Marathons

A great article on what to eat during an ultra, I think ? by Sunny Blende.

If you have been reading any newsstand magazines for the past few decades, you have probably watched with amusement the trail of articles on the “Last Diet You Will Ever Need”. These began with a total war on FATS and a brand new aisle in our grocery stores of fat-free products, including the infamous Snack-Well Fat Free cookies which satisfied no one in the satiety OR nutrient departments. That was followed by a mine field of articles on CARBOHYDRATES versus PROTEINS, which led to the further debunking of ANY carbohydrates, and in more recent times, ANY sugars (added or otherwise), except for the possible exception of “natural, unrefined cane juice” aka “sugar” with a better-marketingname. Sugar-in-the-Raw, as the slogan goes … which leads to “cavities-in-the-raw”, “diabetesin- the-raw” and “obesity-in-the-raw – the natural way” (my quotes). It would seem, if this progression continues, that PROTEIN will be the next enemy-of-the-state and we will soon have a real dilemma, or maybe a solution in disguise. Since only the macronutrients of fats, carbohydrates and protein contain calories, if we eliminate all three, we would at least begin to solve the obesity problem in the United States, albeit through slow starvation.

What does all this have to do with ultrarunning and more specifically, you, the ultrarunner? Well, have you ever wondered why each of our sports nutrition products claims to be the “best” and the “last thing you will need for your PR”, and that each of these products is backed by “scientific studies”? How can all these scientific studies prove something very different for each product? The bottom line falls into two categories.

First, the human body is very adaptable. It is possible to run a 100-mile race on any food including ice cream (let those support crews carry the dry ice), raw eggs (bring the chickens along to the aid stations), any kind of food in any form of processing, and yes – even alcohol. If we include the Ancient Olympics as well as the modern ones, there have been many more athletes who used alcohol to enhance athletic performance than those that have abstained. Ancient Greek athletes drank wine or brandy before competition and in somewhat more modern times, the marathon runners (Paris, 1900 and London, 1908) drank cognac to enhance their performance. Race Directors, make a note to call your local winery for sponsorship. In all seriousness, if the human body needs calories for perceived survival, as in flight-or-fight (running), we have many systems that can convert whatever we have on board to energy. Some forms of calories may work, or rather convert to energy, more easily than others but then again, the human body has adapted for thousands of years, day in and day out, in a struggle for continuous survival and a mere 100 miles has not been the ultimate challenge.

Second, scientific studies can be designed, by chance or by design, to prove almost anything. For instance in a 10K race, carbohydrates – or nothing – may be all you need to fuel your muscles. But in ultra-distance events, your needs may change during a race and your individual needs may differ from that of your fellow runners. You may be out on the course for 24 hours, or more, or much more, and while carbs may be fine at first, protein may be better later on. If you become discouraged or depressed, a good snack of fat may be just the satiating tidbit you need to make it to the finish line. Depending on how a study is designed, or when the results are gathered, or how objective or subjective the researcher is in collecting the data, the results can be very skewed. And your individual interpretation of what you drank or ate and how that affected you may not always be the most scientific analysis. Take the following example.

You head out on a new trail on a colder-than-usual day after a two-day lay off. You went out the night before with friends to that new fish restaurant and you are feeling guilty that you ate the whole meal. You have been trying to cut down on calories lately because you haven’t run as consistently as you wished – even though you have been cramming in the miles where you can. You started a bit late, after having a bowl of oatmeal with your significant “we-never-eat-breakfast- together-anymore-because-you-are-always- out-running” other. About 40 minutes into the run, you try the new Product X that your buddy gave you; he said it really changed his running. Ten more minutes on the trail and you feel great. Wow…you see what your friend means about Product X and you plan to go out and buy a case later today.

ANALYSIS No. 1
Product X is the ultimate sports nutrition food and it definitely made a difference in your run. Besides, there are scientific studies that prove it.

ANALYSIS No. 2
Some of us might have looked back a bit further and thought…I wonder if the oatmeal might have been part of the great run I had, too. Those who may have been injured in the past might also have wondered about the new, softer trail. Those who have bonked due to the heat or dehydration may have wondered about the effect of the cooler-than-normal temperatures. A few of us may have considered the dinner we had the night before and wondered if the fish helped…or just the additional calories. A very few of us might have surmised that we needed the additional break and rest. In other words, we are usually not very scientific in our observations. And we didn’t even touch on the placebo effect.

SO, DO WE NEED CARBOHYDRATES, FATS OR PROTEIN TO FUEL OUR ULTRA?
All three of the macronutrients can be used for energy production during an ultra. Some of the better choices are influenced by intensity and duration of the exercise. If you go slowly enough, for long enough, you can use anything. Put it in another context, if you run out of the muscles’ preferred fuel, you can use anything to keep going – you just may have to slow down (decrease intensity), or, if you don’t slow down, you may bonk and stop all together (modify duration). There are many factors that influence these processes; training also modifies an individual’s adaptations to these factors therefore assuring that, (1) what works this year, may not work next year, and (2) I will continue to have a job as a nutrition columnist trying to sort it all out for you. To further complicate matters, the majority of studies result in respondents being plotted along a “bell curve”, where most of the subjects had a similar reaction, but a few under- performed and a few more over-performed. If you wind up in one of these categories, the study really doesn’t apply to you, at least not for performance enhancement.

If you read Christopher McDougall’s book Born to Run, you may have read my definition of an ultramarathon, “An eating and drinking contest, with a little exercise and scenery thrown in.” I think we probably were born to run but I know we were born to eat. So, my “expert opinion” is that it would be a good idea to try many different foods and sports nutrition products in training, to see what works for you and what makes you feel fueled-on-the-trail. I would advise you to read my articles, read other scientific articles, try different combinations during your long runs and tune-up races and read labels.

Remember how adaptable the human body is and remember the bell curve: the scientifically perfect product for someone else, may – or may not – be the best for you. And we STILL haven’t touched on the placebo effect.

We’ve all heard the old adage about running being 90% mental. Turns out it might be true, and scientifically proven to boot. Tim Noakes, M.D., author of Lore of Running, has long argued that it is the brain that allows or limits endurance performance rather than the body. His “central governor” theory postulates that “the brain is there to look after you and to make sure whatever you do, you do it safely,” as he puts it.

Noakes says that the brain holds us back from pushing past a certain point. “There’s a control mechanism to make sure that you reach the finish line not in a completely, utterly wilted state,” he claims. “You always have a little reserve.” Or as some would interpret this, you can always push a little harder.

While past running research was preoccupied with the physiological side of endurance performance, a small group of researchers recently set their sights on examining the role of the brain. Not only does this research emphasize the idea of mind over matter, it also demonstrates that the brain can be trained to allow the body to physically handle more. After considering the research, we went in search of examples of competitive runners who have figured out ways to overcome the limits our brains put on our bodies. They offer sound advice on methods to coach your mind, not just your muscles.Confusing Mental Fatigue and Physical Fatigue

Consider the following scenario. You’ve had a long, hard day. Your kids are nagging you, your boss is riding you, and there’s a sink full of dirty dishes and a mile-high pile of bills waiting for you at home. Managing to get in a run, much less a track workout or tempo session, seems like a monumental task.

Researchers at Bangor University in the UK set out to examine why it is that mental fatigue can lead to the perception of physical fatigue during exercise. Dr. Samuele M. Marcora and colleagues compared two groups. While both groups were to complete a high-intensity cycling exercise, one group was given a challenging, but sedentary, 90-minute computer test beforehand. The other watched “emotionally neutral documentaries” for 90 minutes.

While physiological responses to the exercise did not differ between the two groups, the perception of physical effort was much higher in the mentally fatigued group (the ones who did the computer test). The perception of physical fatigue translated into those participants reaching their maximal level of perceived exertion, and thus giving up, much sooner.

Researchers confirmed that VO2 max, cycling economy, and anaerobic threshold were not influenced by the mental task. Most interesting, they note that “overall, it seems that exercise performance is ultimately limited by perception of effort rather than cardiorespiratory and musculoenergetic factors.” Therefore, the brain gave up and subsequently sent signals to the body to also cease, even though the body showed no physical signs of complete exhaustion.

Tricking the Mind to Allow More from the Body

This sort of research tells us that the brain is the boss. It orders the body what to do and what not to do. Another way to interpret this is, that if we can find a way to coax the brain out of cowering in the face of stress, our bodies will subsequently follow. A study out of the University of Birmingham, England, demonstrated that it is possible to, in a sense, fool the mind into allowing the body to work harder.

These researchers showed that cyclists who swished a carbohydrate drink containing either glucose or maltodextrin disguised with an artificial sweetener during a workout were able to ride harder and longer than those who swished water disguised with an artificial sweetener. This was despite the fact that none of the participants actually swallowed either of the liquids, nor did they know if they were swishing the carbohydrate solution or plain water. In addition, the two groups rated the level of difficulty to be the same, even though the carbohydrate drink group worked harder.

A functional MRI demonstrated that certain areas of the brain lit up when the carbohydrate drink was swished, those areas being connected to emotion, motivation, and reward. It was as if the carbohydrate-sensitive receptors in the mouth communicated with the brain, which then sent a signal to the body to tell it that it would be getting more calories and thus could work harder, regardless of the fact that no calories were actually consumed. This demonstrated that it is possible to trick the brain to allow the body to go further and faster.

Brain Training

We often assume that a decrease in performance is the result of physical fatigue—that less oxygen reaches the muscles, lactic acid builds up, and our legs tire. This doesn’t, however, explain instances when you feel you have nothing left, but then manage a surge on the backstretch or rally in the last mile of a marathon. If your muscles were truly shot, that last push would be impossible.

What it comes down to is training, or tricking, the brain to allow the body to go harder. The brain can be taught to give the body more leeway by incrementally pushing past that perceived maximal level of exertion in training. The same way you train your body, you must also train your mind. Noakes suggests, “If you want to be competitive, you have to learn how to deal with the discomfort. A lot of the heavy, good physical training is about training the brain to cope with discomfort.”

There are plenty of examples of people who have figured out ways to shelve distractions, life responsibilities, and the run-off mental fatigue in order to run and race well. In chatting with several accomplished runners who are or were billed with overcoming much greater roadblocks than the average elite, a number of tricks of the trade surface.

Running Priorities

Since we don’t all have the luxury to be able to devote our entire lives to our training the way many of the pros do, we must find ways around the stresses of everyday life. This means making running a priority. Noakes asks, “What are you going to give up? You can’t just keep adding. The brain doesn’t have infinite reserves.”

Bob Kempainen, who ran the 1992 and 1996 Olympic marathons, has a reputation for being one of the most mentally tough runners of our time. By decompressing his rigorous medical school program to six years instead of four, Kempainen was able to simultaneously train for both Olympics and complete medical school.

He explains, however, that other aspects of his life were put on the back burner: “You have to put up with going out to train when you’re tired or when you’ve got things pulling you in different directions, whether it’s social opportunities or passing on a promotion because it would be more work hours. There’s always something that you have to give up. You have to be pretty committed to the sport.”

Getting into the Routine

Once you’ve moved your training up to the top of the priority list, making it a part of your daily routine can help combat unmotivating messages the brain throws at you. Chris Raabe, winner of the 2009 Grandma’s Marathon and a religious 150-mile-a-week runner, knows this well. On top of that heavy mileage, he is also a full-time patent examiner for the Patent Office in Washington D.C.

He explains, “If training is a focus that you have, it’s important to eliminate the distractions as much as possible and make sure that your training is a part of your routine. If you ask me what I’m going to be doing at 5 a.m. on a Wednesday two months from now, I can tell you I’m going to be going out for a run. It’s something that I’ve decided I am doing at this time.”

It is this unquestioning devotion that runners such as Raabe display that seems to be the key to living the double life as a competitive runner and a mere mortal. He says, “if I’ve had a rough day, for me, it’s just what I do. I don’t really think about it. Mental fatigue doesn’t come in quite as much because I’m not thinking about it. It’s just, this is what I do at this time.”

Sheri Piers echoes these sentiments. Piers, 38. is a full-time superwoman, juggling a career as a nurse practitioner, coaching a high school boys cross country team, and tending to her five children, not to mention running upwards of 120 miles a week. The 11th place finisher (2:37.04) in April’s Boston Marathon shows that it is possible to talk the brain into letting the body go further and faster even when the brain waves the white flag.

Like Raabe, she says, “It becomes something you have to get done. The alarm goes off and you get up. I just do it. It’s part of a routine. It doesn’t matter if it’s 20 degrees below. I’m going out running. It’s just the way it is. It’s not even a question.”

Raabe agrees that if you are running once a day, putting it on the front end of your routine is usually best. “You avoid problems. Automatically that’s the first thing you do when you get up.”

Piers has a similar routine: “We get up at 4:00am and get the workout in before the kids wake up because we have to. If we want to do it, that’s what we have to do.”

Practice Makes Perfect

Indeed, no one effortlessly falls into this type of schedule without a little practice, but it does seem to get easier with time. Raabe suggests, “The more you are exposed to a stress, the lower your response is to that stress.”

Noakes adds that when you willfully subject yourself to stress, such as training and working every day, “you become better able to cope with all the stresses in your life.” He adds, “Training increases your self-belief and your confidence in what you can do.”

With practice, you become more convinced of your ability to handle mental stress. Piers explains matter-of-factly, “if you believe you can do it, you just do it.”

These runners have truly put the research into practice. We know that the mind has great influence over the body. Lucky for us, academicians have also discovered that the mind can be manipulated and trained to send specific signals to the body. The ticket to success appears to come with structure and focus. No one said it would be easy. But that’s certainly not why we’re distance runners.