The pressure is on....any advice for a newbie?
Duane
While my first half is still several months away (next Spring), I wanted to let you know that almost all of my running right now is done on the treadmill. I have only just recently taken my runs outside to gear up for my 10K in a couple of weeks. As long as you do the road every so often, the rest of the training is just fine on the tread IMO. It's a matter of building up your endurance and lungs mostly.
I don't do a lot of carbs either and wasn't really planning on carbing up prior to my 10K. The half may be a little different, since you need energy for a much longer period of time. Would some type of oatmeal (you can make it a little thinner) work before your runs or before the race?
Best of luck!
Your stats are similar to mine.
I've did a protien shake with pb an hour before my long run. I did really well with that. The morning food is always tricky. I think I will probably continue with the shake and do a carb and protien the night before.
Thanks for the advice and suggestions. Best wishes to you on your 10K. I'm sure you will do awesome!!!
Jenny
Here is an example: I have read a lot of these articles recently trying to find what works best for me and my pouch and my energy levels:
Success in endurance activity is a result of a multitude of genetic and physiological factors. While many of these factors are out of our control, one major player in the success of the endurance athlete is fluid and nutrient intake in and around training and competition. Therefore in this article I'll describe a few strategies for eating and drinking for a big race.
Fuel Utilization
During endurance activity the body uses muscle glycogen,
Before The Event
Eating a relatively calorie dense meal 2-4 hours before a race or several smaller meals between 2-5 hours before a race is absolutely essential for topping off muscle glycogen levels as well providing blood glucose for the intense activity ahead. By eating this meal, the activity will be fueled by the nutrients provided during the meal and will therefore be able to exercise for quite some time before the body is forced to use stored energy. This can end up delaying fatigue and improving performance. On the other hand, if you fail to eat or eat far too long before a race, your body will have used up all the nutrients from the last meal and even have dipped into stored energy well before you ever step foot on the racecourse. This can lead to premature fatigue and poor race performance.
While it's important not to wait too long between meals before an event, it's equally important not to eat too close to the event. Eating this big meal within 1.5 - 0.5 hours before a race can lead to one of two problems. The first is gastrointestinal distress. You'll simply feel too full or even sick as a result of eating too close to the event. The second is something known as "rebound hypoglycemia". Immediately after eating carbohydrates the hormone insulin is released. Insulin's function is to clear the blood of the ingested carbohydrates and to deliver them to storage sites such as the muscle, the liver, and the adipose tissue. Therefore eating causes hyperglycemia and in response to this, insulin comes along to cause hypoglycemia. Since insulin is the storage hormone, it opposes nutrient mobilization, locking those carbohydrates in the cells for as long as it's hanging around the body.
Now, when eating well before a race, the body is able to clear the blood of carbohydrates, store the nutrients, and get rid of insulin well before it's time to compete. However, if you eat too soon before the race, insulin will still be clearing the blood so that when you start to race, the body will have very few blood carbohydrates (this causes a lethargic feeling) and it will have a hard time mobilizing the stored fuel (this causes early fatigue). Therefore, by eating a big meal 2-4 hours before the race or eating several smaller meals between 2-5 hours before the race, you'll be able to fuel the body's energy needs without causing premature fatigue and hypoglycemia. If you couple this eating strategy with a sound carbohydrate loading strategy (see sidebar), you can be sure that you'll enter your race full of high octane carbohydrate fuel.
Here is an example of what the pre-race meal should contain:
- Adequate water (1L)
- 4-5g of carbohydrate (300g for a 70kg individual)
- A small amount of protein (20-40g)
- A small amount of fat (10-20g)
While this may seem like a lot of calories, keep in mind that you don't need to eat it all at one sitting. Spreading this meal out over the course of 2 or 3 hours may make it more palatable for you.
- 2 whole eggs
- 3 slices of
whole wheat bread - 2 cups of fresh orange juice
- 2 bananas
- 3 cups of raisin bran
- 1 cup of low-fat milk