Food before a long run

[Latege]

My last two longruns have not ended well (simply ran out of steam and had to restunder a tree for 30-40 minutes each time before slowly making my wayhome). The most likely explanation is simply dehydration/heatexhaustion as the sun was particularly fierce on both occasions.However, I wonder if inadequate nutrition in advance also contributedto the problem. Does anyone have thoughts on the relative merits asfuel sources for long runs of white rice (can't get any other sort),pasta (not wholdgrain, can't get that), bulgar wheat, cassava, sweetpotatoes, plantains (I can't always get the last two, but when I can,are they good options?) ? Or how about bread since I now have wholewheat flour? Or does it not really matter as long as I eat enough ofany of them?

[IanDarkpeak]

What are you eating whilst running? if it's a long run I'd be topping up as I went along

[Adnan Khan]

Probably ate too much or something that was new to your digestive system? Just eat what you normally eat and should be oki. If you want to top up your glycogen levels, you're better off doing it over 4-5 days before the race. Its easy said than done because I make mistakes with food choices all the time. Big tub of Ice Cream a night before works for me though ;-)

[Eddie D]

Sounds like the average long race to me.

More training.

On the other hand, don't ever over-do it and panic before a race. Start packing in food you wouldn't normally eat will lead to discomfort in the least. I once carried a slab of sausage meat over all the Jura checkpoints before the stitch subsided along the road to the finish. (Goes for panic buying a pair of 'descenders' off the van before a Short 'dash' - as though they will suddenly solve your lousy down-hill spider's dance).

[noel]

Run more slowly. This sounds like a stupid comment. But you might just be using up all your energy in your muscles.

If you're using these long runs to train for long events, you'll get more benefit from "time on legs", rather than trying to combine this with speed. You shouldn't be knackered to the extent where you can't train again (shorter stuff) a few days afterwards.

This advice is from someone who (a) is bad at long stuff and long distance training (b) has a poor understanding of sports science. Perhaps someone with more knowledge can add the specifics for me.

[djglover]

As above, train slower to burn fat and train loads to get used to the distance. If you get either of these 2 things out then you will still hit the wall. Learning to use a HRM can help loads with this, as when you are in the last 2/3rds of a long run you are probably overdoing it even though the pace tells you otherwise. I trained 14 weeks over winter with my heart rate at around 150 which is around 80% of max and was running 60-70 miles a week with a 20 mile run sundays. By the end of the winter I could run those runs without taking any food or water.

And in answer to the original question, just plain old white pasta and rice the night before was all I made sure to eat, and a few beers to top up the carbs!

[Latege]

Thanks for the replies. The problem isn't the distance per se. I've run longer often in the past. Things just came unstuck on the last two long runs long before I'd normally get tired - and I didn't feel tired in the usual sense of tired muscles etc. I just suddenly stopped. As I said originally, probably just the heat/sun. I just wondered if the types of carbs I eat before made any difference.
As to what I eat on the run - depends what's available, mostly raisins, occasionally a banana, even more occasionally I make flapjacks and take one along. Tried peanuts but they're too dry, likewise bread.

Noel is perhaps right in that I may well have gone off a bit faster than usual, but I doubt that was the main problem. Now the happy owner of a new HRM (last one died 6 months ago) so I'll make sure I take it easy at the start of the next long run.

[Rodders]

Jelly babie every fifteen minutes. Or if you want to boost your performance, a sports mixture every fifteen. I often find that when I start to get knackered on trots over five hours, I switch off and forget to eat. Eating jelly type sweets every fifteen minutes was the difference between bailing on a 6 county tops in 2012 at 40 miles, and completing it last Easter.

[Latege]

I'll try to find a local equivalent. Mind you, my long runs may have to be curtailed for an entirely different reason: a lion was spotted here on the Plateaux on Thurs. for the first time in 20 years. I don't fancy meeting him when out running !!

[shaunaneto]

If there's ever a good occasion for posting photos of where you run. Loving in Laconi (Google is my friend) has gotta be one.

Can't help but think it's as humid as hell?