How much difference does nutrition actually make?
I have seen lots of posts here about things like hitting X carbs/hour, carb loading the week leading up to a marathon, bonk horror stories, etc. I know nutrition is important, but how important is it really?
Personally, I’ll typically bring gels on runs longer than ~15 miles and try to take one every 30–45 minutes, but beyond that nutrition isn’t something I think about a whole lot. I have blown up in a couple of marathons and on some longer runs, but I think that can largely be attributed to other factors like poor pacing/conditions/under-training, since my approach towards fueling has been more-or-less consistent over the years.
Am I leaving time on the table here by not having a more optimized approach, though? Curious if anyone here has seen a noticeable difference from a more structured nutrition strategy