When to eat.

[plodding bear]

The sugar lumps might be handy for cadging a ride off a passing horse, if no-one's looking...:sneaky:

[Don't fear the sweeper]

Not too many agreeing with my suggestion to train one's fat burning capabilities! Obviously, one needs to stay safe and have some emergency supplies, especially in the current weather. But see this article from the Lakeland 100 website.

[IainR]

Not too many agreeing with my suggestion to train one's fat burning capabilities! Obviously, one needs to stay safe and have some emergency supplies, especially in the current weather. But see this article from the Lakeland 100 website.

I do disagree with a bit in that. From my own experiences training under duress just affects my recovery. I'd rather get the miles in as easy as possible. It may help mentally to have the odd bonking run. But I'd rather keep fueled and recover quicker. With modern foods, quick intake, I think we can stay on carbs for a long time and reduce or need for fat burning, which will happen, its just better (I find) to run on a mix of fat, protein and carbs and just keep sticking stuff in, and keep running.

Saying that I've never had a good pure run of over 9 hrs. I've ran solidly for many 50-62 mile races, but apart from the long walks like 29 hrs at the UTMB, 21 hrs in the paddy, my attempts at long runs like the WHW have often been poor, a pb of 21.30, is way off what I should be running.

[L.F.F.]

Not too many agreeing with my suggestion to train one's fat burning capabilities! Obviously, one needs to stay safe and have some emergency supplies, especially in the current weather. But see this article from the Lakeland 100 website.

Thanks for the link. Interesting stuff from the Lakeland 50/100 people. Food for thought (if not for stomach!).

[andygib1982]

I did ennerdale on just a ceral this year and died untill all the food i munched kicked in,leason learnt ! Eat plenty before.I stuff myself about 2 hours before a race/run (normally ceral and full breakfast) Tend to eat after around hour and a half mostly banana's,flapjacks,breakfast bars and dried fruit i try to save gel bars for last hour or less.

[Grouse]

Flat coke is the way to go. Did the 15 trigs with Marko a couple of years ago and stashed some coke en route. Put it in hydration pack then spent the next half hour wondering why me rucksack was getting bigger and bigger heehee.

[Steve John B]

Not too many agreeing with my suggestion to train one's fat burning capabilities! Obviously, one needs to stay safe and have some emergency supplies, especially in the current weather. But see this article from the Lakeland 100 website.

I'm sure they know their stuff (certainly more than me), but statements like "To enhance your endurance, your muscles need to ‘embrace and love the fat’" don't exactly go into the science of it.

[ultracollie]

Interesting article that.Not sure i would be brave enough to try the fat burning idea of avoiding breakfast before a really big session.Probably best to try it as part of a group and not on your own in the middle of nowwhere.

i dont think mark who wrote the piece is suggesting you use this as a race fuelling strategy but more about teaching your body to be able to adapt more to burning fat for fuel...it makes sense to my tiny brain. like all things running wise the more you do something over time the more your body adapts to it and eventually finds it normal. but i guess he's talking of a slow build up. well you wouldn't try running 50 miles if all you've ever done is 10 would you? well..maybe some might:w00t:

[Mike T]

WRT fluid intake the current recommendation from the American Institute of Sports Medicine - I think that is what it is called - is for each person to experiment by weighing themselves before and after a longish run to measure their weight change and from this to work out how much they need to drink to prevent excessive weight loss - excessive being more than 2-3%. If you gain weight you are drinking too much. They also suggest drinking to thirst, and reluctantly suggest 400-800mls per hour depending on build, temperature, sweat rate etc. Excessive fluid intake can result in hyponatremia - water overload - which is potentially dangerous and can even be fatal - with very little warning - and the small amounts of salt in sports drinks do not prevent it from happening. I sweat very little and now do my 20 mile runs without carrying any food/drink and have done 2 marathons this way - without any obvious adverse effect on my times. I DO eat/drink during long fell events eg Ennerdale/Three peaks but not as much as those around me. I always have muesli/milk/banana/coffee 2-3 hours before a long run so maybe I am carrying food/drink, but in my stomach!