Eating and fitness

[richbanks1]

I'm about to begin training for a marathon. I'm a fairly good runner, so the training aspect of preparing for the marathon is not the problem. Eating the right foods, though, is, in part b/c I love rich, creamy, sweet foods and b/c my wife makes one of the best (and most fattening--you know, heart attack on a plate) cream sauces I've ever tasted.

One thing that might help, would be a good cookbook featuring recipes for serious athletes (or at least, in my case, those that pretend to be). If the food is tasty, my wife might even cook it (she's a stay at home mom right now and is doing the lion's share of the cooking) and I'd certainly eat it.

Any suggestions?

[Laura]

Hello

I really admire your marathon goal. My goal is a half-marathon for now. Ultimately, my goal is to do an olympic distance triathlon. Anyway, I digress. I would look at some of the stuff Jeff Galloway puts out. He has a web page and a news letter (not to mention a number of books) that deal with marathon training. Any one of those may give the information you need or point you in the right direction. Good luck!

[richbanks1]

Thanks, Laura. I've used one Jeff Galloway's books for about four or five years (I can't remember the title, though). His advice has helped me immensely. I'll check out the Web site.

food girl, I had hoped to run Memphis in early December, but I recently moved and won't get a chance to start training until mid- to late October. I'll probably do one after the holidays, maybe Birmingham, where I've just moved; I think it's in Feb. I ran New Orleans last Feb, my first, and it was a great time of year for me.
The tip on carbo intake after a run is something I've never thought about, but makes plenty of sense. I'll definitely check that out. Do you usually use sports gel such as Goo or Powergel, or do you eat something else?

Thanks

[food girl]

Forever I was opposed to sport bars and gels prefering to stick with cereal bars, fig newtons and little debbie oatmeal pies http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/eek.gif!

I soon learned that these things don't travel well. I really like the chocolate power gels. The caffiene content (1o mg) is not that big compared to a coke or coffee. They are easy to eat while moving and they don't do anything weird if you leave them in your car for a month or so. They really pull me out of the bonk quickly. You may want to keep other treats (bananas, juice, milk, bagels) to eat right after running.

I still can't do the bars. They are so dry. I feel like I drink half of my fluid trying to get them down. I think it is good to experiment...just don't experiment on the day of the race!


One thing I learned about sport nutrtion - lots of opinions, very few facts!

I graduated from Samford and went to grad school at UAB. I am quite familiar with Birmingham!

[food girl]

I did a century (100 mile) bike ride in June. I did a lot of research about training diet.

Some important tips:
* Keep well hydrated. You should drink a 16 - 24 oz water bottle each hour of exercise.
* You will probably want to use something like gatorade to help replete sodium and potassium lost in sweat. Those expensive rehydration formulas are not always as good as good o' Gatorade.
* Try to consume .75 grams of Carbohydrate for every pound you weigh immediatly after your training runs. This would be the equivalent of 115 grams for a 150 lb person.
I thought this was the hardest thing to do because after a hard ride I just wanted to get home, get a shower and go OUT TO EAT. If you wait that long, you miss the window of time where you can replete lost glycogen quickly.

I think you could still indulge in the cream sauces. You just wouldn't want to do it right before a run.

Which Marathon are you doing?
Lisa

[richbanks1]

Opinions? Us runners and fitness freaks? I can't imagine.

Actually power gel is what saved my marathon. A friend had left some at the hotel where I was staying, and I decided to take it along, even though I had never eaten while running, only afterwards. I didn't have much, though, and wanted to save what I could so I could share with a guy that was running with me.

Well, when I got to the water station at about mile 16, there was a guy holding out a piece of cardboard with some goo-looking substance on it. The guy in front of me took some from the board and lifted it to his mouth. Heck, I thought he was eating it, so the stuff must be goo. Apparently he was just putting the stuff on his lips, b/c it turned out to be vaseline. I on the other hand attempted to gulp down about a half-handful. I spent the next half mile spitting that stuff and laughing at myself for being such a novice. There's a lesson in their somewhere.

Thanks for your help. Maybe I'll see you 'round B'ham running or maybe not--I run in the Homewood area in the wee hours when few people are out and about.

[Star]

Yeah hoo for us runners!! I'm a runner myself, started training for a marathon last year, but ran into some health issues. Soon though. Just wanted to let you know that the Vanilla Bean Gu is awsome! I'm a "youngen" though, (20) so perhaps my taste buds are different. I think the chocolate Power Bars aren't too bad either. Good luck and now give yourself a BREAK!!!
~Diona

[richbanks1]

Thanks, Diona. Yeh, I've often heard about marathons that it's the person that makes it to the race in good health that wins. The training is so brutal and long.

Thanks for the advice on the goo.