The Official Thread for Runners

[Joe Public]

At what length/distance/time should a person consider eating something on a run? I'm starting to think I should be doing this, but I'm not quite sure. I also don't know what I'd eat.

When I first started going longer distances, I noticed a drop-off around the 45 to 50 minute mark. If I'm going much over an hour, I'll consider ingesting some calories, depending on what - if anything - I consumed before starting the session. If you're still looking at a marathon, it's great that you're checking it out now and learning how your body responds to sports drinks, energy gels, etc. over a multi-hour run.

Some common things people consume are:

sports drinks (Gatorade, Powerade, etc.)
energy gels (GU, CLIF Shots, Hammer Gels, etc.)
energy bars (CLIF bars, Bonk Breaker bars, etc.)
Gummy products (CLIF Shot Bloks, GU Chomps, etc.)

I've heard of people who use fig newtons or Jolly Ranchers. There are a lot of options out there, which is nice for finding something you best tolerate.

[BigPiney]

If I go over about 15 or so I'll take some gels at a minimum. Or I'll stop at a store or something. But you have to be careful because those first few times eating on the run aren't pleasant.

If I am going over 10 then I will plan on eating. And then I do it every 30 - 45 minutes depending on how I am feeling. Same goes with bringing water. Runs under 8 miles or an hour do not require water. Anything over 10, water is mandatory. Of course the heat factors into that too.

[MarkGrace]

Thanks, dudes.

I ran 15 on Saturday and will probably try and push out a little further in the coming weeks. I usually eat something before I run (like cereal or something that's not going to feel heavy on my stomach), but after about 11 or 12 miles I started feeling a bit hungry and wondered if I should be eating something running that kind of distance. I also read something this weekend that made me think maybe I should consider drinking something other than water (like a sports drink).

[lambdacoug]

So, I just ran 12 miles on Friday/Saturday for the Ragnar. That is right inline with a 10% increase from the.previous week. So this week has 13.2 miles on tap. I'm wondering though if I should not run until later in the week, since putting in 3 miles today and 3 on Wednesday would put my total for the past seven days at 18 miles. My joints don't run on a sunday-saturday week, so I'm thinking I should go light early this week and finish with a longer run on sat/sun. What are your experiences/suggestions for a week after a big event?

[lambdacoug]

After watching all of van 1 run last year, I realized there and no easy legs. Even some of the shorter ones have some nasty hills. That first leg of yours is a tough one, the last one has a tough downhill. Just run it hard and next year you can move up to something a bit more.

You were so very right. That first leg was brutal for me, 5.7 miles with a short but nasty hill leading up to a tough trail section which I ran while sick and with a heat index of 102. On the downhill on my last leg I just opened and clocked a 6:15 pace on the whole hill and nearly biffed it twice. I will definitely be better prepared next year. Leg 2 is an impressive leg. I feel the worst for my brother-in-law that ran leg 12, 1000 ft climb coming into that major exchange. As he made the exchange he said "Well, that sucked." It was a fun race.

[Joe Public]

I just grabbed a couple of pairs of the Kinvara 3 for $65 per pair on Running Warehouse. With the coupon code FB15D that I found online, I got a 15% discount off of the sale price. It ended up a bit over $55 per pair before tax. Not bad.

[FN Phat]

Do you run with, or against, the flow of traffic?

[Moliere]

Do you run with, or against, the flow of traffic?

Neither. I run on a jogging path of on trails. But you should always run against the flow of traffic when running on the shoulder or in the street.

[Surfah]

Neither. I run on a jogging path of on trails. But you should always run against the flow of traffic when running on the shoulder or in the street.

Yup. Against always. A guy walking his dog got struck from behind and killed in our neighborhood by a truck. He was walking with the flow of traffic.

[lambdacoug]

Do you run with, or against, the flow of traffic?

Against, since it's easier to jump out of the way if you can see the vehicle coming.

This page has some good tips, too: http://www.runnersworld.com/running-tips/rules-road

[ERCougar]

Against!
And if youre on a bike, With.
I hate it when people don't follow these rules, especially the bike one. It's really dangerous.

[ERCougar]

Another minimalist shoe testimonial...

Over in the marathon thread, I've mentioned that I've had some IT band issues, for the first time (which I'm now pretty confident actually came from overdoing it on my road bike). I took a few days completely off, foam rolled the heck out of it, and have brought back miles really carefully. I'm doing ok, but have been taking walk breaks every mile and going low speeds for the most part, and I'm still getting tightness warnings (you'll know what I'm talking about if you've had this). Up until yesterday.

Yesterday, I was doing a speed workout, so I decided to try my MT10s again (havent dared run in these through the recovery, and really with the higher mileage workouts I've been doing, I hadn't run in them for a long time). I did 10 mile-repeats at 7:30, with a 30 second walk break between each repeat. With no tightness. None. It could just be the natural progress of recovery, but that is a HUGE improvement over my workout just two days ago. I've never run over ten in these because I figured the lack of cushioning wouldn't be good for me, but now I'm reconsidering that, and thinking I may even try my long run tomorrow in them. Also, interesting that my IT band stuff started just after I got my new Kinvara 3's, which replaced a pair of Kinvara 2's that were completely worn out. Is cushioning bad?

[Eddie]

Another minimalist shoe testimonial...

Over in the marathon thread, I've mentioned that I've had some IT band issues, for the first time (which I'm now pretty confident actually came from overdoing it on my road bike). I took a few days completely off, foam rolled the heck out of it, and have brought back miles really carefully. I'm doing ok, but have been taking walk breaks every mile and going low speeds for the most part, and I'm still getting tightness warnings (you'll know what I'm talking about if you've had this). Up until yesterday.

Yesterday, I was doing a speed workout, so I decided to try my MT10s again (havent dared run in these through the recovery, and really with the higher mileage workouts I've been doing, I hadn't run in them for a long time). I did 10 mile-repeats at 7:30, with a 30 second walk break between each repeat. With no tightness. None. It could just be the natural progress of recovery, but that is a HUGE improvement over my workout just two days ago. I've never run over ten in these because I figured the lack of cushioning wouldn't be good for me, but now I'm reconsidering that, and thinking I may even try my long run tomorrow in them. Also, interesting that my IT band stuff started just after I got my new Kinvara 3's, which replaced a pair of Kinvara 2's that were completely worn out. Is cushioning bad?

I'm impressed - how many 10 mile repeats did you do?

Truthfully - I wonder about this myself sometimes. And I get superstitious about what effect my shoes may be having on my calf muscle issues. I'm thinking I might try something similar just to see what happens. After all, it won't be worse than having an injury and not being able to run, will it? I've already got that!

[originalsocal]

Another thing that I take with me on long runs is mustard packs. They don't taste really good, but do wonders if you are cramping.

[Moliere]

Another minimalist shoe testimonial...

Over in the marathon thread, I've mentioned that I've had some IT band issues, for the first time (which I'm now pretty confident actually came from overdoing it on my road bike). I took a few days completely off, foam rolled the heck out of it, and have brought back miles really carefully. I'm doing ok, but have been taking walk breaks every mile and going low speeds for the most part, and I'm still getting tightness warnings (you'll know what I'm talking about if you've had this). Up until yesterday.

Yesterday, I was doing a speed workout, so I decided to try my MT10s again (havent dared run in these through the recovery, and really with the higher mileage workouts I've been doing, I hadn't run in them for a long time). I did 10 mile-repeats at 7:30, with a 30 second walk break between each repeat. With no tightness. None. It could just be the natural progress of recovery, but that is a HUGE improvement over my workout just two days ago. I've never run over ten in these because I figured the lack of cushioning wouldn't be good for me, but now I'm reconsidering that, and thinking I may even try my long run tomorrow in them. Also, interesting that my IT band stuff started just after I got my new Kinvara 3's, which replaced a pair of Kinvara 2's that were completely worn out. Is cushioning bad?

I'm convinced that my latest injury is due to me over-changing my stride. I was a heel striker before the change and became more of a forefoot striker after the change. The symptoms of my issues seemed to be very similar to what people experience when they over do hill training, which led me to believe that I needed to pull back a bit and try to mid-foot strike. Essentially, I'm finding a middle ground between injuries (stress fracture from heel striking and achilles/muscle issues from forefoot striking). I'm hoping that my new and improved running method is what will allow me to increase my miles to marathon training distance and keep me from getting injured in the process. We'll see.