Meb For Mortals by Meb Keflezighi

Author:Meb Keflezighi
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Rodale
Published: 2015-10-18T16:00:00+00:00

NUTRITION DURING THE RACE. During shorter races, I almost never drink anything but water. So what I’m about to describe pertains to marathons.

The typical setup for the professional field is that there are fluid stations every 5 kilometers. We get to have a bottle of the fluid of our choice at those aid stations.

What’s in my bottle depends on where the aid station is on the course. My basic bottles contain a sports drink with carbohydrates and electrolytes. My bottles at the 15-kilometer, 20-kilometer, 25-kilometer, and 30-kilometer aid stations contain sports drink mixed with a caffeinated PowerGel.

I try to get my bottle at every aid station. Unless there are important moves being made by someone in the pack, I carry my bottle for a while and try to get in 6 to 8 ounces. I take just a few sips at a time rather than chugging it down. I put the drink in my mouth, let it come to my throat, and then swallow it down.

I keep drinking at every aid station, even the one at 40 kilometers. (See “Fooling Your Brain with Sports Drink.”)

I practice drinking on my long runs and tempo runs. I’m fortunate to usually have someone accompanying me on a bike for these workouts. I give them two bottles. As in the marathon, one has sports drink in it, and the other has sports drink mixed with a caffeinated gel. (I learned that trick from my fellow Olympic marathoner Ryan Hall. It sure beats carrying the gels and having them freeze or cutting your lip trying to open them on the run.) On long runs, I have the bottle with the dissolved gel at 12, 15, and 21 miles.

The overwhelming majority of runners don’t get to put bottles out on race courses. But I think there are still some important ideas here anyone can make use of.

First, learn to drink, and drink a fair amount, while running fast. Practice drinking on at least every long run so that you learn how to swallow without choking and how to keep breathing normally. Also practice running with your drink for a long time so that doing so feels normal on race day.

Second, practice with the drink you’ll be using during the marathon. Find out what the race will have out on the course. Give it at least a few tries before deciding whether it agrees with you. If it doesn’t, carry your own during long races.

Third, start drinking early in the race, and keep at it throughout. Don’t wait until you feel thirsty—by then, your performance has decreased significantly.

Finally, see if it will be possible for someone to hand you a bottle once or twice during the race. This will allow an opportunity to really get some fluid down, given how much easier it is to drink from a bottle than a paper cup. And you’ll be able to try my gel-dissolved-in-sports-drink concoction.

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