Running your first marathon is a bit like cooking the first pancake of the morning – usually not your best of the batch, but lots of valuable insights to dial in the recipe for success. Our own Coach Trax knows this well and she reflects on her 2007 marathon debut in: “What I Learned From Running My First Marathon.” Looking back at her early fueling and hydration mistakes, she recalls skipping the carbo-loading and improvising her on-the-go fueling and hydration. Overall, Rebecca humbly lists eight rookie mistakes she made preparing for and running the race. Check out her full story for lessons you can apply to your own racing. In the subsequent decades, the endurance sports world has gotten a lot smarter on fueling strategies. Thanks to pioneers like Skratch Labs founder Allen Lim (who you can hear on the SMM Podcast via Spotify and Apple), we know a bit more on how to fuel before and during a race. In “The Fueling Debate: Are More Carbs Better?,” Skratch Labs notes that while some elite athletes are pushing intake to 120 grams per hour, 60 to 90 grams per hour remains the sweet spot for many endurance athletes to improve energy and delay fatigue. They advise that your gut absorption limits how many simple and complex carbs you can tolerate, which is why it’s important to practice your fueling strategy. Properly fueling your muscles goes hand in hand with replacing what you sweat out, and their companion article, “Sweat Rate vs. Sodium Loss Rate,” explains that effective hydration requires replacing both fluid and sodium. Skratch Labs recommends drinking to thirst, as your body naturally prompts you to drink when your blood sodium concentration rises. If you finish a workout more than 3% dehydrated, you may want to incrementally increase your sodium intake. To measure that, all you’ve got to do is divide your post-workout by your pre-workout body weight and multiply it by 100. If the difference is greater than 3%, it could be a sign you need to drink more.

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