Fueling your machine

I figured since I gave my soapbox on hydrating, I'd do one on fueling.

Oh the joys of fueling. How you and I collided for so many marathons.

Not to get overly-personal, but when I run my system shuts down. What ever I have eaten before a race will feel like a brick in my stomach. To train your body in a race, you have to train yourself before your race begins. You must teach your body to hydrate (yes, some people I know say water in a race makes them feel sick) and you must also teach your body to accept food. This is especially important in long races (ultra's and relays) where your body is relying on you to keep it nourished. I've been told the best way to adjust to eating for a race is to eat something small about 30 minutes before your training run. By small I mean a small granola bar, piece of bread, etc.

I am at the point now where my body will accept carbs the night before. I definitely don't over do it, but I have it. Usually the week of my race I will have whole wheat spaghetti for either lunch or dinner almost every day. I may skip one day of carbs to give my body a rest. Eat whole wheat over white noodles. Much better for your body. If you are not used to this kind of eating--hold back on the carb in-take. I also up my water intake this week. So--the week before a marathon up your carbs and water. Oh yes, and the night before your race, eat gummy bears. They are my favorite night before snack to help calm my nerves. Call it comfort food.

What about the marathon itself? When I had my stomach issues I would sometimes eat half of a pro bar.
They are natural, vegan, and according to the dude at the running store easily digestible, which makes for a quick source of fuel. They are even delightful to eat. For the most part they would sit okay with me. To mix it up I also eat two pieces of whole wheat bread and a banana (spread out over the drive to the start, and the waiting time) if I didn't plan in advance to buy a pro bar.

During the race I either load my pockets with tons of Gu's or safety pin them to my waistband (and I've been known to store a few between my sports bra and the bra shelf in my tank top...okay, thats my number one storage place). I now try to eat one about every 30 minutes of a race. I like the vanilla bean, tri-berry and always pack some of the espresso because it has 2x the caffeine...I think its placebo, but I pretend it works. Some races also offer oranges and bananas. The oranges give your mouth a wonderful taste, and the bananas obviously help fuel your body. Gu's pack 100 calories per pack and really help keep your body going. Be sure to drink them with water to get the maximum benefit.

Fueling is like hydrating. You have to listen to your body, experiment before the race to find out what will or wont work for you. I've seen people at the start of races downing apple juice, others eating cold pizza, and some eating Gu. Just listen to your body, it will tell you what you need. Mine always tells me when to stop eating gu, when to eat some banana, and what type of liquid I want to drink.

What I don't recommend is trying something new during the race. That can be a bad idea.

Up next:
What to wear

Hydration and why you should listen to your body

There's a lot of talk on hydration. I've heard from coaches to drink, drink, drink. I've read in articles that the average person needs 20-30 ounces of water per hour during exercise. I've also read about horror stories where people over-hydrated (dilutional hyponatremia) and either get extremely sick and even die (very few times, but its happened).

I don't really have a recommendation. I am naturally an under-drinker, and struggle with keeping myself hydrated on days that I'm not putting in a long run. However, there are a few things I've learned.

LISTEN TO YOUR BODY. It's amazing how far this little advice can go. Before my husband was my husband, or my boyfriend, and we were just friends he came to me asking for training advice. I listened to him, and gave him this same advice. He was watching his pace so closely, and every day trying to run faster, that his runs got worse and worse. He couldn't figure out what was going wrong. I advised him to run hard on days your body feels good, take it easier on days your body is struggling. Let your body guide you. He took my advice, and his running actually improved.

In a race I let my body guide me. I listen to it to tell me if I want water or gatorade at the next aid station. Sometimes I want both. For the most part I will stop at every station and take a swig of something. I think it would take a lot of water to actually over-hydrate, and the body needs fluid in intense activities. I will admit that I always skip the last aid station in a marathon. Usually I'm afraid if I stop to take a drink, my legs might not start running again.

This probably wasn't much help. Hydration depends on so many things, the weather, your intensity, your body, etc. My advice is to listen to your body and drink before you are thirsty and keep sipping on something to keep you hydrated.

Did I mention you should listen to your body?

Fighting the treadmill boredom

Its winter. Its cold. The sidewalks are covered in snow and ice. I ran outside a couple weeks ago armed with my under armor and although I was toasty warm, the slippery running was not ideal. So I've headed back to the gym and back to the mundane repetition of a treadmill. In the January issue of Runners World they gave a hint to saving your sanity on a treadmill.....hitting a button every 1/4 mile. I thought it was a lame idea, although I already knew when I did intervals my time went faster, but I was usually only changing every 4 and 2 minutes. So last week I took their advice and hit a button every 1/4 mile. Although I was skeptical, the result was amazing. I was out to do a 4 miler and at 3 miles my husband who had finished his run asked me how much I had left. I looked down at my mileage and gave it an extra stare because I did not believe what it said. I only had one mile left and was amazed how quickly my run went. Even though I had been watching my quarter miles tick by I hadn't been paying attention to the overall mileage. My run was fantastic, and since then I have been hitting a button every quarter mile and watching the miles speed by.

Here's what I do: the first 1/4 mile I just run a regular pace. The next 1/4 mile I up the incline to .5, then to 1.0 on the next 1/4 mile, then back to 0 incline to finish up the mile. Then I do the same with speed, up it, up it, up it, then a last easy quarter mile. Then I switch back to the incline, only I start off at 1, then 1.5, then 2, and end with an easy 1/4 mile. Then I switch to speed and start off harder than I started previously and up it, up it, and up it. So not only have I found that I am fighting boredom, but I am getting some short interval training in both speed and hills.

It works. Try it. You'll be impressed.