Marathon!
I consulted with my NUT before starting long-distance training and she gave me a lot of good tips: most importantly, try nothing new on race day! Experiment with nutrition during your training. For me, that meant trying different things on my runs, before & after, etc. I do dump, not as severely as in the first year postop but surprisingly don't dump if I'm taking in carbs during a run (not sure why that is, but i'll take it!). So I usually do GU on runs 13miles+. Others prefer things like chomps, even gummy bears or prunes! I also started with G2 in runs 6mi + and seem to tolerate it well but have never done regular Gatorade. I recommend getting the powdered kind, as you can play around with concentrations easily. For recovery, I always have a protein shake. I've also been known to have a banana or apple.... even treated myself to 1/2 a bagel in the chute at Rock & Roll USA after my PR! One thing to know your awareness - caffeine. Sometimes a little bit can help give a boost but I definitely have a threshold - results in GI distress and pooping!
I'm doing my first full in October too; registered for Marine Corps and currently training with a RRCA group. Your group long runs are the place to practice what works & what didn't. Also important is your nutrition in the days before the race - - increasing your fat intake approx 10 days before race, then increasing carb intake 3-4 days before race, then eating very gentle food the day before (nothing spicy, greasy, roughage, etc). Often recommended are trying things out that will be on your race aid stations - look at Nike's website to see who's sponsoring the aid stations and try whatever they'll be supplying on your practice runs. Good luck!!!
First ultra: Stone Mill 50 miler 11/15/14 13:44:38, First Full Marathon: Marine Corps 10/27/13 4:57:11, Half Marathon PR 2:04:43 at Shamrock VA Beach Half-Marathon, 12/2/12 First Half-Marathon 2:32:47, 5K PR Run Under the Lights 5K 27:23 on 11/23/13, 10K PR 52:53 Pike's Peek 10K 4/21/13, (1st timed run) Accumen 8K 51:09 10/14/12.
