As with any endurance race, it is very important to have a plan for nutrition.  You cannot have a successful race, if you don’t do a good job of taking in some carbohydrates for energy during the race. For the Indianapolis marathon, I am going to keep my plan simple. I will take PowerBar gels at every other water station.

To plan my race nutrition, I created a spreadsheet that details where every aid station is located and the approximate time I will arrive at them (assuming I am running at my planned pace).  Ideally, I would like to consume about 25g of carbohydrate every 30 minutes.  By looking at my spreadsheet however, I have to approximate this plan, based on where the aid stations are located.

In the end, I have concluded that the best plan is to consume PowerBar Gels at every other aid station, starting with the one located at mile 2.7.  This will result in me ingesting slightly more calories than planned. My guess is that once I am well into the race however, eating gels will become more difficult, so my frequency may drop slightly. By planning to be at the top end of my target, I will be leaving room for error.  Missing a gel in the second half of the race should not be an issue.

The other part of my plan, is to use gels with caffeine at some point in the second half of the race.  I want to get an extra kick, just when I may need it.  The only significant hill of the race is about 15 miles into the race. I am thinking a caffeine boost , just before that hill, might be perfect timing.

My nutrition plan is simple and that helps on race day.  During a marathon, your mind can get into a bit of a fog.  I want to focus on running well and fighting fatigue and pain. I don’t want to be distracted by a complicated nutrition plan.