Blog

16-week marathon training plan: explained by a coach

Sarah Blackwood — Sat, 04 Jul 2026 04:47:35 GMT

EMQ head coach walks you through every phase of a complete 16-week marathon training block — including base building, taper and race-week preparation.

Recovery strategies: ice baths vs compression — what the evidence says

Sarah Blackwood — Thu, 02 Jul 2026 23:52:11 GMT

We break down the peer-reviewed evidence behind the two most popular post-race recovery methods, and give you a practical framework for choosing the right protocol for your event schedule.

Race-day nutrition: what the elites actually eat

Sarah Blackwood — Thu, 02 Jul 2026 05:11:38 GMT

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Sarah Blackwood — Thu, 02 Jul 2026 05:09:41 GMT

We spoke with the performance nutritionists behind three of Queensland's top endurance athletes — a sub-2:30 marathoner, an Ironman podium finisher and a Pan Pacific Masters Games multi-medallist — to find out what the evidence says about race-day nutrition, and what popular advice is little more than athlete folklore.

What the research actually says about pre-race nutrition

The science of pre-race nutrition has shifted considerably in the past decade. The traditional carbohydrate-loading protocols developed in the 1960s — three days of depletion followed by three days of aggressive loading — have been largely superseded by more conservative approaches that emphasise consistency over the final 24–48 hours rather than dramatic manipulation of glycogen stores.

"For most recreational and masters athletes racing marathons and halves, the loading phase is less important than simply not doing anything dramatically different in the 48 hours before the gun," says accredited sports dietitian Dr Megan Hoult, who works with several Queensland Athletics high-performance athletes. "The bigger risk is the athlete who decides race week is the time to experiment."

Gold Coast Marathon 2026: behind the finish lineee

Author 1 — Thu, 02 Jul 2026 05:09:32 GMT

Nature is an interconnected web of living and non-living elements that sustains life on Earth. It encompasses everything from the microscopic soil biodiversity beneath our feet to ancient, sprawling forest networks that communicate and share resources underground Nature is an interconnected web of living and non-living elements that sustains life on Earth. It encompasses everything from the microscopic soil biodiversity beneath our feet to ancient, sprawling forest networks that communicate and share resources undergroundNature is an interconnected web of living and non-living elements that sustains life on Earth. It encompasses everything from the microscopic soil biodiversity beneath our feet to ancient, sprawling forest networks that communicate and share resources undergroundNature is an interconnected web of living and non-living elements that sustains life on Earth. It encompasses everything from the microscopic soil biodiversity beneath our feet to ancient, sprawling forest networks that communicate and share resources underground