Nine weeks to go and we are now entering running times that should include a meal or two given how long they will take us to finish! A lot of people have asked me how my eating habits have changed with all this training and I can happily say that has been one of the more positive aspects of training.
Several weeks ago I was having a lot of trouble with stomach cramps that would start up about an hour or two after finishing my 8, 9 and 10-mile runs. Another blog site had suggested the concept of “bowel ischemia” from lack of adequate hydration during runs causing this phenomenon. Being a doctor, I had previously dismissed this concept as possibly affecting me. Wrong again! So I tried to drink a bottle before runs, but that just made me feel like I was carrying a water balloon in my stomach. Heidi suggested a belt that holds small bottles of Gatorade instead. I have since been using these and it has helped tremendously. I also have found great happiness in “carbo-loading” the night before my long weekend runs without the guilt I usually have. And now I never turn down dessert. I think I will have a very hard time adjusting back to my regular paltry meals once this whole thing is done. Perhaps this will be my incentive to keep doing marathons!
This weekend we have our longest run to date of 18 miles and I have packed something called “GU” to take along with me. It's no double cheeseburger but hopefully it will allow me to finish. I have read enough “Marathon for Dummies” books that all say the same thing: practice eating different things on the long runs. This slays me because I figure I only have three or four long practice runs in me before my body falls apart. Hopefully I will pick the right “menu” on one of these runs so I don't have to wing it on Marathon Monday.
Stay tuned and pass the bread please!
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