Nutrition: Real food?

Am I the only one who gets

Am I the only one who gets hideous side-aches from eating prior to or during long runs? Even Gu doubles me over after a few miles. I ate half a banana mid-way during my first half-marathon and was in terrible pain by mile 10. So, I totally relate to the "Running on Empty" article- for me it's black coffee before I go out. I am a high protein eater anyway- carbs just jack with my blood sugar.

I do carry water w/ EmergenC on warmer/hot days and maybe suck on a gu gel to keep mouth from drying out, otherwise I'm good for about 10/11 miles on nothing. Never really run farther so I don't know about 13 or 15 miles.

Recently I started eating a dill pickle or two immediately after long runs and I think there is something to them helping with recovery.
 
sloutre wrote:After reading

sloutre said:
After reading that I don't want to become carb dependant. But the article says that during races it's recommended to not fast:"And on race day, forget about going low-carb. Keflezighi, for example, was still downing sport drink 25 miles into his New York City win. "Racing, you want your glycogen to be high," Baar says, because that -- along with the fat you've trained your body to burn -- delivers a winning combination of long-haul endurance and bursts of strength."So at some point during training I need to test was drink/food would work for me for that race. In fact I would not mind the Gatorade and its chemicals if it's just for race da
I agree about racing. I've never done a race longer than 10K, but I can't imagine doing a longer race without at least re-hydrating some.

But with training runs, I generally keep a pretty modest pace, and don't kill myself out there.
 
I think dill pickles just

I think dill pickles just have alot of salt :). NFL teams use pickle juice as an alternative to Gatoradeactually - you probably just can't take the sugar. Fructose intolerance is pretty common. My husband only runs while fasting and he does fine. Most people could get used to taking in much less - water and food - during runs. Races I am a maniac, though - as much Gatorade as I can get.
 
Food:In Born to Run, there's

Food:

In Born to Run, there's a bit about Scott Jurek preferring "real food" over gels - I haven't tried it yet, but tortillas with beans or pitas with hummus both sound like they could be awesome or very messy. Has anyone else tried?

I haven't tried it yet, because my long runs are less than 90 minutes so far, but I'll probably either rave or lament the results when I get there.

Drink:

Instead of Gatorade, I've tried V8. (Almost the same amount of calories, fewer sugar-carbs, a littl fiber - which might not sit well in the stomach for some people, rediculous amounts of sodium (420g/8oz. vs. Gatorade2's 110g/8oz), and lots of potassium (467g/8oz.... G2 label doesn't tell me how much Gatorade has).

My results:

I ended up mixing the v8 with water (about a 1:1 mix) to carry one bottle instead of 2.

V8 tastes nasty. It tasted the same to me when it was diluted. I may end up just blending my own veggie juice, which would allow me to tweak electrolyte & carb levels, and couldn't possibly taste any worse.

My guts accepted it with no problems, but I've never had problems tolerating specific foods/drinks during a run.

v8 will freeze into a nasty-flavoured slushy and clog up the water bottle spout if it is cold enough out. I had been secretly hoping the sodium would prevent this. (I was re-using a G2 sport bottle with those awesome orange tops that I find so easy to use on a run. I'm guesssing a hydration pack with a tube would freeze even sooner, and the original 12 oz. v8 bottle would have worked fine if I'd been willing to deal with the screw off top.)
 
You are on to something

You are on to something JSchwab- I sweat whether it's 20 degrees or 80 so salt is usually what I crave- Interesting though is that I feel so much better when I remember to eat the pickle. I didn't know about fructose intolerance being so common. Sheesh, add that to dairy intolerance! I am definitely a protein and veggie girl. I like the V-8 idea a lot! Probably wouldn't give me a sideache. Seriously, no-one gets those?
 
I am a Real Food Eater... 

I am a Real Food Eater... and I don't like to run more than 10 without eating something. I start to get insanely hungry around mile 9, to the point that I can't concentrate on what I am doing, and I start fantasizing about waltzing into people's houses and raiding the fridge .

I've been doing really well with cereal, peanuts, and raisins mixed together, but I can eat just about anything. When I was training for my fall marathon, I'd typically do my long runs while my husband hit the grocery store. So, we'd have hardly anything left in the house anyway. I'd be packing three pretzels, a crumbled-up rice cake, some blueberries, shredded wheat, saltines, two tortilla chips, oreos... you get the picture.

The key, for me, is to chew everything really well. However, for me, if I wait until I'm starving, I won't have the patience.

I CANNOT handle those gels. My husband and I got one as some kind of sample back in the 90s. I think when we were intoxicated we tried to figure out what to do with it. At first we thought it was hair gel. Next, we thought it might be a suppository. After debating whether it was or was not supposed to go in the rear, we couldn't bring ourselves to eat it. I've since tried them, but they make me gag and they hurt the roots of my teeth. But... just FYI... Gu Roctane? The instructions never say whether the product goes in the mouth or the rear.
 
I used to get side aches

I used to get side aches REALLY badly when I ran. 3 out of 5 runs I would have it happen, sometimes even if I had not eaten recently. :puzzled: I have not had it happen since I started BFR, but I have not run longer than 5 miles yet so I'm not sure if its actually gone.
 
Abide wrote:Here is my new

Abide said:
Here is my new one, peanut butter, honey, raisins, sunflower seeds rolled into a ball and then coated with a generous layer of dried coconut to make it less sticky.

this sounds great. of course i am imagining a softball-sized one which would probably be, like, 62,000 calories...

EDIT: make that basketball
 
Read "Why We Run" by Bernd

Read "Why We Run" by Bernd Heinrich. He follows a carb-depletion strategy in the weeks leading up to his win at the 50K US Nationals. That sort of strategy apparently used to be followed heavily by early ultra runners.

I tend to agree with that camp as well as the real foods camp about food during a long run. I find that I don't start needing food on a long run until I take in that first bit of food. Then my blood sugar goes on a roller coaster that leads to a big bonk eventually.

But I feel like at some point during a really long run, you need to eat something. And if you do, it should be something real. Those gels and whatnot are just a sugar crash waiting to happen.