Thursday, June 21, 2007

Race Nutrition...

Two posts in one day? This guy must be nervous...

Tom and I are discussing race nutrition. Generally, my "First Breakfast" are my vitamins and prescriptions. I get dressed and run after that. The distance doesn't matter at home. I will eat my oatmeal and yogurt after the run.

I have trained for my half-marathon with a packet of goo at 45 minutes (or 4 miles because the water stations are every two miles) and again at 1 1/2 hours. That seemed to work great for me. Keep in mind that a normal day is me getting up by 7:00 AM and to start my daily running between 8:30 and 9 AM.

Saturday, I will have to get up @ 4:30 AM. Now, I am pretty much convinced that there is no such real time like 4:30 AM. I have to have my coffee, do my "First Breakfast," and pack the car to get out the door by 5:30 AM. It is an hour or so to Georgetown, Colorado. The last shuttles heads for the starting line @ 7:15 AM for the 8:00 AM start. Right now, the plan is to have my friends drive me up to the starting line.

Tom thinks that the gap of 3 1/2 hours is too much for a half-marathon event without some food. He suggests (minimally) that I should eat another goo packet 15 minutes before that start. He also thinks that I should have a small portion of oatmeal before we leave the house. That would give my system 2 1/2 hours to settle down before the race start.

Now, I ask for advice. I never thought about this situation during training. Oatmeal seems to set just fine with me. What would you do if it were you?

3 Comments:

Blogger Maddy said...

I don't know what to tell you.

I know that you never want to try anything new on race day. But I also think that's a big gap without any nutrition.

Hopefully some others have some ideas for you!

I'm really excited for you! One more day!

5:12 AM  
Blogger Susan said...

I agree: no new stuff on race day.

But my routine does include oatmeal! Oatmeal when I get up, plus 16 oz of water, run about an hour after that. I have the oatmeal, frankly, so I can 'rid my system of what has been sitting in it all night' just to tell ya! It always seems to work.

I think adding a pre-run goo would not be the end of the world. I agree, you need more nutrition for such an endeavor!!!

11:39 AM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Good luck tomorrow!

Now, I ask for advice. I never thought about this situation during training. Oatmeal seems to set just fine with me. What would you do if it were you?

If oatmeal sets with you, then have some before you leave. Just be cautious that you might need to hit the porta potty before race start with the extra fiber. And actually, if you can get "the system to go" before race start, that's a bonus!

The short answer is that if you are hungry before race start, eat something! Eat something even if is not something you normally eat in the morning, just something that is not new to you and that you know your body handles well.

12:28 PM  

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