On carbo loading

This is just my first helping

I remember hitting the wall quite clearly in my first marathon.  It was somewhere on the Kelly Drive in Philadelphia around mile 17, and my legs suddenly seized up, like some tiny demon was yanking at my muscles from the inside.  I spent the rest of the race taking walk breaks and finished in 4:29:47.

I didn't really know what I was doing then, but through trial and error and a little research, I have a routine that keeps me from hitting the wall anymore.  Quite simply:

I carbo load like a mother*#$!@.

This is, obviously, not a new concept to most marathoners.  But I don't just start the night before with the traditional pasta dinner that most big races offer to runners.  No, I start three nights out.

For a Saturday marathon, I'll start on Wednesday night with a heaping plate of pasta.  I'll have the same heaping plate on Thursday night, and on Friday I'll lower the intake to a more normal portion and make sure I finish by 6pm.  By Saturday morning I'm fully digested, and my veins are absolutely pulsing with carbs.  Together with the gels I take before and during the race, my legs manage to not seize up in the final miles.

Last night was the start of carbo loading, which meant all the spaghetti my gut could handle.