What should you eat during a hard endurance event?


One of the perks of being a serious endurance athlete is that you can eat pork with impunity. All that training burns big calories, which can cause real damage to all-you-can-eat buffets.

In fact, it can sometimes feel like you’re hungry all the time—except during a tough workout or run. In such situations, the “fight-or-flight” response begins, sending you nervous system Overdrive and dampen your appetite so you can focus on the task at hand.

The only problem with this little hormonal autofocus is that it can make you burn a ton of calories, so if things go on too long — say, more than 90 minutes — you’re going to run on less gas.

To avoid running on an empty tank, here’s how to fuel your body during the race.

How your body burns fuel when you exercise

Back view of woman running

When you exercise, your body can draw fuel from several places:

  • Adipose tissue (through lipolysis – breakdown of fat)
  • Muscle mass (through proteolysis – the breakdown of protein)
  • carbohydrates (via glycolysis — the breakdown of glucose, aka blood sugar, which is also stored in muscle and liver cells as glycogen).

when your Level of exertion Low, or when you are doing a training Low heart rate zoneYour body burns a higher percentage of fat than carbohydrates as fuel. Even really lean athletes have enough fat to last them a while, so if you’re noodling in recovery mode or building a base, nutrition during a workout isn’t as important (but hydration still have!)

In fact, many athletes are intentional Train in a fasted (ie, glucose-deficient) state Teach their body to better use fat for fuel during this type of workout. But as your workout intensity increases, so does your body’s reliance on carbohydrates for energy.

If you plan to put in any real effort, or if you plan to train for more than a few hours, you’re probably better off refueling with carbohydrates as your body burns through glycogen stores.

What is glycogen?

Glycogen is essentially a back-up supply of blood sugar. It is easily converted to glucose for use as energy. Liver glycogen can be distributed throughout your body, including your muscles, but muscle glycogen only works for the specific muscles where it is stored.

When your glycogen stores are completely depleted, you should have about 90 to 120 minutes worth of fuel to work with. After that, you “Bunk” or “hit the wall.”

If you’ve ever been in the middle of a training session and suddenly felt like even the simplest task was an epic challenge, it’s uncomfortable. Technically, you can still work out at that point, because you still have fat stores and muscle to tap into, but you won’t be able to work out as well.

How to Fuel Up During a Long Event (60+ Minutes)

Cyclist eats energy bars while cycling during the event

1. Get a head start on carbs

Increase your carb intake for a few days before your raceAnd since there’s no easy way to know when your glycogen is at 100 percent, hedge your bets by eating a carb-rich meal a few hours before it starts.

2. Fuel actively

Start feeding about 30 minutes after you start, rather than waiting for the first sign of fatigue. Why? Because if you wait until you’re tired to refuel, you’ve waited too long. (Our bodies did not evolve to optimize fuel production during the 140.1-mile ironman runs and double centuries.)

During extreme exertion, the human body can burn 800 to 1,000 calories per hour. Unfortunately, we can only absorb about 360 calories from carbs An hour, which means we’re dealing with a situation of diminishing returns right off the start line, so it’s important to get a jump on glycogen replenishment.

Since one gram of carbohydrate contains four calories, 360 calories of carbohydrate is equivalent to 90 grams. But getting those 90 grams isn’t as easy as downing a jelly donut, because different sugars absorb in different ways and at different rates. If you consume nothing but glucose, for example, you will absorb about 60 grams per hour.

3. Combine types of sugars

There is a trick to maximizing carbohydrate absorption: fructose absorbs differently than glucose; It must pass through the liver. This process can occur simultaneously with glucose absorption, so if you consume a mixture of the two, you’ll be able to absorb more carbohydrates overall – 90 grams per hour.

But while this number is backed by some reputable science, don’t accept it hard and fast. That doesn’t mean you can probably absorb 90 grams of carbs per hour should. During “short” events lasting one to two hours, you probably won’t need 90 grams per hour, so you can save stress on your digestive system and stick to it. 30 to 60 grams every hour

However, if you’re going longer, your best bet is to keep 60 grams per hour as your baseline, and add up to 30 grams per hour depending on what your system can comfortably tolerate.

90 grams may seem like a lot of carbs to absorb, but like most aspects of training, you can increase your body’s ability to handle it. Start with the amount that works for you and then gradually increase your intake. Remember to only test during training, not during the race.

4. Set reminders

Also, use the fancy data technology you’ve probably invested in Set a timer on your computer/phone/bionic implant to remind you to drink and eat at regular intervals.

How to hydrate during an event

Cyclists drink during the event during the event

The science behind feeding phenomena is surprisingly vague, but the science behind it is hydration Relatively hard, so by pinning it, you can simplify the feeding part.

Your fluid intake should vary depending on your sweat rate, which, according to the American College of Sports Medicine, can be 8 to 67 ounces per hour during an event. It may take some time to find your perfect hydration level, but cyclists usually start with about 24 ounces per hour. That’s roughly the volume you’d find in a typical water bottle, which makes it easy to keep track.

Should you use a sports drink?

You may be tempted to fill that bottle with sugar-filled treats sports drink So you can stay out of the way of feeding and hydrating you at the same time. There’s a chance it might work for your unique physiology, but the odds are that Hypertonic (more concentrated than blood) will not effectively absorb the nature of that delicious drink.

This can lead to gastric distress or, as experienced in many cyclocross races, vomiting. It is better if you drink hypotonic (less concentrated than blood) drinks with less sugar. Such solutions absorb more efficiently and effectively.

A good sports drink Carbohydrates will be provided as a combination of fructose and glucose. one serving Beachbody Performance Hydrate Contains 10 grams of carbohydrates, so if you drink four servings per hour, that’s 40 grams, meaning you only need to eat 20 to 50 grams (or about 80 to 200 calories) of carbohydrates from food in that hour.

You can always try to get all your carbs in liquid form, which is not uncommon at this point TriathlonBut this presents a few problems. First, if you stick to a hypotonic mixture, that’s a lot of water.

Second, eating only one item for hours on end while suffering mentally and physically is a recipe for taste fatigue — where you develop such an aversion to nutrients that your tired, exercised brain actively prevents you from eating or drinking. By mixing liquids and solids, you stand a better chance of avoiding taste fatigue and maintaining your appetite.

What kind of food should you eat?

Anything that tastes good and is composed primarily of carbohydrates will probably work. You want to absorb those carbs quickly, so High-glycemic foods (ie, those that raise blood glucose levels quickly) are great in this situation.

Some popular go-tos include: bananaWatermelon, other low-fiber fruits, and mini-pretzels. (Three to four hours into a particularly tough event, I also enjoy an eight-ounce can of Coke. Hooray for carbs and caffeine!)

But if your event is going to be persistently unhelpful or annoying on your system — Triathlon And Marathon comes to mind — both gels and chews are easy-to-digest feeding options. Again, confirm Read the material To verify the source of sugar.

The triathlon swimming dilemma

Triathlon athletes swim Marathon fuel strategy

You Ironman folks are probably scratching your heads, because fueling while swimming is pretty tough. And by “hard” we mean impossible.

So make it a point to be fully fed and hydrated before you start your run, and focus on refueling the moment you hit. Terra Firma. Keep a full bottle on your bike or in your transition bag so you can change as much as you can.

When it comes to eating, it’s up to you to decide how much you can tolerate and/or accommodate. If you can chew a bite or two without slowing down during transitions, great. Otherwise, make a point of feeding during the first few miles on your bike. Remember that it’s easier to eat while cycling than running, so don’t fall behind here.

That said, suddenly stuffing your gut can lead to GI issues, so it’s important that you know what your eating limits are here. Treat this transitional fueling like any other part of your training.

A word about protein

when protein Instrumental after the event, it should take very little part Event feeding time. Your goal is to replenish glycogen as quickly as humanly possible and slow protein absorption.

The exception is a multi-stage race. In this case, you want to balance protein turnover (muscle synthesis and degradation) as much as possible, so some protein is a good idea during such events. Just keep carbs before your meals, and experiment with protein during training to determine how much you can tolerate.

Last word: do whatcha like

While all of this advice gives you a great starting point for event nutrition — or hopefully a way to troubleshoot your current regimen — remember that personal taste and biology go a long way toward determining the right foods for you. Never, ever test the time of a race. But when you’re training, don’t be afraid to try different foods, different amounts, different solid-to-liquid ratios.

Also, don’t be afraid to pick up samples given out at the race registration booth (for later use), or if your friends have something you’ve never tried.

Find the intersection of what works scientifically and what works personally. Once you have discovered it, you will be overwhelmed.



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