Thanks all for your replies. I have been eating porridge so I will stick with that. Very excited about next week's run - never done anything longer than a 10k! Thanks for your good wishes, I will keep you posted

I will be having porridge on Sunday morning, a couple of hours before I take part in the Edinburgh 1/2 Marathon. Im also looking for to my first long run Fingers crossed.

O.

Toast and marmalade for me, and sometimes frosties.

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Hi All

Just to let you know that yesterday I completed my first half marathon in 2 hours 25 mins. Not super fast, but I was just glad to cross the finish line.

I had a big bowl of porridge in the morning and it did the trick. It poured down with rain all morning but once the run started the rain had cleared.

I'm walking like an old lady today, but feel very pleased with my achievement. Will I ever do it again........... ask me once the pain has gone!

Thanks for your support
Christina

Well done Christina
that's terrific , give yourself a day off then try to do a gentle run it'll help with your recovery

congratulation Christina! Good time for your first half

Now you have a PB

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Just looking for some more advice please.

What do people tend to eat the night before a marathon? I had pasta the night before the 1/2 and I felt good. Is pasta the main thing to have?

O.

Oh yeah, what to eat the morning of the half I'm doing?! I never ever eat anything more than like an alpen bar before a long run... mostly because I can't be bothered waking up 2 hours before a morning run to eat anything more... I have a busy schedule, if I wanted to be able to meet my mates and do the run AND eat 2 hours before I'd have to wake up at like 5am... that's way too early for me. So... my question is - is it actually OK just to eat an energy bar before and take some gel or something with me on the half?

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ANS - There's surviving, and optimal performance... the meal before a big run should be in the region of 800 calories to ensure you're well fueled, ideally avoiding fatty foods for optimal performance... in terms of surviving though, it's all down to personal preference! If you can manage on an alpen bar then that's fine - I don't think I could though! lol

Owain - Pasta is the runners classic meal before race day, I've even heard such things as 'pasta parties' before events like flm, but never experienced one myself! Pasta's probably most common as it's one of the most readily available and versatile forms of carbohydrate. There's plenty of other things you could have instead like buckwheat, bulgarwheat, cous cous, potatoes etc...

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Right... what if I wake up, eat a big ol' bowl of porrige with some fruit juice... then go back to sleep?

I probably won't be able to sleep much before the half... it's my first race after all... and I COULD eat... but then I've been told not to try anything new on or just before race day...

What do you think?

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Mr Octopus has taken over, and you will all bow down his awesome power of massage-magic. Bow little ones... Bow.

That's right, it's not really a good idea to experiment with diet in the days immediately before a race; just stick with the types of food you know.
On race day itself, I would have nothing more than a couple of slices of toast (with brown sugar... just a personal preference) and a cup of tea. I'd rely on the meals from the day before to fuel me through the race, although I must admit that I never really had any specific meal or kind of food the night before racing.

Good luck with the races.Attachment 346

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GONE RUNNING

So I should spend the week before eating lots of stodge? CHIPS?!

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Mr Octopus has taken over, and you will all bow down his awesome power of massage-magic. Bow little ones... Bow.

...Er, maybe not chips for every meal!

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GONE RUNNING

Oh *scoffs down her spicey cous cous*

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Mr Octopus has taken over, and you will all bow down his awesome power of massage-magic. Bow little ones... Bow.