Hey Athletes!

Hi Everyone!
I've recently began running and was just approved for my surgery (just waiting on date) which will probobly be at the end of February. I was just wondering how long after surgery were you guys able to run and has anyone trained for a half marathon? If so, how do you prepare without being able to consume the recommended carbs? I really would like to sign up for the Disneyland Half Marathon in September but not sure about the logistics.
Thanks!!
Nicole

 Hi Nicole!

I had my surgery in August 2009, lost a ton of weight by December, and started running in earnest Jan 1.  I ran my first 5k mid Jan, and my first half April 1 or so.  I ran my first full in October, 2010.  Just to give you an idea of what's possible.. that said, it took a lot of work and pain.. but definitely worth it.  

I was low to no carbs (under 30 a day)  pretty much until my half.  After that I worked in more, but still was probably under 100 right up to the marathon, more right before long runs and races.  

You can run, and there is a lot of misinformation and misguided info about carbs.
You will find that with time you will be able to eat different things.  There is a large variety of what is out there.  When I first started I couldn't eat gels, I had to mix(dilute) them with water.  I found electrolyte drinks with no carbs (NuuN) Now I'm to the point where I can eat carbs, I can eat sugar, I can eat blah, blah, blah, but it is different for everyone.  You will be pretty close out from your surgery, thats only 7 months, so I wouldn't want to send you down the path to eating crap food, but if you are concerned about needing something, then look for an electrolyte drink like the NuuN or get something like gatorade and water it down. 

Try what  you plan to use prior to the event.  Try some at home where you will be close to your bed and your bathroom just in case it upsets your stomach.  Then take some with you on a short run and see how you do there.

Spend the time and effort to find what you want to use and what works for you before the event, stick with that and don't try anything new right before or during the event.

Some options
Gels, and they are all different, some companies (GU, Hammer, Accel Gel, Powerbar, Cytomax) products sit better in my stomach than others.  For some comparrison of the nutritional info on some of these products  http://www.trisports.com/gels.html

You will have to try them and see what works for you.
Generally people get better easier absorption from liquid than from solids.  Also you might not want something heavy sitting in your stomach when you are running.

Generally any event that takes an hour or so you can do with jus****er.
The half marathon depending on your speed will take quite a bit longer.
I'm not sure what your pace will be so I can't give you any exact info.  For most endurance events 300-400 calories an hour is what I shoot for.  I can get that in one bottle of Infinit Nutrition, or a couple Gel packs squeezed into my bottle of water and shaken to disolve it and mix it up.

Good luck

Scott

I started running at about 1 month out from surgery. I was still obese at that point but no longer MO.

Anyway, what I did when training for tris is to eat what carbs I was going to eat around my workouts. So I'd add a protein drink to my electrolyte drink so it would have 15 g of protein to go with the 15 g of carbs.

Thanks guys! I feel better about it now!!