Running a Stronger Marathon Starts With Training Your Stomach—Here’s Why
You train a lot of muscles and systems when preparing to race a marathon. Your legs learn to withstand the pounding of the pavement, your joints and tendons grow stronger to power an efficient stride, and your core and upper body mold into powerful stabilizing muscles.
But one of the most crucial muscles of all to train? Your stomach.
Yes, your stomach is an important muscle—and preparing it to consume enough fuel to energize your miles is one of the most necessary parts of your marathon training block. Learning what types of foods, liquids, and gels your body can tolerate before, during, and after a run can be the difference between finishing your marathon feeling unstoppable and struggling to keep pace long before the mile 20 wall. “Just like your runs train your muscles to run 26.2 miles, practicing your fueling trains your GI tract to digest food,” Kristy Baumann, RDN, told Runner’s World for our marathon fueling guide. “The cool thing is that your stomach is a muscle. It can be trained.”
However, don’t pull a Michael Scott and think downing a heaping amount of carbs right before your long run or race (or, scarfing down a huge plate of fettuccine alfredo like the Dunder Mifflin manager does pre-5K on The Office) will carry you to the finish. In fact, marathon fueling is much more nuanced, and it’s important to practice and experiment before heading to the start line on race day.
That’s where our new Complete Guide to Fueling Your Marathon Training steps in. Our program, filled with guidance from dietitians, run coaches, and experienced runners, gives you the ultimate playbook for mapping out your run fueling strategy, one that will power both your training runs and your 26.2 miles on race day.
Name a fueling topic, and we’ve got it covered in our program—macronutrients, micronutrients, underfueling, hydration, caloric intake, and so much more. Every runner has different nutritional needs and preferences, but our experts provide a variety of important strategies for pinpointing your ideal fueling sources and crafting an energy-boosting diet. Embracing the “food is fuel” mentality helps you train your stomach to support your mileage, health, and strength throughout your marathon build.
Not sure what and when to eat before you head out for your weekend long run? We have the nutrition recommendations you need to fuel up for your session and feel strong all the way until the end. Struggling to nail your optimal carbohydrate intake for race day? We give you the pro tips you need to practice your mid-race fueling during your training block and train your stomach to digest crucial carbs on the run. On the hunt for a better recovery strategy? Our guide shows you how post-run meals and snacks, along with recovery-boosting foods, can help you mitigate marathon training fatigue.
Taking your stomach training to heart could be the key you’ve needed to unlock your next PR, or complete a marathon training plan feeling fresh and confident. So go ahead, fuel up your tank, and get energized for the training and racing miles in front of you.
Head to our full fueling guide to begin energizing your marathon block and training your stomach, and become a Runner’s World+ member to power up for 26.2 miles with our exclusive marathon program and training plans. Once you’ve crossed your marathon finish, find your next goal to chase after with the help of our collection of expert-led guides, which includes programs for mastering the half marathon, running longer than ever before, perfecting your form, and so much more.
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Ashley is Editor of Content Hype at Hearst’s Enthusiast & Wellness Group. She is a former collegiate runner at UNC Asheville where she studied mass communication. Ashley loves all things running; she has raced two marathons, plus has covered some of the sport’s top events in her career, including the Paris Olympics, U.S. Olympic Trials and multiple World Marathon Majors.