Any Post-Op Marathon Runners Out There?

Hi Everyone!

A friend is a post-op gastric by-pass patient who is planning on participating in a full marathon in a few months to raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.  She is in training right now, but has stumped her trainers a bit because she can't "carb up" for training and running the marathon without putting herself in danger of dumping.  She has asked me if I know any post-op marathon runners and ask them what they do to gain the energy that she will need for such a run.  Any advice is welcome (other than "Are you crazy? Don't do it!").  She is committed to doing this run and wants to do it right.  She is doing this under her doctor's care, but he's a bit stumped too.

Have a Great Day!

Cathy!

Actually, there are a bunch of us in the have done one or will soon do one category.  I hate to burst her bubble but she is going to need some carbs.  There is no way around it.  I have gotten to the point where I can go on a 20 mile run with just Powerade and that sustains me.  There are carbs in the energy drinks.  The day before I will have some cargs also.  I may have a bagle or oatmeal bar.  She is going to need some sort of energy while she runs.  Otherwise she won't last the whole race.

In her training she going to have to try different foods to see what works and what does not!! I don't have the problem with dumping. Everyone is different but don't think that you have to "load up" on carbs before. During my run I ate a little something about every 45 minute to and hour and was drinking Gatoraid to keep my energy up!! There are many many of us WLS out there who have run marathons so she can do it!! She just need to find what works for her.

I hope that helps!!

Kevin

Hi Cathy, When I was doing my marathon training, (did mine in January) I seemed to graze all day.  I was just always hungry as the number of miles went up. I don't think I 'carbed up,' but I did eat a significant amount of bagels, english muffins, rice, crackers, and toast.  I also ate fruit a lot.  I don't dump on carbs like those, but I did have severe difficulties with the powerade drinks when I ran longer distances.  It gave me cramps and diarrhea. We all have seemed to do just fine being able to eat what we needed.  Her body will tell her when she's not getting enough and what it is she needs more of.  I bet I ate 1800 calories a day when the miles started adding up.  I also ended up needing to take iron supplements, which I have never needed in 4 years since my RNY.  She's going to do just fine and will end up making the adjustments that work for her body. Linn

Luckily I don't dump...   Well, I don't dump much.   Occasionally a really high fat food will get me or if I overdo it with something sweet.  

As far as carb loading I'm playing around with low sodium canned beans such as lima beans, lentils, chili beans, black eyed peas and field peas.  I did my 20 miler last weekend and I'm tapering now to the marathon which is on the 24th.  I have a 12 miler this weekend so I'm gonna see how well the bean carb loading works for me.  I'm also trying to cut out ALL the sweets pre-race but it's kinda hard.  :)   I still have the occasional couple Reeses Peanut Butter cups as a treat in the evening. 

During my long runs I drink water and Accelerade and use gel packs.   I'll usually hit the gel packs every 8 miles or so and drink water whenever I think about it.  I drink a few sips of the Accelerade when I'm running and usually drink the rest of the bottle as a post-run recovery drink.   The gel packs really give me a great boost.