What do you eat before a run if you don't eat 'carbs'?

[actiongirl1978]

I have been running for just over two years but it has always just been for fun. However I have decided to get a bit more serious, have extended my distances and am cross training with weights and pilates.

Since I started running I have largely eaten a diet which doesn't include grains or potatoes (it works for me, the reintroduction of grains gives me stomach ache) though I always eat all fruit etc. My normal breakfast is a couple of handfuls of cashew nuts plus sometimes a small banana and decaf coffee.

I have generally run empty straight out of bed but I am now running later in the day due to a house move which means we now haven no streetlights! So my question is what do you eat for fuel if you are not running first thing in the morning?

I ran my first 10k on Sunday - the race started at ten am and so at 6.30am I had my cashews and banana. But I felt that my energy levels fell sharply at about 7k and I wonder if I could eat differently and get a better result. My time was 61mins so pretty much bang on my training pace, but I did feel like I was totally knackered!

I think I have mixed up several questions here, but essentially I want to know what do you eat and what could I or should I eat differently for better results?

Thanks!

Sorry- that was misleading - I actually always eat carbs, but I only consciously eat carbs (eg 2 bits of toast and peanut butter) about an hour before I do a long run.

Aggressive bunting, I think if I was running ten mile trails I would also be eating toast and peanut butter, makes my quads ache thinking about it!

Mitchy - here's what I ate yesterday to give you an idea

Breakfast - 2 fried eggs on top of a pile of steamed cavolo nero, small handful of cherry tomatoes, smoothie made with 100g frozen berries + 1/3 of a can of creamy coconut milk (70% coconut, no thickeners and rubbish)

Mid-morning - bullet proof coffee (coffee with coconut oil whisked in)

Lunch - smoked mackerel, an avocado, salad leaves with vinaigrette. 2 slices of this bread www.thelondoner.me/2014/03/mums-low-carb-bread.html

Snack - kale crisps (kale tossed in oil, salt, pepper and baked in the oven)

Dinner - roast duck, celeriac mash (with coconut cream), steamed broccoli. Glass of red wine

Water and Rooibos tea (no milk) to drink throughout the day.

thanks, without wanting to try it myself I was intrigued! some of that sounds delish (not the bullet proof coffee, first time I heard of that I wanted to be sick just imagining it!). Is the goal to increase your endurance in preparation for your marathon and ironman? Apart from running being a bit more difficult do you feel quite well and happy?

sorry for interrogation, am just nosy, but what fuel, if any, do you take in before and during your long runs pootle?

just scrolling through the thread am interested in the idea that food has to have travelled a long way on its digestive journey before the energy is available, I've always understood that carbs are converted into glucose fairly immediately and ready for use straight away (maybe within half an hour or so after eating, although obviously nobody runs that soon after a bowl of porridge)

that's certainly how it feels anyway, when you use gels and sports drinks and stuff

I think that's about right Mitchy, carbs in their simplest form - pure sugar/glucose (as in the gels etc) will be converted fastest and that's why when we are tired and lacking energy or get really hungry we tend to crave something sweet, as opposed to a steak! It's the body's fastest way to get it.

?
I think it depends on the type of food Mitchy, sports gels (I presume) don't require much if any digestion and can be transported quite quickly into the blood. Complex carbohydrates have to be broken down into sugars before they can get into the blood, if fat is eaten then absorption is slowed down.

That's off the top of my head, much more detailed/accurate information could be obtained with some searching.

For me the problem is gastrointestinal discomfort, I'm very prone to indigestion and any physical exertion feels unpleasant if I've eaten within the last several hours. ?

Well the whole Tour de France and most marathons are fuelled on porridge.

You a nutritionist on The Tour pseudo ? Sounds pretty easy work

Slow release carbs for endurance.

Ha ha! No I'm not, just a tour obsessive. The British used to ship in crates of the stuff when it was difficult to buy in France.

They also use coffee, it boosts your performance noticeably in the stats.

I fucking love 27g of porridge. Not with milk though or will be sick no matter how long ago I ate it. It only takes a couple of hours to go down before a run. Rocket fuel.

for porridge I use 100g of oats at a time, I don't cook it though, I soak it in just boiled water for a couple of hoursI rely heavily on coffee before any training,

I add dried apricots yogurt and soya milk so I'm not sure if it even counts as porridge?

Years ago I made it with oats water and marmite ?

mmm they all sound nice

at the moment I chop an apple into tiny pieces and stick that in with nutmeg and cinnamon and vanilla extract before zapping, then add flaxseed and walnuts and shit like that to eat. I'm never even sightly hungry in the morning but I function much better for it. There is a banana too on the day of the Long Run (not even that long yet).

Eww oats and marmite you are a freak. With you on the coffee though, a macchiato 15-30 mins before training is great.

haven't had coffee for ages, not on purpose, my elderly coffee stovetop thing is as mouldy as fuck

am not sure green tea has quite the same power as espresso (although lb for lb way more caffeine?)

I've just trained for and done my first half marathon.

I'm not a breakfast eater and usually have a banana and cup of tea before going out running first thing. Am definitely prone to stitches if I eat more than that.

I don't do anything additional to 'fuelling' before a run of less than 8m or so, but if I know that I'm going to be running more than that, I eat more the day before, including a bowl of cereal before bed. I use carbs, but I imagine that enough quantities of any decent quality food would do the same job?

Eating another helping of cashews and banana at about 8am would have probably helped with the 10km, for me anyway.

I think green tea gives a gentler buzz Mitchy, there's not as much caffeine and the body's reaction isn't as violent (some people feel a distinct 'lurch' from caffeine as it blocks adenosine, a hormone that gradually slows us down through the day). Only green tea has those special thermogenic properties and antioxidants though

I haven't read the replies, but wanted to chip in as an experienced runner.

It really is about finding out what works for you, and there are so many factors - what you've eaten the day before, how hydrated you are, what time of day you're training/racing, how you're feeling in general.

I can run 10 miles comfortably straight out of bed with just a cup of tea to wake me up.

Anything up to 1/2 marathon I will have just 1/2 a banana about 45 mins before racing. For 1/2 marathon I'll have porridge about 1 1/2hrs before.

You shouldn't really need extra fuel (energy drinks/gels/jelly babies) for races up to 1/2 marathon - not if you've trained properly, though these things are often mental energy for people.

You also don't need to carbo load before a half marathon.

It struck me that your race pace was the same as your training pace. Ideally you'd train at a pace slower than what your goal race pace is.

Slight off topic (sorry OP), but what's the reasoning behind training at a slower pace than your goal race pace is bonkers?

I do (because I know that you're meant to) but don't know why?

Ten miles seems to be a rough cut off point for needing to fuel up prior to running, for most people that would use up 800 to 1000 calories (?) perhaps it is common to feel a drop in energy when glycogen stores have been depleted by that sort of amount? ?

I think it's only the long run that you do slower than race pace isn't it? You probably do other faster, shorter bursts during the week?

I thought it was partly about discipline and pace control, as well as injury prevention and hardening yourself against the distance and effort required.