Past Posts

11/19/11

Fueling your runs




We ran 7 miles today!!  Whoo-hoo!!  I just looked back and the longest run I’ve EVER done was 8 miles and that was in Nov ’09.  I did a 7.5 mile run in Sept ’10.  But havent run that far again till today!  Whoop!!

And let me tell you, today was so much different than all the other runs we’ve done out at the lake!  And what was different you ask?!  Fuel!  I fueled my body totally different today and much much more than I have been doing in the past. 

It’s 2pm right now and usually by this time on a Saturday after our long run, Jen and I are dead and more than likely either struggling to keep our eyes open or taking a nap.  We have tried and tried to figure out why we are so beat on Saturdays and why we are just good for nothing else.  It’s kind of been a bummer b/c you dont want to waste your Saturday being dead tired.  And it’s also been discouraging to see how these long runs (5-7 miles so far) just kill us! 

So normally after a run we stay at the lake and eat a packed lunch we bring.  Usually this has been a PBJ sandwich or a meat/cheese sandwich, some chips of some sort, a fruit of some kind and lots and lots of water.  Maybe throw in an oatmeal square or something . . .
But today we were suppose to go help clean at the orphanage afterwards (ended up not going though b/c they finished before we could get there), so we didnt plan on staying at the lake too long and eating lunch at home.

Long story short . . .  This ment we packed different things for our snacks.

An orange for each of us which Jen pre-peeled before we left.  A small pack of sunflower seeds each.  A pack of raisins and then the kicker - a bagel for each of us.  (main reason is because Dee just made a fresh batch and they are SO yummm!!).  But we’ve read many times that bagels are great recovery foods so we thought we’d try it.

So we run at the lake which is somewhere around 2.4 miles around one time.  So we figured around the lake 3 times would be good for our 7 miles.  Each time I come around back to the start, I grab some water and take a potty break (we park our bike there and have all the water/snacks there and there are also bathrooms). 

Normally I dont eat anything on the first round and if I do it might just be 1 bite from my sandwich or something very small.  But I make sure to load on the water, even though I pee like 6 times before we start and also all during the run . . .  But that’s beside the point! 
Anyhow, today though, I grabbed the orange and ate almost all of it on my first time around. 
Felt good on my 2nd time around!
So on my 2nd time to the bike, I ate the rest of the orange, ate 1/2 the pack of sunflower seeds (to mix a protein w/ that carb) and also ate 1/2 the bag of raisins b/c there wasn’t much orange left (for the quick carb/sugar energy).
Felt really strong on my 3rd go around.  And usually by this point, I’m starting to feel dizzy, feeling the heat, feeling dehydrated and just feeling weak.  But though I was tired, I could definitely tell a difference in my body! 

Jen finished before me, like always, and met me when we just had maybe 1/2 a mile to go.  And I was so surprised how good I felt.  It’s not like I wanted to go further, goodness no!  But I just didnt feel like I was about to die or fall over in exhaustion like I normally do.  ALSO- my joints and muscles weren’t as fatigued as normal!  Huge Huge difference in how my knees felt and the muscles in my legs!!  So we drank up more water and then destroyed those bagels!  They were so yummm!  And an excellent recovery for energy!

Driving home I felt good and alert.  We decided to stop at the mall to grab Subway sandwiches for lunch since we dont have much food made at home.

Got home and was still pretty full from the bagel, so showered and got dressed.  And didnt end up eating lunch till around 1:30.  And right now I still have tons of energy!
I’m not even the slightest bit tired and just feel good.  Like I actually gained energy from the run which really never happens for me!

Also, we drank some coconut water.  The balance of the electrolytes you get from fresh coconut water is almost identical to your bodies.  So just as we pulled the bike up to the house, a vendor selling coconuts was walking by dinging his bell  :).  It was perfect timing!  I bought 2 for $1 and we drank the yummy fresh water out of them.  All the calories are in the fleshy part, but the water is actually really good for you.

We also had a good bowl of oatmeal w/ chia seeds for breakfast and I drank a full serving of coffee with it to have a little caffeine boost.  Now I will say, we pretty much eat that every morning for our long runs and have never felt as good as we do today!
We were also conscious last night to have some wholewheat pasta for dinner and I also had a bagel then too.

So I guess my point is that if you are tired from your workouts, have a look at your food and your fuel that you’re giving your body before, during and after those workouts.  And if what you’re doing isnt working, make some changes till you find something that does.  I know that I will definitely be doing this same type of food AND quantity in the future!! 

We shouldnt skimp on the calories during a workout b/c that is the most important time you need that fuel/energy.  Skimp later on dinner or something if you are counting calories.  But I burned close to 1,700 calories today, so I’m not too worried about going over!!  As long as there isnt a huge piece of cheesecake in my future!  Ya never know!!

No comments:

Post a Comment