Lately, I've desired to learn more about how to remain nourished while running. I've been asking other runners what works for them, and reading online. I ran into a great article which I found at www.irunfar.com They have a nice list of running related articles, most leaning toward distance and ultra related info.
» See article
Written by exercise physiologist Bill Henderson, MD
I found many things interesting and informative in the article. Judging by the comments that follow this piece, and another which he wrote on that site (on Running Economy), his informative and educational writings are appreciated by many readers, of which I am one.
The article was written mostly with his thoughts about preparing for a multi day race, the Marathon des Sables. Which is a 6 day, 151 mile race across the Sahara desert in Morocco. (crazy right? few sill disagree.) The article covers, nutrition comments and advice for pre-race, race-morning, intra-race, post-race, and selecting the right carbs.
Carb-loading to me simply meant eating a ton of carbs the evening before a race. Dr. Henderson clues the reader in on a carb loading technique which I've not heard before. This includes carb restriction a few days prior to your race, and running low on carbs. The intent is to deplete the body of glycogen stores in the liver and in the muscles. which stimulates glycogen production and storage, so when you eat a heavy carb mean the evening prior to your race you have maxed out intrinsic energy production and supplemented with your diet. He says that this can potentially carry a runner a full marathon's distance, but I get the impression that he doesnt advise it. He lists the pros and cons of such a technique and speaks of it's limitations in a multi day race as well.
Finally he advises to not only "top off" your carb stores, but electrolytes and sodium as well. increasing sodium intake for 3 days before the day of your race.
The morning mean before a race is best consumed 2-3 hours before the race (in another location in the article he states to eat a heavy complex carb meal 3-4 hours prior). Personally I find this a great difficulty. For example, I'm soon to join a race which starts at 7AM. The location is about an hour away and pre-race check-in ends at 6:30 when the race announcements begin. so if I'm hoping to hit a nice breakfast 2-3 hours before that, I'll be eating at 4 or 5AM... but isnt sleep important too?
I figure the best advice in this situation is the commonly spoken, "dont do anything new on race day" which is often good advice.
During the race, ultimately he suggests to consume up to 250calories an hour if possible, and eat as many carbs as possible. Of course this is tailored to the individual and is complicated with fighting off nausea commonly seen from eating too much while on the run. I'd say that for non ultra races, and for those that wont run too much further than an hour, to tailor this information to your needs, but it is quite educational none-the-less.
He explored into the choices of carbs and talked of the combination of maltodextrin with fructrose as superior to either by themselves. this promotes me to become more conscious and read more on what I'm eating myself. This combination allows for more carbs to be absorbed and available for your body faster, sounds like the right idea, doesnt it?
The discussion on recovery foods, I found interesting as well, as I too dont always feel hungry after a race, and it seems that the harder I run a race, the less hungry I feel afterwards. his advice is to still eat! As your glycogen stores need to be restored ASAP. You are best served to eat large amounts of carbs immediately and at 15-60 minute intervals for up to the next 5 hours! I think I'm under doing it. He discussed the inclusion of protein as well as carbs, and spoke of the carb to protein ration of 4:1 that you can find in more modern sport drinks.
I've used Accelerade which I know believes in this 4:1 ratio, but cant say I have a tangibly positive experience with it. I just got a lot of it cheap and used it during last summer. it diddnt hold me back, but I'm not sure how much it did or diddnt do for me. I used Amino Vital for a couple months because I won some in a race and it tasted nasty, but again, hard to see an appreciable difference.
As I continue to pursue some personal education and advice on this topic, I think that as each of us progresses in our adventures, our demands change. What works for one season may need to change for another. and the next year, hopefully we will be running more and again our needs will change.
I personally have been using Gatorade in my hydration pack. Consuming a Cliff bar in thirds, pre-run and a third mid-run about every 45 mins on runs over an hour and a half, then usually another third or half afterwards. I ran only a couple times with a small bag of raisins and m&ms on a recent long run that was planned to be over 2 and a half hours. It took 3 hours to finish my route. I have had success with these foods, but I admit it is all experimentation. I have used GU gels in the past, because I got a hold of some, and I knew they would be offered in an upcoming race. I'm always looking for other items to try out. I am curious about other products, including NUUN tabs, as I hear about it often from other runner blogs I run into.
I would love to hear from others about what works for them.
Keep reading, keep learning, keep running. See you out there.
ADDENDUM:
Interesting to point out that Jeff Galloway in THIS portion from his book about running injury free from 2002 suggests to not carb load the night before, and not to increases salt intake either... Jeff is an accomplished athlete, Olympian and author. He knows what works for him, but I am more likely to follow Dr. Henderson's advice, as it is closer to what I've been doing in the past and having some decent success with.
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