Having watched many elite / sub-elite marathon runners videos. What I have observed is those that take on 3-4 gels fade a lot at the end. Those that take 6-7 don't. All the expert sports nutritionists I've listened too also support the importance of this. But an absolute great and inspiring run never the less ....
That’s some good advice Glen and definitely something ill look into! I was pretty chuffed I managed to get 4 on board as in training 3 caused me a few toilet issues (excuse the tmi)
@@BenIsRunning you can train your gut to accept more carbs, practice eating more in your training long runs. Ultra runners need this skill as their events are part eating contests 😂
Brilliant race Ben! Such an inspiration! I had the same reflection re fuelling as well. Didn’t seem like you took enough onboard to sustain the full distance, but you know you better than anyone else 👍🏻
I think the biggest thing that I've found is that don't underestimate the importance of taking fluids on in the early parts of the race (before you get thirsty), even if you don't feel you need to. Better to err on the side of a little too much rather than a little too little. An obvious caveat to this is that you'll be best advised to have an electrolyte or salt tablet with you and take around halfway.
Get fat adapted and you shouldn't need more than a couple. Build up to running 24 miles in a fasted state eating plenty of good fat they day before. Then on race day you won't bonk and your gels will feel like rocket fuel.
Such a fun couple of videos, thanks Ben! Super excited to hear you'll be running Valencia. It's the same date as CIM, which I'm targeting for my first sub 3. I've run my first two marathons this year, 3:00:50 and 3:02:55. 😭 Hope you have a Valencia series to keep me motivated for my own training. :D
I was seriously happy to see you run such a great race. Also chuffed that you were in the elite women's pack. I think a sub 2h25 is in the cards for you. Great content Ben. Keep it up.
Hey Ben, I recently discovered your channel and enjoyed seeing your Copenhagen build up and race. I was meant to be there as well but an Achilles issue prevented me from doing it in the end. Thanks for letting us see it through your eyes and experience a little of your achievements. I’m looking forward to seeing what you do next.
Nice recap Ben, very much agree with the 10 last k, everything of you telling you to stop but you gotta go dig in unknown places to keep moving fwd.. Unique and brutal experience, well done!
Yes Valencia!!! Would love to meet you there. It’s an awesome course (really fast) and very well organised so I hear. Also, it’s a nice city if you have never been!
Great race vlog. So happy you enjoyed it so much and managed to hold it together in the last 7km. Sub 2:30h for your first marathon is mind blowing so I am sure you will manage sub 2:25h in Valencia. I will be running San Sebastián (Spain) the week before Valencia so looking forward to follow your journey and training tips. Congratulations again
Ben - fantastic debut marathon. I was very impressed with your run, and especially with how you hung in through the last 7k despite the wall you found! Agree with you on how much better running with a pack is! Good point on the gels by Glen in another comment, I was worried when I saw your Instagram post with only 2 gels. Glad you had 3 more in the back of the shorts. Just remember gels are very concentrated and are designed to be taken with water. The upset stomach you have had from taking gels is pretty common (usually from the fructose in them), especially when taken without water. To practice gels I recommend doing it in sessions at marathon effort in order to get used to the logistics of grabbing, opening, squeezing into your mouth and swallowing (ideally with water) while having race-specific stress on your gut. Matthew mentioned fat adaption, but I don't think it's anything for you to worry about. Long runs with water only + mileage you're already doing will have your fat adaptation close to optimal.
Huge congratulations Ben, your marathon performance was inspiring. Love all your content but these videos have been particularly insightful and uplifting. Keep it up! ⭐
Hi Ben congrats I'm shortly about to start training again for Amsterdam I'm looking for 2:50-3 hrs Mark, could you possible do a video on your nutrition/ eating while you train , even snack ideas? Thanks really enjoy the videos
What an awesome race Ben. I've just started following your journey on RU-vid and have been going through your older videos. Your progress in the sport of running has been amazing and I look forward to seeing where you go from here. All the best!
Congratulations on an awesome first marathon and great vid. You’ve qualified for Boston. Hoping you’ll register when the time comes this fall for April 2023. You’ve BQ’d with over 30 min to spare!
Congrats again Ben! I got the worst stitch 2km from the finish that day. I was guilty of over-doing the water, the sun seemed to be quite draining even though temperatures were fine. Didn't feel as fatigued as I have in previous, perhaps a combination of factors, the gels I had were ok. Only missed my PB by 14 seconds which was strange considering the struggle I felt towards the end. Good luck for the next marathon, target of sub 2:25 should be in your sights now.
Great video, congrats on your accomplishment, can't wait for your future endeavors. And I am sold, I'm gonna get a SOAR Marathon kit. Ya'll Brits make amazing products, like the Brompton. Woohoo! GG!
I guess Berlin marathon is a rather good option for. Enough time for a proper recovery from Copenhagen and a marathon training block. Fastes track, great conditions referring to the season, and a great atmosphere!
Great run Ben - I’ve deffo done the surge for water on race day and will avoid that in future too. Excellent videos of coverage 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 and an amazing time 👍🏻
It's so satisfying to have followed your training journey and to see you execute your race so well. Feeling flow state at 3:24/km is amazing. You really looked relaxed and smooth. A pleasure to watch and so inspiring. Sub-2:25 in Valencia would be fantastic.
Race kits arn't cheap no matter the brand. Also that was a great series leading up to the race and the whole race vlog was great. Looking forward to future and more content Ben!
It was defo good choice to stick with the elite women pack, gotta love all the content from your personal bike camera crew haha. Nice going as always Ben, these videos fire me up
Spotted you at Hackney Half on Sunday! Unfortunately I was hemmed in my pen and couldn't shout to you. Although you did run away pretty quick up to the elite pen haha! Saw you had a great race there too, really flying at the moment
Would you consider listening to music for your marathon? And if not, how come? The extra weight of having a phone put you off for example? I’m interested to know for myself in the future
I read this as “sofa marathon” and thought is this some kind of marathon where people sit on the sofa for 4 hours while eating biscuits and watching tv.
When I run a marathon (20 odd mins slower than you), my experience/rule of thumb is that if I "steal" 1 min in the first I end up paying it back 3 times over in the second half. Do you think stealing 30secs in the 3:07km lost you 90secs towards the end?
You said the pace wasn't too fast. But the result says different. That's what's difficult about the marathon race. You can't underestimate the distance. If you keep it up someday you'll go under 2:20.
How did you take in salts? During my marathon I stuck with water + gels as in training, but due to sweating that would result in a lack of salts to regulate body water intake.
Maurten gels have some sodium in them to replace but yes also something to research and test! I would of liked to use the Maurten gel mix but unfortunately couldn’t get any water bottles out there
MASSIVE well done, well deserved! Little strategic tweaks and you potentially were already in 2:24 shape in Copenhagen.....Full micro focus on Valencia and a 2:19-2:22 isn't out of the realms of possibility! Like you said about cost of the SOAR kit, you do the work, so why compromise on the cumulative marginal gains....In kit, shoes, nutrition, race focus AND EXECUTION, so i'd leave the camera with the supporters and micro manage the pace (You said same in vid re surging)......................On the SOAR kit...I've been after the marathon short and vest in a M size in a Black/Charcoal colourway since the beginning of the year...It is NEVER in stock and they have NEVER replied to numerous messages about potential ETA's ..... Probably given all the samples out to youtubers for review and promotion (tongue in cheek!) :)
Glasses the fit correctly don’t usually give you any trouble. Running and light sports are usually no trouble for me, I guess I have to push them up my nose from time to time but I don’t really notice it. I even swim in pools with them on, they only fall off when things get boisterous.
I hit real suffering about the same distance mark that you did in my first marathon this spring. For me, I'm pretty sure it wasn't eating enough. At only four gels, seems like maybe you also didn't fuel enough?
At the same time, I was only targeting 3:30 (did 3:29, just had to suffer a lot!) Maybe at your pace you don't need as much fuel? How do you think about that?
@@BenIsRunning Just a thought on the fuelling, did you carb load enough (we saw a pasta meal on the vid)? Fantastic run though. Thought you might have mentioned the sun though, it looked like it was warming up there.
First of all congratulations on the marathon is a perfect finish time As for your question ( 0:58 ) , I would suggest you to run the authentic Athens marathon, I just warn you that it has a lot of uphills. (Registrations is open) (13 November)
How the shit do you run that quickly? LOL My marathon time is 3hr 45 and I swear I couldn't suck enough air in through all the holes my body to ever run that quickly HA-HA
A great effort but, tactically speaking, perhaps if you stayed just behind those African girls and let them set the pace you might have had more juice left for the run home.
Ben your pace is 3:30 in the marathon and you made a mistake not to go in a negative split 3:22 is beyond your average in marathon. Next time u will do 2:22 if you go negative split
Great race vlog. So happy you enjoyed it so much and managed to hold it together in the last 7km. Sub 2:30h for your first marathon is mind blowing so I am sure you will manage sub 2:25h in Valencia. I will be running San Sebastián (Spain) the week before Valencia so looking forward to follow your journey and training tips. Congratulations again