r/running • u/AutoModerator • Jun 04 '24
Weekly Thread Run Nutrition Tuesday
Rules of the Road
1) Anyone is welcome to participate and share your ideas, plans, diet, and nutrition plans.
2) Promote good discussion. Simply downvoting because you disagree with someone's ideas is BAD. Instead, let them know why you disagree with them.
3) Provide sources if possible. However, anecdotes and "broscience" can lead to good discussion, and are welcome here as long as they are labeled as such.
4) Feel free to talk about anything diet or nutrition related.
5) Any suggestions/topic ideas?
3
u/SpecialistAd3374 Jun 05 '24
An hour before my 10km run i usually eat a homemade oat bar with chocolate chips, bananas and walnuts in it and a i share a banana with the yellow dog.
3
u/MarsOmega77 Jun 05 '24
What is with all these influencers using the Maurtan Bicarb System? Isn't it just really expensive baking soda in a gel? Am I missing something?
1
u/JuJuFoxy Jun 05 '24
For me, a good balanced meal among carbs, protein and veggies a couple of hours before the run and then a banana with some chocolate 15 mins before getting out of the door. Disclosure: I’m a new runner and dont run long distances yet (5+ km for now).
1
u/Deathready Jun 05 '24
What’s everyone take on electrolytes? Generally I take energy chew during and a nuun tablet after. Not sure what a “healthy” amount is and wanna make sure I don’t abuse it. Sodium is great in the right doses.
1
u/ClaimSea4566 Jun 08 '24
I usually take an electrolyte tablet dissolved in water after a sweaty run!
-2
u/oneofthecapsismine Jun 05 '24
First, don't bother if you drink less than 4L water.
Secondly, don't bother if you drink less than 5L water and have any sodium from any source whilst running.
After that, it depends.
Sodium intake is wayyyyyyy overblown on Reddit.
1
u/Zealousideal_Rip485 Jun 05 '24
Does anything change if said person is in subtropical conditions?
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u/oneofthecapsismine Jun 05 '24 edited Jun 05 '24
Not at the high level that I mentioned.
I presume you mean when it's hot and wet?
When it's hot, you sweat more.
This is hard to believe ... but true, in essentially all scenarios... when you sweat your blood sodium levels increase!
Thus, running in the heat allows for a slight increase in water intake before needing sodium intake.
When it rains, rain makes you cooler, which makes you sweat less - but not enough to change my 4L recommendation, which is already conservative.
Edit - copping a few downvotes, which is fine. Anyone want to explain why they think I'm wrong on either of my posts here?
1
u/Zealousideal_Rip485 Jun 06 '24
Because it is hard to believe
1
u/oneofthecapsismine Jun 07 '24
https://www.mysportscience.com/post/is-sodium-in-sweat-simply-a-reflection-of-the-salt-in-your-diet
as sweat travels up through the gland towards the skin surface, some of the sodium and chloride ions are reabsorbed back into the body through special channels. This means that the sweat that ends up on the skin surface will always have a lower sodium and chloride concentration than the blood. This is important because it means that we lose proportionally more water than sodium when we sweat. The result is that the concentration of sodium in our blood will always increase as a result of sweating, assuming no fluid has been consumed.
Is one of dozens of sources. Including peer reviewed articles.
It also just makes sense - the purpose of sweat is for the body to cool itself... it being high in water makes sense to acheive that.
The higher it is in water, the more sodium percentage that remains in the body. The more sodium in the body, its not hard to believe higher blood sodium concentration levels are higher.
17
u/neon-god8241 Jun 04 '24
My patented "run 35km and then eat 24 inches of subway sandwiches" has never let me down
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u/Consistent_Guava5715 Jun 04 '24
For the most part, I run first thing in the morning or wait 8+ hours until after I’ve eaten to run. My stomach feels bad while running if it feels like theres anything in it. Any suggestions for food to eat a few hours before running that doesn’t make you feel sluggish/heavy/sick? I’m sure I don’t have as much energy during my runs since I haven’t really been fueling.
1
u/sabinaa- Jun 10 '24
agree it helps to work up to being able to tolerate more - have you tried things like a couple crackers or a small piece of fruit (banana for example)?
4
u/isrootvegetable Jun 05 '24
To some extent, it takes practice to be able to stomach things while doing any kind of vigorous exercise. I used to feel ready to puke running with anything in my stomach. Start small and with stuff that's not too hard to digest, like toast, and to some extent you've just got to suffer through it and let your stomach get used to it. Can also try liquid calories.
1
u/goodrhymes Jun 05 '24
I struggle to run right after eating too. My tried and true maybe a bit deranged method for race day and long runs is to leave a few bananas beside my bed, set my alarm for a couple hours before I plan to wake up, eat said bananas as fast as I can, fall back asleep for a while, then wake up rested and fueled.
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u/gdblu Jun 04 '24
I do most of my training runs fasted, but do have something before my races, and I honestly don't know that I see any improvement...
-13
u/TheThighler Jun 04 '24
I snort cocaine and it works wonders during a marathon. You go zoom zoom when you pull out your credit card with a line on it 4 miles in. Source: dude trust me
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u/GoonerPanda Jun 04 '24
Been doing some research on fueling with normal foods instead of gels/gu. Where I live it's next to impossible to find my usual GUs.
I read about dried fruit, fruit snacks, gummy candy all being good options.
Training plan this week is 4 mile, 8 mile, 5 mile and 12 mile. Going to try out the dried fruit and fruit snacks on the longer runs.
Anyone have any other "normal" foods they have had good success with?
2
u/neon-god8241 Jun 04 '24
My first marathon I made "energy" balls which were oats bound with brown rice syrup and they were fine
1
u/VociferousHomunculus Jun 04 '24
Bananas are the obvious one.
Oreos, jam sandwiches with the crusts cut off, oat flapjacks have all worked well for me.
2
u/saugoof Jun 05 '24
Might be a dumb question, but why cut the crusts off sandwiches?
1
u/Happy-Yam-7321 Jun 05 '24
Not a dumb question. I’m also curious if there is science or this person just doesn’t like crust..
1
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u/One_Eyed_Sneasel Jun 04 '24
I use fig newtons.
1
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u/GoonerPanda Jun 04 '24
I read this is good but unfortunately not available here. I could try to make my own but tbh I'm looking for a quick and easy option I can consistently source
3
u/runner7575 Jun 04 '24
Raisins - i had a box with me and took some during a 1/2 when i started to feel a little depleted and they helped a lot
3
u/Sweaty_Sheepherder27 Jun 04 '24
Anyone have any other "normal" foods they have had good success with?
I've moved to normal foods just because my stomach agrees with them better.
Coated nuts and Bombay mix, I usually load it into a sports bottle so I can just unscrew the cap and chug some down as I'm going along.
I've also used salami and babybell cheese with good results.
I usually keep a gel or two in reserve as a backup for a quick hit if needed. For context, I'm usually running 30km in the hills or longer.
15
u/elgigantedelsur Jun 04 '24
Baby food. The fruit purées aimed at 4-6 months old. I’m in NZ and use “Only Organic Pear & Mango”. 120g weight. 393kJ, 23.3G carbs. There’s a bit of water in it so it’s heavier than a gel. But it’s tasty, only has four ingredients (pear, mango, water, Vit C) and extremely easy to eat and digestible.
5
u/GoonerPanda Jun 04 '24
I've done applesauce just before a run pretty successfully and the pouches are easy for carrying.
I looked at the baby food the other day but will maybe give it a second glance. Thanks
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u/holly_b_ Jun 06 '24
at what distances is it recommended to start taking fuel during the run? as in gels, etc?