Recommended Energy Supplements for Full Marathons: The Secret to Achieving a Sub-3.5

The agony I experienced during my first full marathon.
After passing the 35km mark at the Osaka Marathon, I ran out of energy, felt lightheaded, and had no choice but to walk.

I didn't want to make the same mistake twice.

So, for this Mito Komon Manyu Marathon, I prepared thoroughly for energy replenishment.
I didn't do anything extraordinary, but I hope this will be of some help to those who are about to challenge a marathon.

Starting with the meal the day before, I chose my favorite CoCo Ichibanya curry. Yuki Kawaguchi, who showed a bold, aggressive run in last month's MGC, also seems to eat CoCo Ichibanya curry often the day before, so I was influenced by that and ate it too. The portion was a slightly large 400 grams. I finished eating at 6:00 PM. Rice is the source of energy, after all. For me, rice is the base.

I wanted to go to bed early, but since I had to wake up at 4:00 AM, I could barely sleep. Sleep deprivation.
I left the house at 5:00 AM and ran slowly to the station to get my heart rate up a little. I ate the Sukeroku sushi I bought the day before for breakfast. It was before 6:00 AM. I ate two dates, dates. I arrived at Mito Station at 8:00 AM, one hour before the start. I bought a seaweed rice ball at a convenience store and ate it.

Supplements I prepared this time
🔸Amino Vital Perfect Energy 2 packs
🔸King's Date Habit 10 dates from the bag
🔸 Lawson Honey Dried Plum 1 bag
These 3 types, I packed the dates into the dried plum bag. This is the limit for both pockets of my pants.

30 minutes before the start, after warm-up exercises, I swallowed one Amino Vital Perfect Energy whole.

Supplements I took at aid stations along the way
🔸 Salt tablets 5 pieces
🔸 Chocolate 1 piece
🔸 Sports drink about 5 times
🔸 Cola 1 time

I planned to replenish every 5km, but I had heard that it would be too late once I ran out of energy, so I kept in mind to replenish as much as possible in the first half while running.

My main supplement, Amino Vital, was consumed right after the half-marathon turnaround point. I think the timing was perfect.

And my secret weapon this time, dates. The supplement I had been searching for since the Osaka Marathon, dates, which the strongest tennis player, Novak Djokovic, loves to use for energy replenishment during matches.

I brought dates for the first time, and I ate 2 or 3 of the 10 dates by about 4km, where it was crowded and I couldn't pick up speed. I ate half by 10km and almost finished them by the half-marathon mark. They weren't difficult to eat, and the natural sweetness was just right; I might have been better off bringing a few more. Thanks to them, I broke through the 30km wall and was able to maintain a pace in the 4-minute range per kilometer until 37km.
Putting them in the dried plum bag was also a good idea; I could take them out of my pocket and put them in my mouth without any stress.

Originally, the candidates I had listed as supplements were mini yokan (sports yokan), gels, and bananas. I tried various things in my daily life and chose dates.

And considering portability, ease of eating, and energy content, my recommendations are the two I brought this time: dates and Amino Vital Perfect Energy.

After the middle turnaround point, I put the salt tablets I got from the first-half aid stations in my mouth and sucked on them. I thought this was quite good. They don't disappear easily. Keeping a tablet in your mouth while running in the middle stages also helps maintain concentration. By the way, I had planned to bring salt tablets as well and went to a nearby drugstore to buy them the day before, but be careful as they are only sold in the summer and are not a year-round staple product.

Unfortunately, I couldn't take the food unique to the Mito Komon Manyu Marathon, such as natto or muscat grapes, so I hope to be able to run with more leeway in that regard.

So, based on my marathon race experience, I wrote about recommended energy supplements and intake timing during the race. I especially recommend dates. I will continue to post information. I hope this will be helpful to runners.

See you again!

Recommended Energy Replenishment

Recommended salt tablets