Eating during an aerobic event

     Continuing this run of advice for aerobic training.... see what I did there? Those types of sentences is how I used to teach for the Army. Dad jokes and bad puns. For that one I should go to the PUNitentiary. That would be a fitting PUNishment. In the words of Captain Rogers, "I could do this all day"

    I'm sure you didn't click on the post for dad jokes.... unless you did then cool your about to learn something about food and running.

     I know what you're thinking, I can barely breath during a run let alone eat. Let me re-phrase; when I say eating, I don't mean solid food. In this context I am referring to gels. No, this is not a sponsored post (not yet anyway) or some afflicted marketing technique. This is to provide information so that you can make an informed decision on what you put in your body.

    For this aerobic event I am referring to long duration aerobic events that last at least an hour. Training for an hour straight seems like one of those unimaginable things until you do it. Running at an 8min mile pace for at least 8 miles is over an hour. In the military we ruck (think heavy backpack and walk for an extended time). Those are two examples, cycling for over an hour would also count. Sustaining effort for that long deeply taps into our muscle glycogen and in some cases our liver glycogen. In order to sustain our efforts, we would need to keep that glycogen going. Additionally, sweating over 2%-3% of our body weight also decreases our performance during training. To combat fatigue gels are used to sustain (not replace) glycogen levels.

    When looking for gels check out the ingredients and see what the product is made out of. Ideally, you want a mixed bag of simple carbs such as  fructose, galactose, sucrose, galactose,etc  If you're not sure what those carbs are click on the link and it will make more sense. You want a mix of carbs as to not saturate the absorption of each type of carbs. Imagine your body as a multi lane highway that only allows certain vehicles to drive on individual lanes. One lane only allows trucks, another only allows cars, another only allows vans, and another only allows SUV's. Too much of one type of carb saturates the absorption of that particular carb. This is called iso-carbing. In our highway metaphor it is only trucks driving on the highway-at some point a traffic jam occurs and traffic slows to a creep. Different types of carbs are also absorbed differently. Sucrose, maltose are absorbed quickly while fructose, galactose are absorbed 25%-50% slower. Even a rinse of carb (swishing Gatorade, liquid IV, etc) helps too. You will see at least a 2%-3% improvement with just a mouth rinse.

    The amount of carbs is up to you. It is recommended to consume 28-144g per hour. That is a wide range of carbs, but it is up to you in how you handle during the event nutrition. Length and intensity play a factor. Longer more intense events require more carbs to sustain efforts. A quick hour run may only require small amounts. The best way to know is to practice it. I spoke before about setting up a mock event before the real event to have that opportunity to practice nutrition. This may seem all silly to practice nutrition but do you really want to risk it?