We're at number 21 on the list, and if your 21 miles into a run, you'll definitely need to give your body some nutrition to keep it going. This portion of the list will focus around the things you'll want to know about food and nutrition. When training for an ultra your relationship with food will surely change, since you must eat so much and so frequently to fuel your body for all your training runs. Without further ado, the list continues...
21. You burn so many calories training for an ultra, that
you can literally eat all the time and never feel full. This is great while you are training, but once it is over, it is really difficult to get your portion control back on track!
22. To keep your body going during 5 hour training runs it is essential that you
learn to eat & run. Pick foods that are easy to carry and easy to swallow. No need to end a run early because you choked on a handful of jawbreakers. I like fruit, peanut butter sandwiches, pretzels, trail mix, the occasional energy gel, and
energy bites.
23.
Energy bites are awesome! When you find a food that works for you, stick with it. Basically you want something that doesn't upset your stomach, is easy to carry, tastes good, and gives both immediate and sustained energy. For me, energy bites were the answer. My favorite flavor had cranberries, coconut, almonds and crushed espresso beans. Another tip is to add some sea salt to the recipe to help replenish electrolytes.
24. Interesting fact:
you can cook your hand print into a banana. I discovered this while carrying a banana with me for about 1 1/2 hours. It was a moderately warm day, and I was running at an easy pace, but my hand must have gotten hot enough that when I finally decided to open the peel I saw that a perfect brown hand print was cooked into the yellow peel.
25.
Pedialyte is the best drink I've found. Its not thirst quenching, it doesn't takes great(too sugary, I actually dilute it with water), but it helps replace electrolytes better than any sports drink I've tried. I've had several moments during runs where my muscles have been tired, cramped and felt like shutting down. Before I discovered pedialyte that would mean I was on my way to "hitting the wall." Even sports drinks didn't seem to replace electrolytes in my system fast enough. For me, pedialyte is the way to go when my body is feeling depleted.
26.
When you run for hours at a time you get hungry and
get really weird cravings. During the ultra, I had a huge craving for goldfish crackers. I don't know why it happened, because I never eat them. All of a sudden they sounded really good. Luckily one of the aid stations had some, so I gobbled down a handful of them. When I'd run at 4 in the morning I'd get some really weird cravings. Sometimes when I'd run at 4 in the morning, I'd run by Shyler's BBQ. It always smelled so good, and then I'd be craving their chicken-n-sauce for the rest of my run.
27.
It is essential that you cut down on fiber about 3 days before your race! I normally try to get a lot of fiber in my diet in the form of fruits, veggies and whole grains. About 3 days before the ultra, I replaced them with some more starchy forms of carbs like potatoes and pasta. The first day I basically cut the fiber in half. The second day I cut out even more. Then, the day before the race I had virtually no fiber all - just a lot of protein, some fats and starchy carbs. The reason this is essential is to avoid an upset stomach and the dreaded
"runner's trots" that I mentioned in tip #15.
28.
Food becomes more like fuel, and less about enjoyment when you are training for a 50 mile race. You get to the point where you are running so much that you must supply your body with the right fuel to keep it going. I won't say that food lost its taste, but when I was training I didn't ever plan my meals based on what "sounded good." Virtually everything I put into my body was to either help it recover from a run, or to store up energy for the next run.
29. On the day of the 50 mile ultra,
here is a list of the things I can remember eating before and during the race: Before the race I ate a bowl of
homemade Greek yogurt with blueberries, chia seeds and steel cut oatmeal. During the race I consumed 1 1/2 sea salted sweet potatoes(that I made in the hotel room that morning), 15 energy bites, 6 peanut butter sandwich triangles(1 1/2 sandwiches), 2 bananas, a baggie of pretzels, 2
clif shots, 3 Dixie cups of salted nuts, 1 Dixie cup of goldfish crackers, several sports drinks, pedialyte and water with chia seeds mixed in it. I wonder how many calories I consumed?
30. Not nearly as many calories as I consumed after the race...
from the time I finished the race until a week later, all I did was eat! After finishing the race, I ate a veggie burger, sun chips, 2 cookies, a Gatorade and lots of water at the post-race lunch provided by the organizers. As soon as we got back to the hotel room I was still hungry, so I started pounding some trail mix until we decided to leave for dinner. Maren took me to the Cheesecake Factory for my birthday that night. I ate a full meal there, then we brought our cheesecake back to the hotel for a cheesecake party! I also drank a glass of red wine during the "party". After we put the girls to bed, I snacked on some energy bites before I went to bed. I woke up in the middle of the night and finished Maren's meal that she brought home from the Cheesecake Factory along with a couple more energy bites. I continued that type of eating pattern for several days before I finally felt full. Unfortunately, I didn't eat good stuff, I ate like crap, but I felt that I earned it!
We are finally passed the 1/2 mark. I've pretty much exhausted all the tips I can give out as far as preparing your body to run a 50 mile ultra. I've also given you a "heads up" of what to expect if you decide to run one yourselft. All that remains are some cool experiences I had on my journey and some random things I've learned from them.
