Hi everyone. I'm looking for ideas from people about what works for food and drink on 20+ mile runs and also during the actual marathon. I've run two marathons and used gels and powerade for the first one that seemed to go ok but I only wanted to finish and didn't push hard at all.

The second one, I was trying for a certain pace and pushed harder. I used gatorade and shot blocks. It was ok for the first 17 miles or so but then my stomach felt terrible. I finished but couldn't really take anything else in after 17 miles or so. Is this normal? Should I have forced myself to keep drinking gatorade and eating shot blocks?

I've run 2 20 mile training runs in prep for my third marathon and right now my stomach is my weak link - not my legs or lungs like the previous two. The gatorade/powerade really seems to aggravate my stomach if I push at all. My last long training run I had gatorade and fig newtons and threw up when I was done even though I didn't really feel like I was pushing that hard.

I've also been diagnosed with hypoglycemia so I don't know if this needs to be considered... My body doesn't seem to handle alot of sugar without protein very well....

Anybody out there have a similar experience and been able to resolve it?

Thanks so much for any input. I'd really like to come up with my marathon eating plan before my last 20 miler that I'd like to push to 22 if I'm not sick to my stomach.
Karen