CLAfitness.com CoachLesley.com
  • Home
  • About CLAFitness.com
    • Coach Lesley
    • CLA Support Team
  • Services
    • Why hire a coach?
    • Running
    • AlterG / Anti-Gravity Treadmill
    • Triathlon
    • Overall Health and Fitness Goals
    • Consulting
    • ChelanCamp >
      • ChelanCamp FAQ
      • ChelanCamp Schedule
  • Training Blog
  • Contact
  • Resources

CLAFitness.com Training

THE BASICS OF FUELING FOR A LONG RUN

5/31/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
Fueling properly for a long run will set you up for success. The tricky part of fueling for a long run is figuring out what works best for you. It takes planning and practice to set yourself up for success. You may find that many runners will tell you that they don’t need anything to eat during a run but research shows that there are many benefits to fueling properly. 
Sure, if you are going out for a short run (up to about 75 minutes), you should be fine for an easy run or race. It’s when you get into longer distances that you can most benefit from giving your muscles and brain what they need to run. Not only will the run feel easier overall (your rate of perceived exertion will be easier), you’ll set yourself up for better recovery for that next run. 
 
General guidelines:
If you are running for less than 1 hour and 15 minutes, you should be fine with just water.
If you are running from 75 minutes up to 3 hours, you should aim for 30 – 60 grams of carbohydrates per hour.
 
What about a sports drink? Depending on the brand, sports drinks typically contain about 50 calories or 10 grams of carbohydrates per 8 ounces. That may be enough for shorter runs but for longer runs, you will probably need more carbohydrates. And trying to get in more calories necessitates drinking a lot more liquid than you may want to drink. A tummy full of liquid can sometimes get uncomfortably sloshy! In races, you cannot guarantee that sports drinks will be mixed properly. 
 
Gels are the most typical source of fuel used by runners. One packet = about a 100 calories or 20 grams of carbohydrates. So if you have a gel about every 45 minutes, you are getting within the recommended amount of calories.  That may seem like a lot and for many people their gut will revolt! This is where training your system to take in calories regularly is important. And it’s really does help to try different gels to see what works best for you. All gels should be taken with a couple swigs of water which helps absorption. 
 
Some people find that a whole gel can just be too much. Either you can split the gel and take a little over the course of a mile or there are other options like sports jelly beans or chews. These small, chewable bits of energy can be more easily distributed over the course of a run so you have sustained fuel. 
 
And yes, you can also eat real food! Gels are easy but there are other options which will do if for whatever reason you want to try them. Remember that you are aiming for easy to digest carbohydrates. Fat and protein and fiber can all take longer to digest and for some cause gastrointestinal distress. Some easy sources of carbohydrates that can be easily carried are pretzels, white bread with jam or honey, rice balls or even candy like gummy bears. 
 
When you are out for a run, make sure to eat earlier and often. Make a plan! if you know you need 30 to 60 grams of carbohydrates per hour, how will you meet that demand? Experiment with different types of fuel to see what works best for you. While you can run up to 75 minutes with no fueling, to properly fuel your run you should having something to eat after 30-45 minutes of running. Why make a run more challenging than it should be? Fuel up!  



0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    RSS Feed

    Categories

    All
    Adventure
    Aqua Jogging
    Bad Race
    Basebuilding
    Bent Over Reverse Fly
    Bicep Curls
    Bike Trainer
    Biking
    Black Canyon Ultra 100k
    Boston Marathon 2018
    Bucket List
    Calf Muscles
    Canoeing
    #CLAFitness2020in2020
    #CLAFitnessMovementBingo
    CLA Team
    Corona Virus
    Corvid19
    Covid-19
    Creative Fitness
    Cross Training
    Cut Back Weeks
    Deep-water Running
    Depression
    Dryland Swim Routine
    Early Season Triathlon
    Easy Run
    Eccentric Calf Raises
    Event Report
    Fall Changes
    Falling On A Run
    Feet Elevated Clamshells
    Fueling
    General Training
    Gift
    Glute Strength
    Goals
    GPS Watch
    Grit
    Group Run
    Heat
    Heat Training
    Hiking
    Hill Running
    Hoka
    Holiday
    Hot Weather
    Hydration
    IMAZ 2017
    Inactivity
    Injury
    Injury Prevention
    Injury Recovery
    Intentions
    Ironman
    Ironman Arizona
    Ironman Canada
    Ironman Training
    Keep Moving Forward
    Lactate Threshold
    Losing Fitness While On Vacation
    Marathon
    Medial Tibial Stress Syndrome
    Mental Training
    Motiva
    Motivation
    Muscle Matters
    New Year's Resolutions
    No Training
    Nutrition
    Open Water
    Pacing
    Panic Training
    Paris Marathon 2019
    Periodization
    Plank
    Podcasts
    Post Race Blues
    Power Hiking
    Protein
    Quarantine Workouts
    Race
    Race Course
    Race Day
    Race Preparation
    Race Recovery
    Ragnar Relay
    Ragnar Ultra
    Recipe
    Recovery
    Reflective Gear
    Registration Anxiety
    Rest Day
    #restdaybrags
    Rest Day Brags
    Reverse Clamshells
    Road To Ironman
    Runner Buddy
    Runner Gift Guide
    Runner Safety
    Running
    Running Economy
    Running Gear
    Running Orthotics
    Running Partner
    Running Shoes
    Running Watch Tips
    Run Versus Walk
    Seattle Stairway Foot Tour
    Seattle Stairways
    Self-care
    Shin Splints
    Should You Train When You Are Sick
    Sighting
    Sitting
    Sleep
    Speed
    Strength Training
    Stress Hormones
    Strides
    Summer
    Swimming
    Tales From The Day
    Tales-from-the-day
    Taper
    Team
    Tempo
    Trail Running
    Trainer
    Training Anxiety
    Training Benefits Of Heat
    Training For Life
    Travel
    Travel And Training
    Triathlete
    Triathlete Gift Guide
    Triathlon
    Tripping
    Tuck
    Ultra
    Upper Thoracic Mobility
    Vacation
    Vegan Chickpea Salad
    Video
    Virtual Races
    Walking In A Race
    Western States
    Winter Weather
    WSER
    Year End

    Archives
    Our prior blog is available here: LINK

    November 2020
    July 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    January 2019
    October 2018
    September 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017

    Author

    Is there something you'd like the CLA team coaches to address? Let us know!

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Home
  • About CLAFitness.com
    • Coach Lesley
    • CLA Support Team
  • Services
    • Why hire a coach?
    • Running
    • AlterG / Anti-Gravity Treadmill
    • Triathlon
    • Overall Health and Fitness Goals
    • Consulting
    • ChelanCamp >
      • ChelanCamp FAQ
      • ChelanCamp Schedule
  • Training Blog
  • Contact
  • Resources