Run Fuel

Willem208

Barefooters
Jul 14, 2020
11
10
3
21
KZN South Africa
How do you fuel yourself for long runs? I am a newbie to this and have done two runs over 20km so far.
I find that I can run about 10km before I need food or water. I have just been drinking water and eating some dried fruits, nuts, dates, raisins etc for fuel.
So what do you do before, during and after a long run?
Thanks!
Willem
 
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I will usually go for up to two hours without either unless it's hot, then I will drink some water. When I do eat, it's always something easy to digest, so I'd skip the nuts, but if they don't bother you then go for it. It really comes down to what you can keep down, there are no rules. I've found that when I do eat, I need to drink water with the food or I get a stomach ache.
 
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I have a very unscientific approach to running (in other words I suck at this stuff and you should ask other people), but I usually run first thing in the morning and I just have a big glass of water before I start. I can last a couple of hours on the back of that, but I haven't ran much further than a half marathon so I suspect there's probably a limit to this approach that I haven't hit yet. (Dare I use the B word?) If I run later in the morning I try to keep food intake light and have something like a banana about an hour before I go.

I've also done a bit of long distance kayak paddling, and in those events I usually just try to stick to real food rather than gels or electrolytes or fancy woo-woo like that. My last effort was fueled by jam (jelly for the North Americans) sandwiches and my Mum's Christmas cake, and water.

FWIW I think your approach sounds good to me.