Refueling on Long Runs

[Feet in the Cowclaps]

Was I top half ?

Easily!

I remember we spoke on forum and we were very close

Steady! Baz will be getting jealous!

Are you in for this year ?

I might do - achilles tendon permitting.



Happy birthday!!

[cobbydale]

I use SIS gels usually one every 6 mile or thereabouts, jelly babies/sugar is fine up to a point but you also need to be taking care of the electrolytes in order to control cramps etc.

You also need to pay attention to your hydration and for this i find there is nothing better than plain old water.

For me i find it best to never get to the stage where i am hungry or thirsty because if i do then it is to late to pull anything back.

So basically Ii will graze on nuts, raisins ,Apricots as and when, use a gel at around 6 miles and use water that i carry in a run- aid bottle as i need it.

The above has worked for me over distances up to 60+ miles, but we are all different and need to experiment to find what works for us.

I am interested to see how others approach this.

Good Luck

i find this a big factor if you let yourself go to long with out it's hard to come back from it, im trying figs on next long run when my ankles better water is also best for me as anything else makes me want to spit all the time i could do 15 miles on road with little more than water on fells anything more than about 7 or 8 and my body is screaming.

[MarkR]

What im intersted in is-what distance do you need to eat food or take calories of any kind?

Is it marathon distance?

Has anyone on this forum ever run a marathon and taken nothing but water?
Would this be considered normal practice?

If it is normal practise than would 30 miles be too far?

Or is it a time thing?

Is say 3 hours the magic time time limit?

Or if i run for 3 hours at avery slow pace-surely i wont need anything? On the other hand if i were to run at my limit for 3 hours would i need the energy boost?

Do you see where im trying to go with this?

Can anybody definately say at what stage,time or mileage wise you must definately take some energy onboard?

Confused.

I'm not sure I know of a definite mileage when you need to take energy on board, a lot depends on how much you are sweating, as this is a good way to lose both fluids and salts. I'll always take water on runs longer than 1 hour, but take sports drinks if I'm out for more than 15 miles. It's just that I can't take the pain of cramps anymore!
I read the earlier thread about pork scratchings, and now include a bag as part of my emergency food. If I don't eat them during the run, they are really good afterwards.
However, I think that I have discovered that my body is good at using fat as a fuel on longer races and runs. I did a 54 mile race about a year ago, the organisers provided water at checkpoints, but you had to carry your own food. So I packed sports drinks, sandwiches, cereal bars, jelly babies and the rest into my rucsac. I was surprised that after 1 hour I'd had only one cereal bar, but ate nothing else for the next 7 1/2 hours, though I kept hydrated through my sports drink. As the race was in February and the pace was slow, I hardly sweated. For ages I couldn't understand how I completed the race, in good shape, with hardly any food, but then I realised that at lower work rates my muscles use fat (rather than carbohydrate) more efficiently as a fuel. This could well be the "fat burning zone" that you see on gym machines. For shorter faster races such as marathons my muscles are working at a higher rate for which carbohydrate is their fuel of choice. Such is my limited knowledge of physiology, but it seems to make sense for my body, and I've read that the human body has enormous capacity to store fat when compared to carbohydrate.

[NotOnUrHelly]

I remember we spoke on forum and we were very close

Steady! Baz will be getting jealous!

Why do I do it to myself, 2 minutes spent reading my thread before I press post would save me embarassment by the truckload

[Big Bad Baz]

Never mind mate,i still love you...........should i really say that..?

[Grouse]

You rumbled me Jamie (in a truly heterosexual sense of the word). Happy birthday.

[molehill]

Recently found a big bag of "Banana chips sweetened". Just dried banana, coconut oil, sugar and banana flavour. They give energy as 526 Kcals per 100gr: 60g carbo. (must be mix of complex and sugar?) and a very reasonable 4.8 fat & 1g protein. In a 500gram bag.

I munched through one bag at home, when I've had the munchies, and found them surprisingly palateable and easy to swallow ( the oil must help), but not tried them yet on a run out. Think I may be onto something quite good here - good return for weight carried - anyone had any experience with them?

[The Juicer]

I've found the things that have given me the biggest boost are not generally accepted or available. I had hot coffee and flapjacks at a recent LDWA which gave me an incredible boost. Also, at the Frankfurt marathon was given hot sweet black tea, and that was amazing too.

Must be the caffeine............. ?

They say it boosts fat burnng don't they?

[Stevie]

Recently found a big bag of "Banana chips sweetened".

Think I may be onto something quite good here - good return for weight carried - anyone had any experience with them?

I use banana chips, mainly because I don't want to be eating loads of refined sugar, I think the banana chips avoid the peaks and troughs in blood sugar level that simple sugars give. Anyway, they seem to work for me, and are easy to eat and manage in a bum bag. Of course I use other things as well, but a small handful of banana chips every hour or seems to work.

But the thing I really like on very long duration events like mountain marathons, something which really hits the spot after 6 hours or so, is a hot cross bun - or maybe half a one at a time. Great!

[Margarine]

Marmite and fish paste butties.