Two Saturdays back I did a group TNT run on the towpath. I didn't eat much beforehand and decided I would try out some nutrition "on the run." One of the major things I want to practice for JFK is nutrition. Well I had some granola/powerbar thingie during our 11 miler that sat fine but I could tell at the end if I had needed to run further it may have become an issue. Note: No power/granola bars during runs!
After the run I was discussing Cliff Bloks with the TNT coach and that they seemed to be all the rave on blogland and I intended to try those next time out. Well it was my lucky day and he happened to have a pack of the lemon kind on him. So I checked it out. NOT what I was expecting at all. And all of you out there really eat 6 of these an hour?
So unfortunately the Cliff Bloks are not going to work for me. They taste and have the same texture as a candy that once almost made me vomit. In fact when I see the dishes that candy was served on I get ill to my stomach. Crazy I know but Clif Bloks are out.
Really the only things I know that "work" for me are Cranks E-Gels Tropical Blast Flavor and gatorade. But I think after taking several gels and drinking lots of gatorade I will probably need some other form of nutrition. So a big push I am going to make this year is incorporating eating into my training. I think I want to try out soup and bagels next.
What foods do you use on your long runs? What foods didn't work? What do you like best?
Bad Ben had a very good post on his blog about nutrition during his last ultra.
Oh I should add that I have eaten bagels and pb before runs and done okay. Sometimes the pb doesn't sit well though, not bad in my stomach but that kind of sticks in your throat threateningly feeling. I had a pb sandwich before Youngstown and during the warmup I was a bit worried about it being an issue but it ended up being fine during the race. I prefer a bagel with cream cheese though.
11 comments:
i've heard a lot of people use 'uncrustables'...they're made by smuckers and they're peanut butter and jelly sandwiches packaged so they're not messy...i assume they don't have crusts?
i'm going to try these on the bike this weekend...
Though I'll soon have to put some thought into food and drink enroute...I so far have yet to try any of the superfoods. I haven't run any distance over 16 K. My wife, on the other hand, sampled a couple of Power Gels during a marathon last fall. Seems to me they didn't do anything for her. I'll be back to read other comments because I need to know too. Glad you brought this up.
I am also a big fan of the Crank E-gels. The Strawberry Slam flavor is good enough to eat as a bagel topping.
I am very interested in this topic too. I am a minimalist; I sometimes go well over two hours of training without a gel or solid food. I like (apple cinnamon) Carb Boom gels though.
I try to stay away from solids during any distance events. It can be easy to digest solids during long training days but I find that, at race pace, solid foods can cause stomach issues with all the water necessary to digest the solid food. This is especially problematic if you don't take in enough liquids- can lead to cramps / stomach shutting down.
I also try to test the fuel at race pace as well. A product that works well for you at long run training pace may be a different story at race pace!
Pre-race, I have found that Ensure meal replacement drinks are a great way to get in high calories vs. trying to absorb a similar number of calories via solids. I drink 2-3 bottles before a marathon without any stomach issues. To get the equivalent calories from solid food, I would have to eat 3 clif bars- probably not a good idea right before a race! I spike my drinks with straight maltodextrin to get in about 300 calories an hour. A great product for this is carbo-pro. Love the e-gels too.
Nothing beats Oatmeal before a run. I usually only intake GU gels during a run, along with water or gatorade.
Keep up the excellent blog!
http://charronrunning.blogspot.com
I've been playing with this before swim practice...I have about a half hour drive to the pool so I try to eat as soon as I get in the car which means 30 minutes until warmup. Bananas are my fuel of choice so far...although once I had a chocolate chip cookie and that went really well. I"ve been trying different granola bars and have had reflux with almost all of them - Odwalla bars, Uncle Sam's Oatmeal raisin bars...not so much. Cascadian Farms makes a honey oat bar that doesn't give me reflux. And I once tried fig newtons but they wanted to come back up in a hurry...they didn't thankfully but I won't be having them any time soon...
I used to swear by oatmeal with raisins for a pre-race meal but I couldn't deal with eating it cold one race when I had a longer drive so I had pb & j on white bread (with the crusts!!) and gatorade and i had a GREAT race. Been doing pretty well with bagels and pb lately... looking forward to hear what others say...I'm surprised by your "cliff block" experience...I hope they work better for me!!
Great topic. Mike has some great comments - especially be sure to practice these things at race intensity. Even then, if you're not nervous, you may still have problems on the "big day."
For example, I used the CarboPro that Mike mentions in training with success. But when combined with nerves before IM-WI, I was throwing up before the race even started. Last year I again took the CarboPro before a 30k race at marathon pace with no problems. It was low-key with no pressure, so no problems. I thought I'd be fine before Grandma's. Wrong. I didn't throw up, but my stomach was spinning.
With a 50 miler on the horizon it's good to get feedback from ultra veterans (and IM veterans). I crewed for a guys during a 100k and he started with gatorade and hammer gels. Then he added defizzed Coke later in the race and PB for protein. One thing I've heard about Coke, once you start taking it, you have to continue taking it or you'll crash.
Bananas before a run and a piece of toast ..... I like toast.
Spicy food and red wine the night before a long run is definitely out.
My favorite is pasta carbonara the night before a run with a piece of garlic toast. And drink water all day long but stop about 6 PM so that I don't need lots of toilet stops during my run.
During the race I tried to alternate between water and sports drink at each drinks station and during the Columbus Marathon it was water, Gatorade, skip, water, Gatorade, skip ... I think they were spaced every 2.5 miles.
Gu, Gel or the like I have every 50 minutes in a race but I think this could be a bit much. i don't tend to practice with these and will do a LSD with only one bottle of Gatorade and water stops as I go.
I'm a water and Hammer Gel person.
For longer events, they also have Perpetuem and Sustained Energy. They will give you everything you need in liquid form.
Check out www.hammernutrition.com.
No way do I eat 6 Blocks an hour!! For the marathon I did 2 every 6 miles of the strawberry flavor. For next week's half I'm doing 2 every 5 miles. I've also done gummi bears before and I alternate gatorade with water consumption on long runs. Gus don't sit well with my stomach, so the chewy stuff just works a lot better.
I'm an oatmeal w/a banana person before a long run. I got seriously burnt out on bagels+pb! I think I'd vomit if I had to eat another one of them!!
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