Monday, August 23, 2010

Long Run - Short Nutrition

I got up early on Sunday to head for my long run - 19km! I toasted some whole meal bread, and added some pb. I grabbed some sports drink to put in my backpack as I wanted to make sure I was hydrated enough and headed out. It was a really nice morning, I ran along the waterfront, and got into my rhythm once I hit the bays. I paced myself and it was an easy run, until just before the airport, and almost half way. My stomach started playing up, I thought to myself I could make the half way point, about 500 metres away and then head back (via the closest bathroom!), but about six steps later, I knew I needed to turn back asap.

I made it the the bathroom, back along the bay. The toast had not agreed with me at all. But I had used it as fuel before a run, as I walked for a bit, just to make sure all was okay. I realised that yeah I had eaten toast before runs before, but only short runs. HUGE MISTAKE! But a valuable lesson learned. For me, and maybe for others some food works for short runs, that doesn't work for long ones. Oats, milk and berries works fine for my long runs - but I had run out of oats. Oh yeah, I'm stocked now! The run back was fine, I took it easy, and beat myself up about it a little. But I'm glad learned the lesson now, and not on race day.

It was a pretty busy workout weekend, I also did 3 x 1 hour spin classes back to back on Saturday morning for charity! Needless to say, I was quite tired Sunday afternoon people!



What do you eat before you run?

2 comments:

Kathryn said...

I'm the opposite - toast + pb or banana is okay but anything with milk not so good. And sugar makes me really sick.

Kate said...

You are SO inspirational!!

I've found PB and wholegrain toast is my go to breakfast for long walks.