Eating on Ultras

[Alexandra]

Reading Southern Softie's interesting BLOG I noticed that he had a lot of food organised for his ultra but ended up feeling pogged and not eating as much as intended. I have just been listening to a Jeff Galloway PODCAST where he asserts that while running marathons (unlike cycling, football etc) one can only absorb c.40 calories and 2-4oz fluid per 2 miles because the digestive system is almost shut down. Has anyone found they can eat and or drink more than that, while running long distances, without ill effects?

[Derby Tup]

I suspect many ultrarunners consume considerably more calories and fluid than those above. I certainly do and people I've run with have too

[plodding bear]

How many mini pork pies is 40 calories?

[Alexandra]

How many mini pork pies is 40 calories?

0.33?

[southernsoftie]

Pogged?! Never heard that before. For the record each mini pork pie was 300kcal.

[Splatcher]

You can digest as much as 240 kcals an hour on ultras, because that's what I've been doing this year. That figure's from Sarah Rowell's book, & once I worked out that for me anyway it would all have to be sugars, I now manage to get that much down, usually without too much in the way of digestive problems. And you can drink as much water as you need, as long as you don't take in too much at a time. I bagged up nearly a kilo of Kendal Mint Cake this afternoon, which I intend to get through on my Joss Naylor attempt on Friday.

[Mike T]

You can digest as much as 240 kcals an hour on ultras, because that's what I've been doing this year. That figure's from Sarah Rowell's book, & once I worked out that for me anyway it would all have to be sugars, I now manage to get that much down, usually without too much in the way of digestive problems. And you can drink as much water as you need, as long as you don't take in too much at a time. I bagged up nearly a kilo of Kendal Mint Cake this afternoon, which I intend to get through on my Joss Naylor attempt on Friday.

Chocolate coated? Which brand due you go for - I prefer Quiggin's/Wilson's.

[old un]

i certainly eat more than 40 cals on long ones, thats only 2 jelly babies !!! althougth ive always been led to belive that you have to train to eat when on the hoof as the digestive system does shut down and your body needs to learn to ineffect, multi task between running and digesting.

[Alexandra]

Pogged?! Never heard that before. For the record each mini pork pie was 300kcal.

So would 0.125 of a pork pie be 40 calories? And would one pie last 15 miles?? (Maths is not my best subject, I only ever try to do it in the context of running.)

[Splatcher]

Chocolate coated? Which brand due you go for - I prefer Quiggin's/Wilson's.

Romney's, because it's generally cheapest. And definitely no chocolate - I'd be puking in no time if I ate chocolate while I was running. A large 170g bar fuels 3 hours of running, at 3 squares every 45 minutes. It's just fuel, I don't think about whether I like it or not. One thing's for sure - I don't want anything sweet for hours after a long run. I tried an ice cream just after finishing a run last year, & I couldn't taste the sugar in it at all - just the fat and flavourings. It was foul!