Hi, Friends & Fellow
Runners:
Let’s first address
the elephant in the room as far as nutrition and running are concerned. No one talks or writes about it, but the fact
of the matter is that a runner’s diet doesn’t quite fit a professional
nutritionist’s definition of healthy eating.
Some purists might say it doesn’t even come close. That’s because runners and other endurance
athletes need carbohydrates and plenty of them.
Most nutritionists
tell us that carbohydrates should represent no more than 35 or 40% of the macronutrients
we consume (with protein and fats making up the balance). But a serious runner needs to increase that
percentage to about 50% during most of a training cycle and then, in the last
two weeks before a race, to 55 or 60%.
Carbs enter our body’s
bloodstream as glucose and are stored in our liver and muscles as
glycogen. Their major reason for
existence is to serve as an energy source.
And unlike our body fat, the only other fuel for running, they are
always in short supply during long training sessions and distance races.
Despite their obvious
benefits, however, carbohydrates are often given short shrift in treatises on
weight control and proper nutrition.
Sugar is a carbohydrate, for one thing, and sport-engineered products
such as energy drinks and gels depend on sugar for their effectiveness. As well, carb-rich foods like the three P’s
of pancakes, potatoes and pasta rarely head anyone’s list of healthy food
choices. But at the end of the day you
can take the following statement to the bank:
Carbohydrates are, without a doubt, the most
important fuel for an endurance athlete.
To deny that is to deny science.
They are the single most powerful nutrient for replenishing glycogen
stores, extending time to exhaustion, increasing immunity during and after
exercise, and improving performance.
Period. End of story.
That’s why, if you
want to perform well in any distance race from a half-marathon to an ultra-marathon,
you must get into the habit of consuming carbohydrates on the run. At least 40 to 60 grams of the nutrient are
what you need per hour to maintain a strong and consistent pace while engaged
in a race or training run of more than 75 minutes in duration.
Here’s how the
cause-and-effect link between carbohydrate intake and enhanced performance was
described in a recent issue of 220
Triathlon, a British magazine:
“The reason for the benefits of carbohydrate
use during exercise is straightforward; muscle carbohydrate (more commonly
called glycogen) is your body’s ‘premium grade’ fuel, especially when those
muscles are working hard, such as during a race.
“However, your muscles can only store around
two hours’ worth of glycogen. And
because even mild glycogen depletion is known to impair performance, using
carbohydrate drinks or gels to replenish your carbs on the move....helps to delay
the onset of fatigue and thus improves performance.”
The magazine gets very
specific on the nature of that improvement.
It states, by way of example, that runners able to complete a half
marathon in two hours (120 minutes) while consuming only water or nothing at
all could better their finishing times to the following extent by ingesting
carbohydrates:
Grams per Hour % Improvement Performance Gain
20 2.0% 2.40
minutes
40 3.5% 4.20 “
60 4.3% 5.16 “
After 60 grams,
further carbohydrate consumption leads to little additional improvement, and
after 80 grams the percentage improvement actually declines (apparently because
too many carbs in too short a time tends to cause stomach distress.)
Reaching the
recommended allotment of 40 to 60 grams of carbohydrates per hour while running
could be as simple as combining 8-ounce Fuel Belt bottles of a sports drink (about
10 grams per bottle) and packets of energy gel or beans (27 grams each). Or you could include in the mix everyday
food items like a medium-sized banana, granola bar, quarter-cup of dates, small
box of raisins or four Fig Newton’s – each of which provides about 30 grams of
carbs.
Determining an
effective nutrition strategy for an endurance race is a matter of testing and
practice. The objective is to consume
the needed carbs conveniently, quickly, and with no accompanying stomach
distress. Test yourself and find out
what works for you in terms of food, gels, sports drink, etc. (as well as
water). Practice with different
combinations on your weekly long-distance runs until you’re satisfied that
you’ve found the one that suits you best.
And remember, a successful approach to carbohydrate consumption during a
race of two hours or more is an absolute necessity if you hope to do your best.
Coach Stephen
