Simple Fuel
There is no shortage of advice about how to fuel your runner’s body. So what poses me to write this article? More information? No, less information.
I need to qualify this by saying that I like things simple and am frustrated by too much information. I run for the sheer enjoyment of running. I love the health benefits and the social aspect of it. And I am a chronic under-trained mid-packer. But I also have been running healthy and strong for more than 10 years. I’ve run 5k’s and I’ve run 100 milers. I am a healthcare professional, and I pursue solid nutrition information. Running has changed my life and I love the opportunity to help other people experience the same reward for their efforts.
So this may be for you and it may not be. But the good news for us simple people is, I have found, that it comes down to just 2 things: Natural Foods and Calorie Count.
Natural Foods.
I had been running several years before I discovered trail running, ultra distances and a network of friends who helped me really challenge myself. As I added intensity, time and distance I was hearing a lot about how I had to fuel, how I had to eat, how many gels I should be taking in, how much sports drinks and electrolytes and salt pills, on top of the snacky candies, chips and soda at aid stations. Being new and scared, I did what they told me and for a couple years and it was ok. I achieved some really cool goals on the apron strings of my best friends. But as someone who cheers on the whole natural food, back to the earth movement, I wasn’t happy with consuming what I call “crap” and “tech food”.
I know that sugar and high fructose corn syrup, chemicals and colorings are bad for you. They challenge your body. So if I’m out in the woods pushing myself to cover 100 miles in 30 hours, without sleep over 14,000 feet of elevation, Why in the world would I also challenge my body to deal with bad “food”?
On a 100k training run this summer, I struggled and was really cranky with nausea and bloating. As I walked and pouted out a few miles, I realized it was happening more often. I realized that feeling lousy was my limiting factor--not fatigue or blisters or desire or cramps, but my belly. On that day, I had been trying to run on few calories, ended-up hungry and woofed down both “crap” and “tech” food about mile 40.
Calories
The other thing about these bad “foods” is that they are full of calories. Depending on your body size and your running course, you burn 100-150 calories per mile. That is not a lot of food. And in most circumstances you don’t need to be replacing those calories while you run. On a short, intense run, your body will burn the sugar in your blood until you finish. A 5k is less than 500 calories. Most of us can’t afford a Gatorade and a Power bar after that. And that gooey stuff in your dry mouth, sticks to your teeth and causes tooth decay.
On an endurance run, a properly trained body will burn fat, and we all have enough fat to run for a very long time. If you flood it with simple sugar calories it will burn-up those calories, with no nutrition to show and your body will look for more sugar. Avoid eating during your long run. Eat well thru the day for the quality, natural building blocks to recover, repair and build your tissues. You can teach your body to burn fat and draw from reserves on your long run, by doing it.
The cool thing about having your body trained to burn fat is that you don’t need to eat and deal with digestion issues on your run and ……. your body burns fat. Yeah!
The Test
My big race this summer was the Vermont 100 miler and it was 3 weeks away from that belly busting 100k training run. This time I was well trained, ready to taper and make my plan which had to include no belly-aches. I most definitely have enough fat to run for a very long time. But 100 miles is very long and I’d need fuel. And this is my success story of real food and low calories on a long run.
With a race start at 4am, I didn’t make time for breakfast. I choked down a couple pieces of Standard Process protein bar (all natural, not your typical OTC sport bar) and a cup of coffee, took a picture with my crew and seeded myself right in the middle of the pack. It got warm fast and I drank a lot of water from my handheld bottle and refilled it a few times. My first calories came at mile 20 when my crew met me with in ice cold 8 oz bottle of 100% berry juice. I switched my water bottle for one with home-brewed peppermint tea and they pushed me off. I drank my tea and a lot of water until mile 30 when I got an 8 oz carton of cold OJ, a bottle of home-brewed ginger tea and another push off. Eventually I did hit the aid stations for a piece of potato and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, since I got a hairy eyeball at the weigh-in station for weight loss. I like the SP bars so I started carrying and nibbling them on the trail to maintain my energy and stop weight loss.
While I didn’t quite meet my goal of breaking 24 hours I do know that the natural food and low calories worked for me. It was a really hot day, so while I consumed a lot of water and backed off my pace, 45% of the field dropped out with heat exposure, nausea and muscle cramps. My low calories and natural food saved me from nausea and bloating and I used the peppermint and ginger tea for insurance. The juice gave me fructose for quick energy and electrolytes and minerals to replace all I was sweating out and I had no muscle cramps. The bits of protein bars kept my slow burners going for dependable energy and no bonk. My “weight lose” was simply a result of a heavy weight-in Friday night after I had spent the day hydrating and eating a little more salt than usual. I truly felt strong and healthy from start to finish.
Take Home
While my example may seem a little complicated, most people don’t and I very seldom do run 100 miles on the mountains in high temps. What I hope you’ll see is that in most running situations a well trained body is better off without all junk. Train your body, feed it well and natural and keep it simple.
Contributed by Laurie Reinhart, DC
www.spineandsportchiro.com
