Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Carboloading!


This is what I've woken up to for the last three mornings...What?  Huh?  Seriously...  Snow every morning, sections of highway that require chains, and storm warnings for the mountains.  It's like I fell asleep in October and woke up in January.  This puts a little cramp in my running that I wasn't expecting for another month or so.  I'm pretty sure it's a fluke and will warm up again.  Positive thinking.

I was reading an article on runnersworld.com over the weekend and wanted to get your take.  It is about a guy that is a marathoner and basically a MIT whiz.  He came up with a formula to figure out how many calories needed for a carb load phase of 3 days before a marathon.  If the right amount of calories are consumed then there will be no hitting the wall during race day.  Check the article out here.  Or you can just check out the calculator calculator here.

When I put in my info, I need to load an extra 2500 calories.  That's an additonal 800 calories a day for 3 days.  That's a lot.  But if it can get me through a marathon without hitting the wall I'm in.  I'm thinking I'm going to try it.  That means I start today.  An extra piece of fruit here and there, an extra serving of rice, another piece of wheat bread and another cup of pasta.  Honestly I feel like they'll have to roll me to the start line if I eat that much!

How much do you eat before a marathon? 

Do you like this calculator? 

Do you think this guy's got it right?

We're heading out to Cali today.  We're so excited!  It will be nice to leave the snow behind.  Now, it's time to get my eat on!  I should just wear a bib around my neck all day...  : )

9 comments:

  1. To be honest, I didn't really get the calculator. Interesting article in the most recent InsideTriathlon about how 5 to 6 days of high fat followed by 1 day of high carb shows positive results in endurance racing. Piqued my interest but I'd be scared to try it.

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  2. Hey, I'm in Cali. If you're near Sacrmaneto, email me and maybe we can get together!

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  3. I was just sitting here wondering if I really needed to carb load the day before my half. Then I decided to check blogs and was please and surprised to see your post. Since I am still trying to lose a fair amount of weight, it feels crazy to me to eat that many extra calories for a race. However, I totally bonked in my last half marathon. I was still dieting and didn't carb load at all before the race. I think I ate a piece of bread before the race (or maybe it was just half) and nothing during the race besides some GU. I almost fell on my face. It was really hard. So I am really worried about fueling properly for my race on Sat. I will read the article you shared later and try the calculator. I may not be able to let myself carb load until Friday, though. We'll see.

    Isn't this weather nutty!?

    BEST of luck! Have a safe trip and a great race.

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  4. I carbo loaded during the Ragnar... felt like I was eating all the time, but it must have worked because I felt good the whole time! I freaked out when I got home though... after all that running, 3 lbs higher! I hit the gym on Monday, where a trainer friend of mine told not to worry, that it was water weight from carbo loading... she was right... nearly back to where I was before the race. -whew! Hey, good luck on your marathon! Hope you have a great time on your vacation! :)

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  5. Hmmm, interesting information. At least it gives you an excuse to eat a lot! :o) LOL! Let us know if it works!

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  6. I obviously have no experience, but I feel like I run better at night because i have so much fuel in body, versus running in the morning on an empty tummy. It could be worth a shot! You are pretty thin, I don't think the extra calories are going to hurt you too much and it could be a fun experiment! Let us know how it goes! I would love an excuse to eat more before my half in June!

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  7. I'm imagining a tshirt which says "Marathoner in loading phase - don't get between me and my carbs".

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  8. here's a tidbit for you. skip's been running more distances, and suddenly his sweat started smelling like ammonia. yeah, ew. anyway, apparently he needs to eat more carbs! so i guess the moral of the story is, if you are going to run more than, oh...say... a mile... you should frequent your nearest carbshack and have at it.

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