Sue's Race-Week Nutrition Strategy (3:15)

Sue’s daily diet is generally very good. We suggested in her first dietary analysis that she:

• consume lower glycaemic carbohydrates
• consume slightly less fat

Sue has successfully achieved both of these. She has a good understanding of her own body, snacking when she feels she needs to but not over-indulging. She has managed to match her calorie consumption effectively to the energy demands of her training and because of this, has successfully maintained her weight since starting her marathon campaign.

Crucially, Sue always has a high-carbohydrate pre-run snack to maximise carbohydrate storage in her muscles. However, she is careful not to eat so close to her run that she risks stomach problems.

After training, Sue consumes either a Lucozade Sport recovery product or a snack that is rich in protein and carbohydrate (e.g. a sweetcorn sandwich on wholemeal bread or rice pudding and raisins) as soon as possible. This helps her replenish her energy stores and enhances her recovery process. She also rehydrates quickly to replace all the fluid lost during her run.

On her long runs, Sue finds it best to combine energy gels with water, but struggles to drink Lucozade Sport as well. She takes a gel every 45 minutes, which equates to 40g of carbohydrate per hour - well within the recommendations (30 - 60g carbohydrate per hour).

Sue drinks a large amount of fluid throughout the day, and ensures that she is fully hydrated before her runs. If anything, she could consume more while running - she recently drank 400ml of fluid during a two-hour run; guidelines suggest taking on between 400 – 800ml of fluid every hour.

Recommendation: 8 - 10g of carbohydrate per kg of body weight per day.

Sue weighs 47kg so should aim to eat between 376 - 470g carbohydrate per day during her carb-loading phase.

Example Diet:

• 39g porridge with 300ml milk and a large banana
• Two thick slices of wholemeal bread with strawberry jam and 400ml orange juice
• A slice of wholemeal bread, pot of strawberry rice pudding and 500ml Lucozade Sport Body Fuel

Sue must ensure that she starts to hydrate as soon as she wakes up. Ideally she needs to drink 5 – 7ml of fluid per kg of body weight three to four hours before the race. In Sue's case, this equates to 235 – 327ml.

Two hours before the start of the race,she should take on an additional 250ml of fluid if no urine has been produced or her urine is dark and highly concentrated. If her urine is a pale straw colour then this indicates euhydration (her normal level of body water content).

Water will be available every mile from Mile 3 onwards, so to help replace her fluids, Sue should aim to take water every mile and consume around 50 – 70ml (a quarter of the bottle).