Running on Empty

A client I worked with came into my office with the following scenario; “In two marathons I’ve run, I perform well the first half and then struggle to reach the finish line. I eat oatmeal and yogurt about an hour before. I drink sports drinks and eat energy gels throughout the race. After about two hours, I get stomach cramps that slow me down. Although I know that nutrition is important, I can’t get it to work for me. How can I use nutrition to help me perform well throughout my marathon?”

There are some basic goals of nutrition to meet BEFORE exercise. The first one is to make sure you have an optimal fuel blend. Nutrition during prolonged exercise requires the proper mix and timing of fluids, carbohydrates and electrolytes. Too little fluid or too much carbohydrate can result in cramping and other intestinal problems.

The second goal would be to make sure you to get adequate fluid to replace sweat losses. Dehydration can cause fatigue and impair performance. Knowing your sweat rate will help you determine the right amount of fluid to drink.

Runners are more than just what they eat. Training, how well you slept, stress and the weather—not just what, how much, and when you ate or drank—affect how well you run. Most runners know intellectually that food affects performance, but most don’t take time to really examine what works best for their running.

Foods that leave one runner feeling strong may leave another feeling depleted. Runners are different sizes and genders, run at different paces, all of which changes their caloric and carbohydrate needs. Some people have stomachs of steel, others have sensitive systems. To find out what works best for you, you have to experiment and take notes. By keeping a training log and keeping detailed notes will help you determine what is most effective for your running.

If you find yourself feeling fatigued after an early morning run despite getting plenty of rest and are properly training, nutrition is probably the culprit. Most of what we eat the night before is used up in the morning. If you are doing an intense or long run, eating a few hundred calories more could be all you need to keep your energy up.

To ensure you are seeing the whole nutritional picture, record how well you hydrate and what you eat before and after a run. Record the two meals or snacks that most affect your workout as well as quantities and the time of your meals. Start by recording your usual eating patterns for a week then change only one aspect at a time, whether it’s the time of when you eat, the kind of food, or the amount. Test the change on few runs and see if it makes any differences in how you feel. For example, if you are eating an easily digestible carbohydrate like a banana or oatmeal, and it is not working for you, try eating less or eating earlier.

It is also a good idea to look at the nutritional ratio on your plate. Are you getting enough protein, carbohydrates and fat? Your breakfast of scrambled eggs, yogurt and orange juice might be fine on rest days but replacing the eggs with oatmeal on days when you run at lunch would boost your carbohydrate supply and boost your energy. Adding protein like nuts to a pre run snack of pretzels could help you feel more satisfied before an evening run.

Another idea would be to explore your eating when you are doing a variety of running workouts in order to see how changes impact various workouts. If you work on your fueling while preparing for a race, do so early in your training; the last four weeks before a race is the time to stick with what has worked best up to this point.

If you have special concerns such as a medical condition, food intolerances or just want a more detailed analysis of your fueling, working with a Sports Registered Dietitian/Nutritionist would be beneficial. A nutrition plan based on YOUR needs can help maximize performance and increase energy.

Vivian Delman, MPS,RD,CDN is the Sports Registered
Dietitian/Nutritionist at Nutrition Performance Center
in Syosset, N.Y.
516 921-1295 npc4results.com