After months of hard training, every runner wants to perform their best on race day. There are a few culprits for a bad race - inclement weather, poor pacing - but few seem to strike as often as gastrointestinal distress. Whether it manifests as nausea, vomiting, mid-race bathroom stops, or cramping, research published in Human Kinetics Journals suggests that up to 90% of runners experience symptoms of GI distress on race day. Severe GI distress can play out in one of two scenarios on ...
Nutrition
Nutrition for Injury Recovery
Today's post is a guest post from Holly at The Run Experience! The Run Experience is another fantastic resource for runners, especially on preventing injuries. Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine, said "let food be thy medicine;" while food will not substitute for a treatment protocol and possible physical therapy, your diet can improve the rate of recovery from injury. Holly discusses nutrition for injury recovery in today's post. Thank you to Holly! Injuries happen. And ...
Should You Carb Load Before a Marathon?
The energy demands of the marathon are different than that of even the 10K or even half marathon. Part of what makes a marathon so challenging is the chance of bonking; your nutrition before and during the race can mitigate this risk and help you run strong and steady through the end. Carb loading is traditionally viewed as part of a marathon nutrition strategy, but does it effectively work? What Exactly is Carb Loading? The human body can only store enough glycogen for two hours to ...
Why Potatoes are an Ideal Performance Food for Runners
This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Potatoes USA. All opinions are 100% mine. This year, I transitioned from using gels as fuel on long runs and races to whole foods. Many of the runners I work with use whole foods as well. One question I’ve received about fueling with whole foods regards flavor - what are some good options if you prefer savory to sweet? The answer? The humble potato. Whether you choose russets, reds, or yellows, the potato is an ideal ...
Fueling with Whole Foods during a Race
I previously shared here how one change I made to my running in 2018 was fueling with whole foods versus gels. I started this change early in the year and tested it throughout an entire training cycle and goal race. I want to share how fueling with whole foods during a race played out since we all know that training and race day can be two different stories when it comes to fueling. When I began using whole foods for fueling during long runs, I had some reservations about using them on ...