Okay let's talk about few other things you are going to need for marathon survival. Marathoners have a well deserved reputation for being able to put away food and I don't mean in the cupboard. A rigorous training schedule can easily burn a thousand extra calories a day. That's the thousand above and beyond normal need.
Make sure you eat enough food to match these increased caloric need. Concentrate on carbohydrate, bread, pasta, vegetables, fruits. Work toward a balanced diet with the variety of different foods and pay special attention to iron and calcium which runners need in abundance, along with a healthy intake of vitamins. Most of these will come in a well balanced diet. And above all, don't forget fluid. You can lose three pounds of water per hour when you are running on a warm day.
Weigh yourself before and after running and drink one-and-a-half time the amount lost. Here I will help you do the math, that's three pounds lost in an hour time 1.5 equals 4.5 pound you should drink. A pint of water weighs about a pound, so 4.5 pints of water or sports drink ought do it. Don't try to drink it all at once. Of course you might not lose all of water in the first place, if you do what you are supposed to, that means finding a way to get some fluid, water or sports drink while you run.
If you are out more than an hour that becomes really important. Drinking during your long run is also a great way to practice drinking and if you like taking energy gels so your body will be used to it on marathon day.
It's also a good idea to practice drinking from paper cups. This is an acquired skill and it's nice to practice it before you reach your first water station on race morning.
If you have been running enough to consider a marathon, you already know how important shoes are. The combination of protection, support and comfort, good shoes provide is even more important during a marathon where little things think you might even notice in shorter run, become huge problem. It's true of apparel too. Get some good shoes and appropriate apparel at a reputable running store and wear them during your long run.
That way you can break in the shoes and make sure neither your shoes, shocks, singlet or shorts are likely to give you any problem in the long run and if you are wondering what kind of problems clothing can give you, remember the C word, chapping, very bad thing chapping.
There are few other products marathoners sometimes find helpful and that are available at most running stores. A heart rate monitor, gives a nice feedback how the old tickers is doing during training. It helps tailor you pace to the right effort level. A sports watch can time your workout and give information about mile split in your next race and some of the more sophisticated watches actually tell you how far you have run, pace, altitude, I am not kidding about this, most of these isn't crucial but if you are a techie you will be in heaven.
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