*disclaimer-I am no nutritionist or exercise physiologist; information below is based on PowerBar's playbook series available here.
1. First and foremost-hydrate. As my blog typically conveys, the temps and humidity where I live are no joke. Proper hydration is a must in order to perform, have a decent time out there on your run, and even stave off cramping and injury (just think dry muscles = more brittle = much decreased performance). Nurse water the day before a long workout or race, use sports drinks, such as Ironman Perform or other sodium-containing beverage during workouts lasting an hour or more. Drink 14-20 oz of fluids before your workout, then every 10-15 minutes, depending on sweat rate, make sure and get 3-4 healthy swigs of water or sports drinks during your workout.
This is something I have skimped on in the past-not using sports drinks-but since my training has increased with triathlon, I'm typically pulling on the Perform during my swim workouts and rides and can definitely feel a difference. More carbs and sodium during workout = feel less smashed later. Sodium regulates fluid balance in your cells and electrolytes serve as "motor oil" to nutrition's "gasoline".
2. Workouts 1-1.5 hours in length-take in 30-60g/hr. of a carb source during the workout. Gels, sports drinks, gel blasts, etc are all options. Take in what you like. Over 2 hours, up your carb/sugar intake to 45-90g per hour. You won't regret it.
3. Recover, recover, then recover. 30 minutes after a hard workout or race, take in some carbs mixed with a little protein to replace used glycogen stores (carbohydrate stores in muscles) and stimulate rehydration and muscle repair. Even if not hungry yet, as often happens running in hot temps, choose liquid calories in the form of recovery beverages, milk, or other creative forms. You know you have it right when there is little sign of "drag-i-ness"/trash legs/general fatigue at your next session. When I recover right, I can feel it in the next day's session. Gotta put back what you take.
As previously mentioned this just scratches the surface of nutritional info. Questions are welcome via email or refer to a trusted nutritional website or sports nutritionist.
I'll leave you with a shot from today's clinic in The Woodlands at our beloved meeting spot, Hubbell and Hudson Kitchen. They put up with us every weekend!
Stay the course.
6 comments:
This is really useful information, Adrienne. I am glad to read it!
It's interesting that when you go from 1-2 hours for a long run that you should increase the carb intake rate, rather than just adding more carb as you go.
Fueling becomes increasingly more important the longer the run/ride gets.
So does pre-run coffee constitute good fluid intake? :)
Thanks for the tips!
This side of things really baffles me. I've had problems with stomach cramps during longer runs and can be wiped out up to 8 hours after with pretty bad pains. When people talk about these drinks, are they referring to Gatorade and other similar brands of that ilk? I have decided to start experimenting now and got up extra early so I could eat some toast before this mornings 10 mile run. I haven't been eating anything prior to running early for months now but know come January and the marathon I will need fuel in the tank, right???? Ugh, like I say this is all a bit of a mystery to me and when people talk about a certain amounts of carbs to take I really have no idea where to begin (I guess I could read the side of a gatorade bottle?!) Thanks for the post, I for one would definitely appreciate a more detailed one in the future, wish I could have been at your talk!
Great post!
I feel like a big component of my fitness gains have been related to improving my nutrition. Hopefully, I can make one of your clinics one of these days.
Great tips. We still haven't been hit with awful temperatures for a consistent period this year (an exception) so I have found myself being negligent. On Saturday's long run, I didn't use anything other than GU and water and I faded a bit at the end. Some replacement fluid would have helped--gotta get back in the habit!
Great post, A! I learned something very valuable! I never thought to increase the intake rate! I will try this with my longer runs/workouts this summer.
I had severe charlie horses in my upper abs last summer and never could figure out why. I was taking in the electrolytes as prescribed, but never increased the carb intake.
This could prove very valuable to my training!
You are so wise! I like your analogy of fueling to oil/gasoline. That really puts things into perspective. Next you need to think of a hydration plan for school teachers! :)
I love how you time your water drinking while running. It makes me smile. :)
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