Any marathon runners out there?
If I was asked this question a few years back, I would have responded with an emphatic "no way Jose!"
I used to loathe running, unless I had to for basketball or volleyball practices, but long distances? Nope! I was in awe of my friends who ran cross country or for our school's track team. Why run for fun? Why especially run long distances in a short amount of time under a tremendous amount of pressure for fun?
It was not until college that I finally understood what is known as the "runner's high." Running was my form of exercise because I was no longer committed to daily sports practices; it helped (and still does) me stay in shape without the school routine.
The hard part is getting started, but once you've passed that first mile (for me), you feel like you can keep going, and going, and going!
However, if you're running long distances, then you also need enough fuel to provide energy for this lovely adventure.
How do you do that, you might ask? Well, it starts with hydration! As, I've stated in previous posts, you want to stay well hydrated because you're already thirsty even before your brain sends the thirst signal. Drinking enough water helps to replenish the water that is lost or will be lost during running or physical activity. This is important because water helps with the transport of vitamins and nutrients to each of the different systems in your body! To avoid side-aches, start drinking a couple of hours before you plan to do your cardio.
Also, if you're running or preforming a physical activity for longer than an hour, you may want to consider drinking a sports drink or water with electrolytes to replenish energy stores. This way you can rely on the liquid source of energy instead of a food source, avoiding side aches.
Plain water is sufficient hydration for activities lasting less than an hour!
Okay, so you've got the hydration down, what about the food fuel?
Since glucose is the body's preferred form of energy, this means you'll want to provide your body with carbohydrates. Higher carbohydrate diets aid endurance runners because they increase the glycogen stores, which provide more energy when needed and help prevent fatigue. (Glycogen - stored form of glucose when not in use.) Complex carbs, like whole grains, fruits, and vegetables, provide essential B vitamins, fiber, and iron!
Keep the fat intake low and the protein intake moderate because these macronutrients do not provide the preferred form of energy for the body. These macronutrients are also digested more slowly, so you'll feel it in your stomach when you're active... Ick.
What about Carbo-loading? Don't I need energy for my activity?
Well yes and no. Carbo-loading, consuming a large amount of carbs a few days or a week before the activity, is beneficial to those who are running extremely long distances like half marathons or full marathons, etc. These athletes especially need lots of energy because they're preforming intense aerobic activity for way more than an hour. Consuming lots of carbs before running or any other physical activity with a duration of an hour or less is unnecessary; plus, the unused energy will be converted and stored in the body.
Alrighty! So marathon runners, eat up! Make sure you provide your body with enough energy to get yourself through the race!
Afterwards, don't forget to replenish your body's depleted stores with carbohydrates and some protein. This helps with the resynthesis of glycogen and muscle. Research has shown that the first fifteen minutes after a workout are critical! Eating carbs is one of the best ways to replenish the glycogen stores because you just used your body's glucose to run the race! Also, by replacing the carb stores, some researchers have found that complex carbs also help decrease the breakdown of protein and enhance the retention of protein. Yay for protein metabolism!
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