One thing it has taken me a while to learn is the importance of taking in calories during a run - even a "short" run of 45 mins to an hour. During 100 milers, I am pretty careful to get between 200 - 250 calories per hour in, but on shorter runs, I tend to be lazy about it and think, "It's just an hour, I'll eat after."
I don't normally eat before a regular weekday run. I get up, get dressed and get out of the door before my brain can object. But, I have started making it a point to do a gel (100 calories) before I head out the door - usually with a little caffeine in it and the difference is very easy to see. My daily runs are better when I fuel before and during if the run is over 30 minutes.
I have tried many gels over the years - it is just the most convenient way to get in concentrated calories and carbs when you are on the move. I have also done the "all real food" thing before and it works great as well, it is just a lot more work and preparation. The gel that I have settled on for the last few years, thanks to a recommendation by Fawn, is Huma - energy gels with chia seeds and all natural ingredients. Most of the other gels out there have ingredients I can not pronounce where as my favorite Huma - lemonade - is made with cane sugar, water, brown rice syrup, lemon juice, powdered chia seeds, sea salt and natural caffeine. (click the image to check out their website)
It doesn't make sense to run for your health and take in garbage as fuel.
Once I get closer to two hour plus runs, I move over to Skratch Superfuel Drink Mix. This was a life saver on my last 100 miler. I can carry a 400 calorie mixture in one of my water bottles, and electrolyte water in the other bottle. I set my watch to beep every 15 minutes which reminds me to drink some of my Skratch, and I know that every two hours I need to be finished with that bottle of Skratch.
Liquid nutrition is just the easiest thing for me. I drink a lot when I run, so it is a no brainer for me to get my nutrition this way. Once again, Skratch is the cleanest option I have found for this, and it is not too sweet like other products I have used in the past. (Tailwind used to work wonders for me, but 60 miles in to a 100 miler, and the sweetness would make me quit drinking all together.)
Skratch ingredients: Cluster dextrin, fructose, citric acid, sodium citrate, lemon oil, lime oil, lemon juice, lime juice. Click the image above to check out their website.
AS I HAVE ALWAYS SAID - nutrition is highly individual. This is just what works for me - for now. This will change at some point as well, it always does. These are just two good products that work well for me, and if you are searching for something, they may be worth trying. Like everything in life, the cleaner, purer products are a little more expensive, but like I said, if you are trying to be strong and fit, why would you fuel with garbage?
Enough for today. I will go over what I do for recovery in another post. Hope someone finds value in this.
Happy running!
Edie
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