Boston Marathon Countdown

Recovery Food

Sun, 19 Apr 2009 16:42:21 GMT

When you cross the finish line tomorrow, pause for a moment to take it all in. Revel in your great accomplishment. Then, before too much time ticks away, take in some calories, says Nancy Clark, sports nutritionist and author of "Food Guide for Marathoners: Tips for Everyday Champions."

"To optimize your recovery and reduce muscle soreness, you should consume post-exercise carbs + protein shortly after you finish training. The carbs refuel the muscles and the protein stimulates faster glycogen replacement and optimizes muscular repair.

• Yes, you can buy commercial recovery foods that contain protein, but you can just as effectively enjoy chocolate milk, yogurt, cereal with milk, a turkey sandwich, or pasta with meat sauce.

• If you prefer liquids for recovery foods, choose chocolate milk, fruit yogurt or fruit smoothies; they are tasty sources of carbs + fluids + protein. The trick is to plan ahead and have the right foods and fluids readily available.

• If beer is your fluid preference, be sure to first quench your thirst with orange juice, soft drinks or sports drinks and eat some carbs (pretzels, thick-crust pizza) so you carbo-load, not just "get loaded"! Or think again. Would you be wiser to enjoy the natural high of exercise?"

Whatever your fluid preference, make a big toast to yourself. You've earned it.

Carb Loading

Sat, 18 Apr 2009 13:29:48 GMT

The pre-race pasta dinner is a staple of every major marathon. It's a convenient opportunity to carbo-load, that is, take in plenty of carbohydrates to fuel your muscles for the long haul ahead.

A couple of cautionary notes from Nancy Clark, a sports nutritionist and author of "Food Guide for Marathoners: Tips for Everyday Champions."

First, says Clark, "Carbo-load does not mean stuffing yourself."

At your pre-race dinner, you should focus on the carbs, but eat the portions you would normally eat for dinner.

Because if you've been training properly, you've been carbo-loading on a daily basis.

Says Clark, "Carbo-load on a daily basis to fuel-up and refuel your muscles during training. Carbohydrate-rich foods include pasta with tomato sauce, plain baked potatoes, rice, breads, cereals, fruits and juices. Carbohydrate-poor choices include pepperoni pizza, cheesy lasagna, cookies and ice cream. These foods get the majority of their calories from fat. They taste great and fill your stomach, but they leave the muscles unfueled."

So, how do you carbo-load?

Nutrition, 7 Days Out

Mon, 13 Apr 2009 14:47:50 GMT

You've logged months of long mileage and hard training. The least you can do is put in a week of good nutrition.

Put down that artery-clogging pepperoni slice and digest this great nutritional advice from Nancy Clark, sports nutritionist and author of "Food Guide for Marathoners: Tips for Everyday Champions."

"Now that you are tapering your exercise and running less, you might be fearful you will gain weight during this week before the marathon. Keep in mind you should gain weight--it's a sign that your muscles are properly carbo-loaded! That is, for each one ounce of carbohydrates that you store in your muscles, you will store about three ounces of water. Well fueled marathoners can expect to gain 2 to 4 pounds of water pre-marathon. The water will be released during the marathon, and contribute to your fluid needs.

"Despite less exercise, you will probably be just as hungry during the first two or three days of your taper because your (chronically depleted) muscles are finally having the chance to refuel. The carbs you eat, instead of being burned off during your miles of training, will be used to fuel your muscles. This may take two or three days--then your appetite will calm down once your glycogen stores are replenished. Trust me!"

Slow Food Movement

Wed, 08 Apr 2009 13:44:35 GMT

If you're a speedster, chances are you know what kind of fuel you need to get from Hopkinton to Boston, and, you can do in on a proper breakfast, a pre-race snack, water, sports drink and maybe energy gels.

If you're a first timer or a slower runner, chances are you'll need more, says Nancy Clark, sports nutritionist and author of "Food Guide for Marathoners: Tips for Everyday Champions."

"The slower you run, the more you may need to fuel yourself for 26.2 miles. Some runners boost their energy intake by drinking diluted juices or defizzed cola; others suck on hard candies, or eat chunks of sports bars, bananas and other easy-to-chew and digest foods that friends hand them along the way. Your muscles welcome this food-- it does indeed get used along the route! Hopefully, you have experimented pre-marathon to determine what settles best."

Think about it. An elite marathoner requires a little more than two hours to cover the course from start to finish. Going without food for two hours is easy. If you're running on the course for four, five and six hours, you'll probably need to eat.

Walk The Water Stops

Sun, 05 Apr 2009 13:41:15 GMT

On my short list of tips for running a marathon is this: unless you're in contention to win the race or qualify for the Olympic trials, walk the water stops.

Usually it's first timers who consult me, and typically, they can't believe this is good advice. But it is, and don't just take it from me.

1976 Boston Marathon Champion Jack Fultz, who coaches the Dana Farber Marathon team, agrees it's good advice.

"You need to actually consume water and/or sports drink along the course," says Fultz, "and if you're running while trying to drink, in the end, you often don't swallow much, or you choke on the liquid you manage to get into your mouth. You're better off walking a couple of steps and actually drinking the liquid."

Additionally, it gives you a mental break, allows you to refocus, and allows you to move ahead with the knowledge you're adequately fueled, says Fultz.

If you still don't believe me, try this neat experiment at home: Pour some red wine or grape juice into a paper cup. Find the lightest-colored rug in your house. Now, run across that rug while trying to drink the wine/grape juice. Examine your clothing and said rug, noting how much of the nasty, staining liquid did not end up in your mouth.

And The Biggest Mistake Is...

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 13:19:33 GMT

When interviewing Nancy Clark, I just had to ask this question: What's the biggest nutritional mistake marathoners make?

Clark is a sports nutritionist and author of "Food Guide for Marathoners: Tips for Everyday Champions."

It took her about two seconds to come up with an answer. "The most common mistake marathoners make is not eating enough on the morning of the race," Clark tells me. "Remember, the race starts late in the morning (10 am for the first wave of non-elites, 10:30 for the second wave.) Most runners start their long training runs a good deal earlier in the day." So, whatever you ate for that 7 am 20-mile training run won't be enough for a 26-mile run that starts at 10. Ideally, you'll want to eat something before you get to Hopkinton, and something else for a pre-marathon snack about an hour before the race.

"Contrary to popular belief, pre-exercise food does NOT simply sit in the stomach and hinder athletic performance,” Clark said. “Rather, it enhances stamina and endurance. Athletes who ate a 400-calorie breakfast three hours before exercising biked for 136 minutes, as compared to only 109 minutes with no breakfast. That's almost half an hour longer! (Med Sci Sports 31(3):464, 1999)"

And remember, don't stray from the foods you've trained with. This is not the time to experiment with, say, oatmeal, if you've only trained on bagels.

What are you favorite training foods? Your plan for a marathon morning meal?

Be Sure To Run A 'Fuel Rehearsal'

Fri, 27 Mar 2009 12:49:36 GMT

If the marathon is your goal, it's not just running that takes practice. It's eating and drinking. "You need to think of food as fuel," says Nancy Clark, a sports nutritionist and author of "Food Guide for Marathoners: Tips for Everyday Champions." (available at www.nancyclarkrd.com). Clark advises runners to use this weekend's long training run as a kind of fuel rehearsal for race day.

This means eating the same pre-race dinner the night before. It means eating the breakfast you plan to eat on Marathon Monday, the same amount of time before your run. It means taking water and sports drink at the same intervals as you would on the course. And it means using the same energy foods (energy bars and gels, bananas, animal crackers, pretzels, for example) you plan to use between Hopkinton and Boston.

"Check the BAA website to see which brands of sports drink and gel will be available on the course," suggests Clark.

She says it's crucial to know the food you plan to eat will settle well with your body. Race day is not the time to try anything new.

So, what do you like to eat before you run?