Discover Your Race Day Nutritional Needs Ahead of Time
When I was training for one of my early marathons (I think it was San Antonio in 2004), I had the bright idea to run from my Uncle Bill’s house to my Uncle David’s house.
They were 17 miles apart if you take the back roads, and most of those roads weren’t very highly trafficked.
I even had my mother and my wife (well, girlfriend, at the time) there to meet me halfway through with some water as they drove from one to destination to the other.
Everything went well until 10 miles into the run, when they drove by and gave me some water. Shortly thereafter, I missed a landmark that comes before my turn (as it was out of sight from the side of the road I was running on) and wound up running right past the street I was supposed to be running on.
A few miles later I started to think that I’d missed my turn, but I saw an intersection I recognized so I turned there.
Long story short, my 17 miler turned into a 28 miler. This was well before I started running anything longer than a marathon, and I’d run the first dozen miles much faster than I would have had I knew I was less than halfway to where I was going.
I was in pretty good shape then, so the distance wasn’t necessarily a problem even if it was further than I’d ever gone before.
The real problem came from just being dehydrated. Other than what I drank before the run and the little bit of water I got 10 miles into it, I had no food or water to refuel with.
I bonked pretty hard that day, and was hurting much more than when I ran Boston without long runs or during the hardest parts of my first 50 miler.
Refueling on the run is important on race day, especially when racing for longer than 40 minutes or on warmer days.
Learn what your body needs during training, and then make sure you get enough water (and food, if necessary) for whatever distance you are racing on any given day.
For short races like a 5k, you might be able to get away without making use of an aid station, but on a warm day or in a 10k or longer race you’ll want to take advantage of the water at any aid stations you pass. If you are running a half marathon or marathon, you should consider some sort of nutrition, even if it is just a gel pack.
It can help keep you from bonking, and can also keep you from suffering heat stroke or other problems related to being dehydrated.
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Blaine Moore is a running coach in Southern Maine with 20 years of training and racing experience that he shares on his blog at Run To Win.com. Download his free report, The 3 Components of an Effective Workout, to learn why the work you put in during your training is only the third most important factor that determines how well you improve as a runner and an athlete.
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