I signed up to do the R&R half in Washington DC on March 16th. I'm using the RunKeeper Sub 2:30 half marathon training plan. Right now, I am only in week 2, so my weekly miles are only around 12-15 miles. But looking ahead, I see that over the next few weeks, my miles will steadily increase to a point where I will be logginhg 100+ miles in a month. Up to this point, I have mainly run shorter distance (6 miles and less), so I never had to worry much about hydrating and fueling myself. My concern is that if I neglect my nutrition, that my body will shut down on me once I start logging a lot of weekly miles. I don't want to burn out before the race (although there is a taper built into my plan). So before I head out for an 8, 10, 12+ mile run, what should I be eating? Ive read some people like gels, some people like energy bars, others likle a slice of bread with peanut butter and a banana. Is it a matter of preference? Or is there a benefit to one over the others? And as far as after my runs, what should I be doing? Should I drink a protein shake? Eat a light meal? As far as hydrating, I tend to drink a lot an hour or so before I run. When I've run 8 miles before, I ran it without drinking anything during the actual run. Is there a rule of thumb that says for every mile I should be drinking x number of ounces of liquid?

Any guidance/suggestions are much appreciated.