With only 5 days to go to Cork City Marathon, we should be well into the tapering & TLC phase of marathon training. The tapering phase should involve a few short, gently paced runs to keep limber and the TLC phase includes some GENTLE massage (please don't go getting your best deep tissue therapist to dig holes in your legs this week!!!) and perhaps a maintenance session with your fascial stretch therapist .
So, those of you who have been spending your spring doing long runs, speed sessions, tempo runs and Kenyan hills, are now probably going into withdrawal as you try to occupy your time doing something other than hard training. This is probably a good time to be thinking about nutrition and hydration if you have not already started! If, up to today, you have been taking very little fluid on board, then don't start by sucking down H2O on its own. Some people will tell you to put a few pinches of salt and a teaspoon of sugar into 500mls of water, but these days, there are much more palatable options for hydration that won't result in hyponatraemia. While sports drinks may be palatable, they are often high in sugar and can result in highs and dips in blood sugar levels so pick an electrolyte supplement that won't dilute electrolytes and has zero sugar. Drinking water on its own is ok too but keep an eye on the colour of your urine and if it's looking very clear, pull back on the hydration a little.
Current advice dictates that during your race, you should drink no more than 800mls/hr so to prevent low blood sodium levels. In other words, only drink when you are thirsty during your race, don't force fluids on yourself (Noakes, 2007).
Ok, so back to pre race nutrition. If you're not into this business of supplementation and you have taken the clever choice of staying well hydrated in advance of your event, it might be worth considering the types of foods you can eat to help your body work at its best.
Here are a few 'sciencey' bits for you;
PH Buffering- prevent muscle fatigue
Intense bouts of prolonged activity produces lactic acid as most people know (the stuff that has you aching for days after a good workout) and without getting too scientific, this dissociates into H+ and La- resulting in a decrease in muscle PH.
'Why do we care', you may ask.....well, the overall effect is muscle fatigue and muscle cramp.
I'll go into this in lots more detail another day, but in short, runners need to be eating alkalising foods to bring PH up in order to create a 'buffering' effect. Foods to alkalinise the blood include tomatoes, green veg, dark green salad leaves, lemons and limes, almonds and brazil nuts....and yes, my 'magic' food- avocados. Your other option is to supplement with sodium bicarbonate/ citrate but unless you want to visit every portaloo on the course, this is an option to be tried and tested long in advance of race day.
Sodium & Potassium- Cramp Prevention
Too much salt will cause dehydration and as it is plentiful in modern foods and meat,most people will not need to supplement- although a sachet or two in your race belt may not go astray if you sweat heavily. Potassium is present in veg & fruit with Kiwis usually having more than bananas!
Magnesium - Cramp prevention through aiding muscle contraction, metabolism of protein.
Veg, fruit & whole grain cereal.......buyer beware with this one; processed grains have been shown to be pro inflammatory so stick with whole grains and check your food labels!
FINALLY - Carb Loading
Be careful of this one folks. This doesn't mean eating a portion of pasta large enough for 6 people the night before a race. Researchers at the University of Western Australia found that by taking 10g of carb per Kg of body weight over the course of a single day following a 3 minute bout of high intensity exercise resulted in high levels of glycogen being stored.
this means less impact on you normal diet and pre race training programme.(Fairchild et al, 2002; Bussau et al, 2002).
So, despite the fact that I would love to ramble for another hour....I'm sure your eyes have crossed at this point so I will finish here.
The takeaway message is this ; Fruit (such as kiwis, banana and lemon/lime) = good. Veg, especially the dark green type = great. Proteins such as nuts, eggs, fish and lean meats are great for phosphorous and muscle recovery. And finally - DON'T FORGET THE SUNCREAM!
Happy Running folks
So, those of you who have been spending your spring doing long runs, speed sessions, tempo runs and Kenyan hills, are now probably going into withdrawal as you try to occupy your time doing something other than hard training. This is probably a good time to be thinking about nutrition and hydration if you have not already started! If, up to today, you have been taking very little fluid on board, then don't start by sucking down H2O on its own. Some people will tell you to put a few pinches of salt and a teaspoon of sugar into 500mls of water, but these days, there are much more palatable options for hydration that won't result in hyponatraemia. While sports drinks may be palatable, they are often high in sugar and can result in highs and dips in blood sugar levels so pick an electrolyte supplement that won't dilute electrolytes and has zero sugar. Drinking water on its own is ok too but keep an eye on the colour of your urine and if it's looking very clear, pull back on the hydration a little.
Current advice dictates that during your race, you should drink no more than 800mls/hr so to prevent low blood sodium levels. In other words, only drink when you are thirsty during your race, don't force fluids on yourself (Noakes, 2007).
Ok, so back to pre race nutrition. If you're not into this business of supplementation and you have taken the clever choice of staying well hydrated in advance of your event, it might be worth considering the types of foods you can eat to help your body work at its best.
Here are a few 'sciencey' bits for you;
PH Buffering- prevent muscle fatigue
Intense bouts of prolonged activity produces lactic acid as most people know (the stuff that has you aching for days after a good workout) and without getting too scientific, this dissociates into H+ and La- resulting in a decrease in muscle PH.
'Why do we care', you may ask.....well, the overall effect is muscle fatigue and muscle cramp.
I'll go into this in lots more detail another day, but in short, runners need to be eating alkalising foods to bring PH up in order to create a 'buffering' effect. Foods to alkalinise the blood include tomatoes, green veg, dark green salad leaves, lemons and limes, almonds and brazil nuts....and yes, my 'magic' food- avocados. Your other option is to supplement with sodium bicarbonate/ citrate but unless you want to visit every portaloo on the course, this is an option to be tried and tested long in advance of race day.
Sodium & Potassium- Cramp Prevention
Too much salt will cause dehydration and as it is plentiful in modern foods and meat,most people will not need to supplement- although a sachet or two in your race belt may not go astray if you sweat heavily. Potassium is present in veg & fruit with Kiwis usually having more than bananas!
Magnesium - Cramp prevention through aiding muscle contraction, metabolism of protein.
Veg, fruit & whole grain cereal.......buyer beware with this one; processed grains have been shown to be pro inflammatory so stick with whole grains and check your food labels!
FINALLY - Carb Loading
Be careful of this one folks. This doesn't mean eating a portion of pasta large enough for 6 people the night before a race. Researchers at the University of Western Australia found that by taking 10g of carb per Kg of body weight over the course of a single day following a 3 minute bout of high intensity exercise resulted in high levels of glycogen being stored.
this means less impact on you normal diet and pre race training programme.(Fairchild et al, 2002; Bussau et al, 2002).
So, despite the fact that I would love to ramble for another hour....I'm sure your eyes have crossed at this point so I will finish here.
The takeaway message is this ; Fruit (such as kiwis, banana and lemon/lime) = good. Veg, especially the dark green type = great. Proteins such as nuts, eggs, fish and lean meats are great for phosphorous and muscle recovery. And finally - DON'T FORGET THE SUNCREAM!
Happy Running folks
Does this apply to long cycle races too?
ReplyDeleteHello Missy Angel! Yes it does, absolutely! The thing about cycling is that you will have scheduled stops so make sue to eat low GI, slow energy release foods during these rests. Also, at the end of each day of cycling, plenty of protein is a must for recovery.enjoy!
ReplyDeleteThanks Fiona this is very informative ahead of the Cork City Marathon on Monday next. I am a heavy sweater and can set my watch by the onset of cramp at 23 miles. Monday will be my 13th marathon and the conditions forecast look warm and humid, perfect for salt loss. I used your suggestion of carrying catering salt sachets during my last marathon in Kildare May 13th. It was a little hard to take but definitely staved off cramping. I think that replacing sodium alone (catering salt) is only part of the story. As you correctly mentioned, magnesium is essential for normal cycle of muscle contraction and relaxation. Do you have any thoughts as to the optimal strategy for diet controlled loading of magnesium prior to Monday's marathon? Is sufficient magnesium stored by dietary loading to compensate for losses over 26 miles? Is replacing magnesium on the run an effective cramp preventing strategy? Keep up the good work!!!
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