*** IMPORTANT: ***
(I have gradually and responsibly increased my fasting hours and I also added my fast to my training a little at a time. If in doubt or on any medications please consult your doctor, make sure you are very well hydrated at all times specially on warmer days and keep some emergency fuel on you while training, like Dextrose tablets or an energy gel just in case.)
Here are my five reasons :
1- The use of stored body fat as fuel makes more sense for the marathon distance where you run at a much slower pace than your race pace.
2- Carbs are known to be a quick burning fuel, they deplete very quickly and their constant ingestion ( or the mistiming of their ingestion) can cause spikes and voids in your energy levels which are often the reason why runners hit the proverbial wall.
3- No food in your stomach = no toilet issues on the day.
4- No need to stuff your pockets or running belt with bulky gels.
5- Fat burning = fat loss and a leaner and healthier body.
Is it possible to run a marathon on a fast?
I’ve been working on this since the start of the year.
Let’s go back six months earlier to why I started fasting in the first place:
My son mentioned it to me last year and told me to watch a video about the science behind fasting and intermittent fasting.
I found it fascinating and decided to give it a go.
The theory that your body needs a complete rest from digesting and processing food to concentrate on repairs, restoring, rebuilding and recharging made perfect sense to me.
The basic rule of fasting is: a minimum of 12 hours fast and only water and black coffee are allowed.
So if you start fasting early in the evening throughout the night while sleeping it’s actually not a difficult thing to do.
Fasting over 12 hours apparently would increase the health benefits and one of them ( the one that really interested me) is muscle building and repair and that happens when the fast exceeds 15- 16 hours.
To be honest the science behind it is still in it’s early stages and not enough data is available to prove any of the theories but as long as you gradually add it to your lifestyle it can’t hurt and will definitely help with weight loss and a lighter body means better running 🙂
For me now intermittent fasting has become a lifestyle and the good thing about it is that it’s very flexible, it’s not a diet and you don’t need to cut down on calories , you just have a shorter window in the day to consume your meals giving your body a longer rest to do it’s magic.
I’m a PT and I run with some clients almost every day.
All of my runs are early in the morning starting at 6am and sometimes I would be running non stop until 9am.
I’m up at 5.15am and the last thing on my mind is food!!
A large espresso ( black coffee has no calorific value ) and a glass of water is all I have and after a few stretches and a warm up I’m out for a few hours.
Running at a slower pace than my natural pace on an empty stomach has felt relatively easy and I’ve never struggled or felt short on energy.
That got me thinking… what if I could run the Marathon I’ve entered in late autumn while fasted!!
It was a crazy thought but also an intriguing one : I’m running nearly every morning two to three hours at a much slower pace compared to my 5k race pace on an empty stomach with no problems whatsoever.
Athens Marathon has a thirteen mile long hill right in the middle of it though, can I still do it?
Well a few months ago I started fasting on Sundays too during my longer runs while running hilly courses and gradually increased the distance every week: a couple of weeks ago I ran a tough 20 miler at my marathon pace ( 5’ 12”/km 8’24”/ mile) with no issues at all.
Of course I was tired at the end of it , but I wasn’t starving or craving any sugars.
I didn’t rush into eating anything afterwards and managed to complete a 16 hour fast.
I have another 20 miler coming up this weekend but my biggest test will be in a couple of weeks when my training peaks with a 22 miler !!
Wish me luck 🙂
to be continued…
Rik RoadRunner 