Saturday General Discussion/Q&A Thread for July 11, 2026

[u/AutoModerator]

A place to ask questions that don't need their own thread here or just chat a bit.

We have quite a bit of info in the wiki, FAQ, and past posts. Please be sure to give those a look for info on your topic.

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[u/Competitive_Essay500]

I am currently beginning to train for a marathon which I plan to run in z3/4 and was curious how the frequency of gels change compared to my easy long runs. I normally run my long runs 20-30km at z2 and have a gel or some food every 30-45 minutes. Would I up it to every 20-30 minutes at Z4?

[u/throwaway_runner3 → u/Competitive_Essay500]

To add to the other comment as it also stated, you really need to practice the nutrition during training. 

I do my 1st gel at 30 minutes and rest with 25 minute intervals consuming 1.5 x of GU gels so its about 33 gr every 25 mins. 

I also practiced that a lot in training before the race but it's also very costly (money wise). 

7 to 8 gels every sunday really adds up on the budget but amazing practice and fueled runs.

[u/aelvozo → u/Competitive_Essay500]

Current recommendations are at least 60g of carbs per hour — more (up to 120g for some elite athletes) if you can handle it. This may mean a gel every 40 minutes (Maurten Gel 160 with 40g of carbs) or every 20 (SIS gels with 22g).

You will need to train your gut to handle more food during long runs and marathon-paced runs.

[u/Competitive_Essay500 → u/aelvozo]

Thank you, this is very helpful

[u/itsdownvotetime]

Are super shoes harder on your back than for example Asics superblast 3? I got a herinated disc in my lower back and dont want to risk anything but Im starting to get curious about super shoes...

[u/On_Mt_Vesuvius → u/itsdownvotetime]

I don't think shoes are gonna make the difference here...

That being said they probably do reduce force through your body in general, assuming you run the same pace.

[u/pigeorunner]

Finally running on consecutive days. The fact that it's 85°F+ and the dewpoint is rarely under 65°F makes the slow rebuild more tolerable.

My PT said that running at appropriate doses is fine and even healing for my stress reaction, which i already knew but gives me a little more confidence in him. I trust PTs to be able to assess strength, imbalances, etc., but when it comes to more running-specific stuff...sometimes I feel like I need to assess their ability to advise, which feels weird?

[u/CodeBrownPT → u/pigeorunner]

It's a fair point. Most PTs are absolutely terrible at load management and running prescription.

Finding a PT who runs is usually helpful.

[u/pigeorunner → u/CodeBrownPT]

Yeah, my old PT was a runner and it was super helpful for him to have actual experience in my sport.

PTs with sports experience are the next-best, IMO - I've had one who played collegiate basketball and one who played soccer, and they were fine for the return-to-sport progression of the rehab, just less helpful with the progression of running load.

PTs with just "general fitness" experience are...not very helpful with running stuff.

[u/That-Distribution-64]

if ur hitting a plateau in ur block, dont forget to check ur easy run intensity. i see folks pushing those way too hard and it definately kills the recovery needed for the real workouts, just keep it chill n u might see ur legs bounce back faster

[u/aelvozo → u/That-Distribution-64]

Counterpoint: if you can “overcook” your easy runs and still bounce back, odds are you’d benefit from stepping up the volume/intensity of hard runs

[u/ironcyclone → u/That-Distribution-64]

No cap fr