Fueling Your Marathon

I’ve seen a lot of FB posts recently where runners are asking how they should fuel for longer runs and races. The answer is… there’s a formula for that! I’m going to have to do some math to explain this. But don’t be afraid, I promise I will make it as simple as possible and I will explain everything!

SCIENCE FACT #1: I AM NOT A NUTRITIONIST! I am a running coach. I just read some articles online and tried a few things out on myself, and I’m going to tell you about it. Now that that’s out of the way…

SCIENCE FACT #2: A 2010 paper by Dr. Benjamin Rapoport M.D., Ph.D. tells us that a typical human body burns about 0.73 calories per pound of bodyweight per mile. That’s right – your speed doesn’t matter! (https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2010/10/fuel-efficiency-for-marathoners/)

Using my 150-pound self as an example, I burn about 110 calories per mile. (150 x 0.73 = 109.5) Remember – speed doesn’t matter. So for a marathon (26.2188 miles to be exact, but I’ll use 26.3 since I can’t seem to run those tangents closely enough), I would burn about 2893 calories (26.3 x 110 = 2893). Since there are about 4 calories in each gram of carbs, that comes out to about 723 grams of carbs (2893/4=723.25).

SCIENCE FACT #3: Research has shown that the human body can absorb about 1 gram of carbs per minute.

Still using myself as an example, my body would need 723 minutes (1 gram per minute) to be able absorb the amount of carbs it needs to completely replenish the calories I use during a marathon. That’s over 12 hours! On pace for my BQ time (which I cannot currently sustain for 26 miles, but that’s what I’m training for) I only have 3:40 – or 3.666 hours. So, during a BQ marathon effort, my body will only be able to absorb about a quarter of the carbs needed to replenish all the calories burned. So I can’t possibly keep up. Now what?

Well, it turns out that your body only uses carbs for about 75% of energy production (the rest comes from fat, yay!) That reduces my marathon carb needs to about 542 grams of carbs (723 x 0.75 = 542.25). But that would still take 542 minutes to absorb, which is over 9 hours.

SCIENCE FACT #4: A 2008 paper by John R. Bennett, MS, CSCS and Michael P. Kehoe, Ph.D. at the University of Central Florida (my alma mater) cites research showing that performance is impeded when carbohydrate reserves dip below 30-50%. (https://www.nsca.com/uploadedFiles/NSCA/Resources/PDF/Education/Articles/NSCA_Classics_PDFs/marathon_fueling_techniques.pdf)

Good news! We don’t have to replace 100% of the carbs burned during a marathon, only a third to a half of it. Even better news! In my example of myself, 30% -50% of the carbs I would need is 163 to 271 grams (542 x 0.30 = 162.6; 542 x .50 = 271). This is totally doable since 163 minutes (1 gram per minute, remember?) is about 2:43, and 271 minutes is about 4:31. Now I’m in range! For my fictional 3:40 BQ marathon, I should be able to absorb 220 grams of carbs since I have 3 hours 40 minutes, which is 220 minutes (again, 1 gram per minute.) in which to do so.

So, how does this work in real life? Well, you see that you can’t really replace all that you are using. But you also don’t want to fall too far behind. The truth is that you need to practice your fueling strategy just like you practice running. Common running lore says that you don’t really need nutrition for runs shorter than an hour. When your marathon-training long runs go beyond an hour, it’s time to start practicing your fueling. That way you can find out what works and what doesn’t during training instead of during your race.

Here’s what I do. I take my first gel at about mile 4. Then I immediately take a couple sips of water.  After that, I take another gel and a few sips of water every three miles (miles 7, 10, 13, 16, 19, 22, 25). In a marathon, with only a mile to go, I don’t think it’s necessary for that last dose at mile 25; you should be concentrating on cranking out that last 1.2 miles and looking good for the finish line photos!

Let me tell you that in my own personal experience, the first time I followed this plan was during my most recent marathon (April 2017) and this also happened to be the first of my three marathons where I did not “bonk”, or “hit the wall” around the 20-mile point. Nope, I was running strong and happy and evenly-paced throughout. It was also my fastest time. I used Boom! Gels, and if I remember correctly, I don’t think I could manage to cram in any more after mile 19. If you look at race pictures, I’m holding a gel for the last three miles!

Note that many of the leading sports gels (Gu, Boom!, Hammer, Clif) each have about 25 –ish grams of carbs per dose. Make sure you take them with water, since the body requires water to digest carbs. Some people find they can’t handle the concentrated carbs; it’s ok to go natural, but real food is harder to carry then gels. Some people use pretzels, fig newtons, dates, etc. You could even combine your carbs & water and just sip a sports drink, but make sure you are getting enough calories per sip. Another reason to practice to find out what works best for you.

I hope that helps! Fuel up for your next half or full marathon, and be sure to let me know how it goes!

Train Your Brain

Since you’re reading this blog, I’ll assume you’re a runner. You might consider yourself fast or slow, but if you get out there on the road regularly and have the desire to improve, you’re a runner as far as I’m concerned. As a runner with the desire to improve, what do you do? Hopefully you are working different energy systems by varying your running speed and not always plodding along in the same fashion over and over again. (You’re not? Hang in there, I’ll cover that in another post eventually!)

So you’re physically training. What else is there? You need to train your brain! You may not realize it, but your brain is in control of many things that affect your running. Your brain decides:

·         “It’s too early” (It’s not; get your lazy butt out of bed and go run!)

·         “It’s too hot” (Rarely. Dress appropriately, be adequately hydrated, slow down, and get out there.)

·         “It’s too cold” (Even more rarely. Dress appropriately, warm up, and get out there.)

·         “It’s raining” (What, are you afraid to get wet? Look, today I ran 9 miles in 59° rain, and I ended up less wet than when I was running two weeks ago in 80° dryness!)

·         “My legs were tired, I just couldn’t hold my pace today.”

Let’s talk about that last one. Chances are, that “my legs are tired” idea comes directly from your brain, and not because your legs told your brain they were tired. Scientific studies have shown that what we perceive as exhaustion is really just your brain trying to convince you how tired you are based on how much effort you’re expending.

“What we call exhaustion is not the inability to continue; it’s basically giving up,” Samuele Marcora Ph.D. said in a recent interview with Competitor.com.  “The reality is that the neuromuscular system is actually able to continue. My idea is that it’s basically a safety mechanism like many other sensations. So you have sensations motivating you to take a certain course of action for survival. Think about thirst or hunger or pain. All these sensations are there to make us do something. That is actually beneficial for our survival, and I think perception of effort does the same.”

This makes some sense, however, just like you can train your muscles, you can train your brain. But How?

One idea is that we have a limited supply of willpower. Waste it on something else, and you may not have enough of it when you need it in a race or training run. Here are some tips from The Science of Running

1.      Prioritize

Don’t waste willpower on inconsequential problems. Far too often we stress over small decisions with little or no payoff, and just end up causing decision-making fatigue. Don’t stress over what to eat for breakfast or what color shorts to wear.

2.      Make Important Decisions Automatic

Just like teeth brushing, make the key decisions in your life and in running, automatic. Research shows that automatic decisions drain less of your willpower, so take advantage of it.

3.      Plan

If you know you have a big race, test, challenge, or event coming up, plan it out so that you aren’t depleting your willpower going into it. Look at it like training and simply taper off things that suck your willpower going into the event.

4.      Train

The mind can be conditioned. How we respond to challenges and tests of self-control become ingrained into us. You can change how your brain activates and that can be a good thing or a bad thing. You can actually increase your capacity to deal with depletion of willpower. You can train to have a bigger reserve or take smaller scoops out of that reserve with each challenge. In other words, practice using your willpower.

You can train your use of willpower with some of the following:

• Deciding not to eat something that’s bad for you
• Going to bed at a regular time each night
• Running each day or X times per week.
• Plan some key training runs when you are already tired from your weekly routine
• Pre-Stress your brain with complicated puzzles and games before an intense workout

 If you want to raise your running performance to a higher level, consider adding brain training to your next race training plan!

Random Thought #2: Adrenaline

During an "easy" run, it takes approximately one mile to burn off the adrenaline produced after you realize that the clicking sound approaching you from behind is the sound of a pit bull's toenails.

Tips for a Great Long Run

You don’t want to get bored running, do you? No, of course you don’t! You should be running differently at different times during the week. When training for a race, you should have AT LEAST 3 training runs each week:

1.       Intervals

2.       Tempo

3.       Long Run

Each of these different types of run has a different purpose. You may also hear these referred to as “effort days.” (Plan at least one “off” day between your effort days, BTW). Today I want to discuss the Long Run. If you’re like me, you want to have a good Long Run, because that will make you feel confident on race day.

DISCLAIMER: I am neither a doctor nor a nutritionist, but over time I have found some things that work for me. I will share them in the hope that they work for you also.

Most runners tend to do their Long Run on a weekend, because most runners have more time on weekends because most runners have to work all week so they can afford more running shoes. That’s also a good thing because when training for half or full marathons, your weekend long run will simulate your goal race, and those are almost always on weekends. Really early in the morning.

TIP #1: As you get closer to your goal race, try to do your long runs at the same time of day as your race. This will help train your body to perform at that time of day.

Another important factor in the long run is nutrition. This is more than just right before you run. Proper nutrition helps you get the best out of yourself for your Long Run, or any run for that matter. Proper nutrition starts right after your previous “effort day”.

TIP #2: After any training run, get a recovery meal into your belly within 30 minutes. There are physiological reasons for this timing that I won’t go into here, just do it.

A good recovery meal contains a 4:1 ratio of carbs to protein and is related to your body weight. Aim for one-half your weight in pounds as the number of grams of carbs, and one-quarter of that as the number of grams of protein. For example, if you weigh 160 lbs, that’s 80 g carbs and 20 g protein. I make myself a shake with non-dairy milk, some agave syrup, a banana, cocoa powder, and 2 scoops of Arbonne Protein Powder. At first, I just had the protein shake, and I didn’t notice much difference. But when I read about the ratio of carb to protein and the proper amount per weight, it made a huge difference. To be honest, it is really filling to take in 80 g of carbs and 20 g of protein after a run. At first I felt really full. But a couple hours later, I was ready to go again! The fatigue was gone!  Now I save this nutrition plan for when I am training for a race

Nutrition continues the night before your long run (you’re going to get up early to run, remember?)

TIP #3: For best long run performance, avoid adult beverages the night before. I know, I love my beer too. But this helps if you want to feel your best. Instead, eat carbs and make sure you are fully hydrated.

When I wake up on the morning of my long run, the first thing I do is get something to eat. My go-to long-run-morning breakfast is an open-faced peanut butter & beet sandwich on whole wheat bread. I started using beets recently when I discovered they help your body process oxygen (see my

Log post on beets). The nutrition for my pre-run meal comes out like this: 39 g carb, 16 g protein, 18.5 g fat; 360 calories. I use Eureka organic bread and Crazy Richard’s Peanut Butter. I use that peanut butter because the ingredient list is short: peanuts. That’s it.

Bread: 22g carb, 7 g protein, 2.5 g fat.

PB: 7 g carb, 8 g protein, 16 g fat; 190 cal

Beets: 10g carb, 1 g protein, 0g fat, 30 cal

Tip #4: Take in about 300-400 calories before your run. You may have to work up to this if you’re not used to it.

If you are used to having caffeine every morning, make sure to have some before you run. Finally, your Long Run nutrition includes fueling during your run, if your run is long enough.

Tip #5: If you are going to be running longer than an hour, fuel on the run.

Take some energy gels or a sports drink with you. Here’s what works for me: I take an energy gel at mile 4 (that’s somewhere between 32 and 37 minutes for me). Then I take another gel every 3 miles after that (24-28 minutes). There is a formula (http://www.active.com/running/articles/4-steps-to-perfect-marathon-fueling) but an easy rule to remember is to take in about 1 g of carb for every minute you run. Energy gels are usually 25-30 g carbs each, so one every 30 minutes fits that nicely. Once again, you may have to work up to this if you’re not used to it.
(See my detailed blog about this topic here: https://plantbasedplodder.blogspot.com/2017/12/fueling-your-marathon.html)

Tip #6: Hydration. Weigh yourself before and after your long run. You should try to replace each ounce of weight lost with an ounce of water. If you can do this during your run without having to pee, even better.

And of course, after your long run the cycle repeats itself with another post-run meal. 

We Choose to Go to the Moon!

This week marks the 48^th anniversary of the Apollo 11 trip to the moon. Apollo 11 launched July 16 and landed July 20, 1969. Because my family moved to Merritt Island, FL when I was 6 so my dad could work on the Apollo program, and I lived in that area until I myself was a 28-year-old parent, I think it’s safe to say that the space program had a huge influence on my life. Even now, one of my favorite inspirational quotes is one from John F. Kennedy speaking at Rice University on September 12, 1962 – about 35 days before I was born:

But why, some say, the moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask, why climb the highest mountain? Why 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic? (Why does Rice play Texas?) We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things not because they are easy, but because they are hard. Because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills. Because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one we intend to win.

Why ever start running in the first place? Why enter a 5k race with hundreds or thousands of other 

people? Why sign up to run twice as far, a 10k? Why spend around two hours running the 13.1 miles of a half marathon? And why in the name of all that is holy, subject ourselves to 20 weeks of training to spend about 4 hours running 26.2 miles – a full marathon - at one time? I won’t even mention Ultras! Why choose this as our goal?

Not because they are easy, but because they are hard. As humans, we need to set goals for ourselves to prove to ourselves that we are capable. For some, it’s proof that we have become capable for the first time. For others, it’s proof that we are still capable.

Because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills. Training for any event, especially a full marathon, is an effort in itself. We put ourselves through intense mental and physical effort to endure the temporary pain of training in order to earn the permanent glory of completing our goal. We need this. It affirms our existence as human beings.

Because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one we intend to win.  We might not literally win the races we enter; in fact, odds are we will not. But we accept the challenge, we pick a date, and we start training. We talk to and learn from others. We read. We google. We ache. We grimace with effort and we smile with victory. Choosing a goal, working toward it, and eventually achieving it makes life worth living.

It doesn’t matter what your goal is, but you should have one. And you should make it count. And when you have achieved that goal, you should choose another, loftier goal that challenges your newly acquired strength and ability. Keep challenging yourself and you keep growing, no matter how old you are.

Choose a goal today, and then go achieve it. Not “just another 5k.” Step it up. Reach for the stars. Extend yourself. If you’re a couch potato, get up off that couch and sign up for a 5k! If you’re comfortable with 5ks, move up to a 10k. If you’ve done 10ks, try a half marathon (it’s America’s most popular distance, after all.) When you’re ready, go for the whole enchilada: 26.2 miles. Or take your favorite distance and aim to do it better this time. Try something you’ve never tried before, or try to do something better or stronger or faster than you’ve ever done before.

What’s your Moon shot?