taking gels only is possible, but not my recommendation.