Vicky's biggest marathon mistake was not in her legs.
In Berlin and in London, her stomach gave up somewhere past mile 18. Her pace dropped and she missed her goal. She knows exactly why: she treated race nutrition as secondary to her running plan and never trained it enough.
For New York, she changed that. Here is how she eats now, and how you can apply it to your own block.
The figures below are general sports nutrition ranges, not a prescription. Your needs depend on your weight, training load and goals. Check them with a coach, a sports nutritionist or your doctor.
Carbs are fuel, not the enemy
Before she started training, Vicky ate carbs, just not many. Today she puts it plainly: "I stopped seeing carbs as something to avoid and started seeing them as fuel. Food is not the enemy. It's what gives us the energy to do these amazing things."
When she first saw her nutrition plan, her reaction was: "I have to eat all of this?" Most runners feel the same. We log every mile and forget that food is part of the plan.
Rough daily guidelines:
| Nutrient | Per day | In practice |
|---|---|---|
| Carbs | 5 to 7 g per kg of body weight, 7 to 10 g on your biggest days | About 300 to 420 g on a regular day for a 130 lb runner |
| Protein | 1.2 to 1.8 g per kg | Spread over 3 or 4 meals |
| Fats | The rest of your energy | Olive oil, nuts, avocado, eggs, fish |
A simple plate for a training day: half carbs (rice, pasta, potatoes, bread, oats), a quarter protein, the rest vegetables and healthy fats. On long run days, make the carb portion bigger.
Signs you might be under-eating: constant fatigue, poor sleep, getting sick often, small injuries that keep coming back, a training plateau. Vicky regularly asks a running friend, "Are you eating?" If any of those sound familiar, talk to a professional.
Before and after your runs
Before. For long runs and hard sessions, eat a carb-rich meal 2 to 3 hours out: oatmeal with banana and honey, toast with jam, rice or a bagel. Short on time, a banana or a slice of toast 30 to 60 minutes before works. Keep fat, fiber and protein low right before you run.
After. You get stronger after the run, not during it. Within an hour, aim for about 1 g of carbs per kg and 20 to 30 g of protein. Chocolate milk and a banana. Yogurt with granola and fruit. Rice with chicken or tofu. Then a real meal within a couple of hours.
Train your gut like you train your legs
Your digestive system has to process gels, drinks and water for four hours or more, at effort. It adapts to what you rehearse. If you only take gels on race day, your stomach meets them for the first time under maximum stress.
That is what happened to Vicky in Berlin and London.
How many carbs per hour?
| Effort | Carbs per hour |
|---|---|
| Under about 2 hours | Around 30 g is often enough |
| Marathon pace and beyond | 60 g is the usual target |
| With a trained gut | Up to 90 g |
A typical gel holds 20 to 25 g of carbs, so 60 g an hour means 2 to 3 gels, or a mix of gels, chews and sports drink. Above about 60 g an hour, fuel that combines glucose and fructose (often labeled 2:1) is absorbed better, because the two sugars use different transporters in your gut. Take gels with water, not with a strong sports drink at the same time.
What Vicky changed for New York:
- She practiced her race nutrition on about 80 percent of her long runs
- She switched gel brands
- She moved from a gel every 30 minutes to one every 45 minutes, to see how her stomach responded
"We'll see this time," she told us. The process matters as much as the result.
A simple gut-training plan
- Choose your products with your coach or nutritionist, and find out what is offered on the course.
- Start low: on your next long run, try 40 to 50 g per hour.
- Add 5 to 10 g per hour every week or two, as long as your stomach feels fine.
- Change one variable at a time: brand, quantity or timing.
- Practice at marathon pace for part of the run. Your stomach behaves differently when you run harder.
- Take notes: what you took, when, and how you felt.
- Use a cue. Elapsed time or distance on your display can remind you when to fuel.
Most of us never train past 18 or 19 miles, so the final stretch cannot be fully rehearsed. Your fueling has to be automatic by then. When you are tired, you want to follow a plan, not invent one.
Carb loading is a skill too
Before her first marathon, Vicky did not eat what her plan asked for in the final days. The amount of pasta, rice and bread felt impossible. She learned later that you train for that as well: a body not used to two high-carb days can struggle.
Try a mini version before one of your long runs. Then you will know what works for you before it counts.
Race morning in New York
New York has a long wait between leaving your hotel and crossing the start line. You can spend hours on Staten Island with little to eat. Vicky's plan: bring her own food. Bananas and bagels, tested in training. And she is skipping the donuts.
As someone who founded her own food brand, Fit & Sweet, Vicky travels with her own gluten-free bagels and snacks. Whatever your diet, the principle is the same: eat what you know.
Your fueling checklist
- Log what you eat on one training day and compare it with the guidelines
- Test your pre-run breakfast before your next long run
- Write your race-day fueling plan: product, grams per hour, timing, fluids
- Test it on your next long run, then adjust
- Pack your race-morning food
This article is part of Road to New York, our series following Vicky's preparation for the NYC Marathon. Want her full nutrition chapters and checklists? Download the free guide, Your First Marathon: Vicky's Guide from Sign-up to Finish Line.
