I’m 33 years old and this is the longest race I’ve run since I was a pre-teen. I have been training and I feel prepared. I’m a slow runner (10:30 mile); however, I’m sure I will run the entire distance.
So, they’re providing water and Ultima Replenisher every two miles. No matter the weather, I will drink something at every aid station.
My questions: Which should I choose? Switch off? Just do water? Does it depend on the weather?
Have you ever drunk the sports’ drink in question before? If not, I definitely would suggest just staying with water. Sometimes runners do not handle replenisher drinks that well, and it is not a good idea to find out during the race. Generally, my recommendations would be to stay with water anyway for a half marathon.
Afterwards you can replenish with the sports drinks but because you probably have not tapped that much of the “inner you,” water is what your body will be needing (and wanting) during the run.
Save the electrolyte replacement drinks until after the run. That’s when your body can better assimilate them.
If this were a full marathon, I would suggest replacement drinks early and water in the later portions of the run.
Some advice I’ve heard is to find out the event’s sports drink sponsor, then get ahold of their drink and train with it. So, pick up some Ultima Replenisher and try it out, see how your body handles it on a training run. You should never do anything in a race that you haven’t tried in training. If you don’t like the drink, you should just stick with water.
And, at the risk of giving you MHO, I don’t care for Ultima at all. To me it is a different type of beverage than Gatorade in terms of palatability (YMMV of course). So if on the chance you’re like me in what you think of it, you’ll be harshly disappointed when you sip it on race day.
I’ll echo never try something new on race day that you haven’t trained with.
Generally I stick with water, unless it’s a marathon, and then I’ll do a little of both.
Canthearya just a little bit of unsolicited advice- keep to your normal pace. It can be quite exciting running with a large group and easy to get carried away. You want to avoid hitting the 6 mile mark and thinking, “Oh my gawd, I’ve run too hard and too fast and now I’m out of gas.” Have a fun time and drink the water.
Thanks for the advice, GKW! I needed to be reminded of that.
It’s going to be a blast… I love running early in the morning and this race is supposed to be one of the most beautiful… along the north shore of Lake Superior.
Completely IMHO with no factual backing :
I absolutely detest Ultima and would absolutely recommend avoiding it altogether.
Still, you might try drinking it next week for a short run and see whether or not it is for you. You never know. But water alone is generally fine for that distance.
When I was getting ready for the Country Music Marathon (27 April) I knew they’d have Ultima on the course, so I got some and started running with it. Initially, and for short runs, I didn’t care for it. But for longer runs, I think it’s pretty good stuff. I tried it out on two >18 milers before race day.
It’s much less sweet as Gatorade (and has less carbohydrate). On a long run, those first bottles of Gatorade taste pretty good, but after an hour and a half or so (about 60 oz of fluid for me, warm day) it gets pretty “sticky” and hard to go down. I’ll generally alternate with 20 oz of water.
But with Ultima, it gets better tasting and goes down easier the farther you go. I never get that sugar-coated-belly feeling with it. You can even wash down a Power Gel with it if you have to (though I’d prefer water).
But, the advice you’re getting here is good - don’t try anything new on race day.
(For me, tomorrow it’s the “RC Cola & Moon Pie” 10 miler. Whoo hoo!)