Fueling for long runs: The 5 Ws – Who, What, When, Where, Why
Who – Fueling is for anyone who runs long. Feel free to define long in your terms but for me it’s anything over 80-90 minutes.
What – What’s this fueling you’re talking about, you ask? It’s providing your body with the resources it needs before it’s depleted everything in it’s reserve. It can come in several forms including gels, chews, water, electrolytes and more. Even whole foods. It’s a personal choice and a bit of trial and error on what works for you.
When – Again, this is trial and error but in my research, I learned that your body can handle about 30-60 carbs per hour without risking tummy isues. Depending on what options you choose, you can tailor your plan around that. I chose GU gels. They have about 20g of carbs per gel. Since this was my first experience I decided to do 1 gel every half hour beginning 30 min into my run. I may experiment with one every 20 minutes to see what, if any, improvements are made.
Where – Fueling options can be found several places including online, in running stores and even in your kitchen if you choose whole food options.
Why – to keep your body from crashing on you. Me, personally? I never tried fueling before. I think I was nervous about trying to figure it all out. But after considering my running future, I really wanted to see if it would improve my performance. And boy, did it help! Just a few days ago, I shaved over 12 minutes off my best half marathon time. That’s crazy to me!
Here’s a link to one of the articles I used for research. I’m super excited to see the results of my first time fueling. I’m even more excited to see how it will go in the future. Have you tried fueling before? I’d love to hear about your experience!
Go. Run. Fitness anywhere.