Advice for a tired Ultra Marathon Runner

Hi Gary, I'm training for an ultra-marathon (89k) and am looking for something to help with recovery/nutrition. I have to do 2 long runs over the weekend (this weekend it will be 1h50 and 3h15 in duration) and are struggling on the second run at the moment. Any advice?
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Gary:
Yes, cut out the first run and the 2nd run will then be much easier to complete.

Or, if you are not willing to do that try these:

• Get a thorough massage, from the wife, on the legs an hour or so after the first run.  Make this more of a "flushing" massage than deep tissue.
• Have a long warm bath with about one cup of Epsom Salts and two dessertspoons of bicarbonate of soda dissolved in it.  Get the wife to give you a chilled beer and a shoulder rub while relaxing in the bath.
• Have a Super Smoothie within the hour of finishing the first run.  Throw in a half can of coconut cream and plenty of dark berries, banana and any other fruit that grabs you.
• Have some Balance Recovery Stack before, during and after the first run.  Ensure you are fully hydrated within about 6 hours of finishing (best done by before and after weigh-ins).
• Eat lots and lots of food over the 24 hours following the first run.  Mostly carbs but ensure there is plenty of protein and fat as well.  Much of the tired, heavy feeling the day after a run is due to depletion of muscle glycogen.  Replenish this with carbs.  
• Stretch gently every few hours.
• Get the wife to do all the work: Laze around the house for the rest of the day and go to bed early and lie in for as long as you can.

This advice is relevant for anybody doing extreme exercise of any kind, such as preparing for events such as the annual Oxfam 100km walk.  Not just runners.

There is much more that can be done, such as the use of various supplements to reduce oxidative stress and mineral supplementation but these are longterm strategies and best done by way of a one on one consultation because everybody is different.  This can be by way of Skype or in person.

Of course, it goes without saying that preparation for extreme endurance events of any kind needs to begin at least a year before.  There is never enough time to get ready for these events, no matter how long one has!

About this website 

The advice in these articles is given freely without promise or obligation. Its all about giving you and your family the tools and information to take control of your health and fitness.

How much vitamin C should an athlete take to keep healthy?

It is the common experience of many athletes to finish an exhausting event like a marathon or iron man triathlon and feel surprisingly good; only to crash several days later going down with a virus an injury like tendonitis or feeling very depressed and tired or all of the latter. This may be fully or partially due to the delayed effects of the extreme oxidative stress suffered during the exhausting exercise (This can be either from competition or heavy training). In many cases, such as multiday events there is the added stress of sleep deprivation which hammers one's immune system.

"A practical way to reason is that, if a person carrying out heavy exercise feels that he or she has colds too often, he or she could (should?) try vitamin C.

The doses have been about 0.5 to 2 grams per day in the controlled trials and that kind of doses are safe for ordinary people (and cheap). In the US nutritional recommendations they consider that safe range goes to some 2 g/day. That is a conservative limit in my opinion, but with the current knowledge, I do not think it makes much sense to use substantially larger doses even though I consider them safe.

If we assume that the oxidative stress caused by the marathon would b protected against by higher vitamin C levels in the body, I think that the time scale would be initiation a few days before and continuing a few days after the marathon (one or two times per day I would think)". Harri

(Excerpt from correspondence between Gary Moller and Harri Hemilä, MD, PhD,Department of Public Health,University of Helsinki, Finland. Dr Hemilä is one of the world's leading researchers into the benefits or otherwide of substances like vitamin C and vitamin E).

Dr Hemilä's impressive work in this area makes fascinating reading.

With what we know about free radicals and how they are generated during exhasting or intense exercise, it would make good sense to anticipate excessive oxidative stress to your body and take preventive measures, if you are doing heavy training or have an exhausting competition coming up. This migh also apply to work and personal situations that may be emotionally as well as physically exhausting.

Using Dr Hemilä's advice as our guide, here is my guidance:

• If you are doing exhausting training take 1-2,000mg of vitamin C per day
• If you have a history of frequent colds, take towards the upper level (2,000mg)
• Take 2,000mg per day over the 2 days before an exhausting competition and for 2 days afterwards
• If you are taking Wagner Ester C, then you could reduce these guidelines to 50% and you will probably get the same protection or still better.
• Regardless of vitamin C supplementation, take a daily Super Smoothie that has red berries and whey protein added and eat plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables.
• Go to sleep before 11pm every night and be out of bed by 7am
• Get plenty of sunlight on your body to boost your vitamin D levels. Get a blood test of your levels.
• An athlete requires more minerals and B group vitamins than most
• Other antioxidant food extracts like high potency garlic extracts could be added to the diet
• Have recovery days within your training schedule and take 3-5 days rest after an exhausting competition like a marathon.

I will be posting some guidelines about use of vitamin E which is currently a confused and controversial matter.

Nutrition Advice for Endurance Athletes

Nutrition Advice for Athetes

The following advice is gleaned from various presentations I have made on athletic conditioning.

• Let's start with what some “experts” recommend: “Here are some examples of foods that make good pre-competition meals:”
• White toast with margarine, honey and banana
• Muffins or crumpets with jam and margarine
• Creamed rice and tinned fruit in syrup
• Pancakes with yogurt and tinned fruit in syrup
• Pancakes, sugar or maple syrup and tinned fruit
• Spaghetti on white toast, with margarine
  Low-fibre cereal e.g. rice bubbles with milk and tinned fruit
• For those people who tend to be nervous before an event, a liquid meal replacement may be better tolerated than solid food.

In my opinion, these are very unhealthy guidelines that will do nothing to enhance the performance of the athlete on the day and may, over the long term, cause serious health problems including gum disease, tooth loss, digestive disorders, arthritis, dementia, heart disease, cancer and diabetes. A diet that is saturated with refined flour and sugars along with accompanying preservatives, colourings, trans-fatty acids and the rest do no good at all.

Energy sources during exercise

For all practical purposes, there are just two energy sources during exercise:

Fats – unlimited supply
Carbohydrates (CHO) – about 1.5 hours

As exercise intensity increases, so does the proportion of carbohydrate used - Intense exercise rapidly depletes these limited CHO stores

Signs of CHO depletion

• Fatigue
• Aching, heavy legs
• Difficulty changing gear
• Yawning, lack of concentration
• Bad temper
• Hypothermia
  

Conserve CHO stores by

• Training fat usage
• Replenishing CHO as you go
• Low intensity, steady-state pacing
  

General dietary recommendations for athletes

• Reduce intake of processed carbohydrates, including honey and sugar
• Reduce intake of processed grains, especially white flour
• Reduce potato consumption
• Reduce intake of highly processed foods
• Reduce intake of hard animal fats
• Reduce intake of carbonated drinks
• Reduce fruit juice consumption
  Reduce or eliminate reliance on caffeine drinks
• Eat more leafy greens and coloured veges
• Choose whole grain foods
• Eat more nuts
• Consume more quality oils
  Eat fish 2-3 times per week
• Eat marmite/vegemite daily
• Eat more raw fruit including berries

Supplementing
By following a healthy diet as outlined, a moderate approach to supplementation is all that is required to maintain optimum health and physical performance. There is no need to go overboard with supplementation. There is good evidence for adding the following extras to your healthy diet, if you feel so inclined:

Glucosamine and chondroitin powder - This will help protect your joints during periods of high wear and tear.Buy the powder – not the pills - these are over-priced and supply insufficient ingredients to be effective
Omega 3 oil - Such as flaxseed, olive and fish oil has a long list of health benefits that grows by the day and proving essential for athletes. During periods of low exposure to the sun such as during winter, or when confined indoors, such as when in hospital, have additional vitamin D in the form of 1-2 teaspoons of cod liver oil per day (Cod liver oil is a rich source of vitamin D).
Multi Vitamins - Principally the water soluble ones including vitamin E, vitamin C and all of the B group
Multi mineral - Chelated minerals are generally the most readily absorbed. Our soils and the foods that are grown in them are insufficient to meet daily needs of minerals, especially for athletes. An athletes needs more, the most important being magnesium and calcium.

Supplementation is recommended for those in heavy training or when recovering from ill health and I also recommend a daily nutrient-packed Super Smoothie.

Nutrition during endurance training sessions (longer than 2 hours)

• Learn to consume fluid sufficient to match fluid losses - Not too much and not too little. (1 Kg weight loss measured immediately after exercise = 1 liter of water).
• Train your system to use body fat during training by exercising once a week for longer than 1.5 hours without consuming any CHO and by having a diet that is low in refined CHO.
• Practice eating on the run 1x/wk and during morning sessions so that your stomach gets used to the sensation, if your competition demands eating and drinking on the run.
• Experiment with a cut down Super Smoothie. Keep it cool and out of the sun. Better still - make it up as you go.
• During a very long session, try stopping partway, have a few sandwiches, if you need to then continue on.

Example: Auckland to Wellington non-stop road race (Early 1970’s)
There was a direct relationship between competitors’ placings and daily calorie consumption. The lowest and most inconsistent calorie consumers did not finish or came well behind. It was won by Max Telford. Max consumed up to 14,000 calories/day. Max’s primary source of calories was Sustagen liquid meals which is similar to the Super Smoothie but not quite as good!

Nutrition during endurance competition (longer than 2 hours)
Note: You should have practiced this many times in training to ensure you can get through competition without suffering digestive upsets.

• The harder and more violent the exercise, the less fluids and solids it is possible to consume without digestive distress.
• Experiment with formulations and concentrations in training to settle on what works for you.
• Last three days prior to competition may include some extra carbohydrates, but remains essentially your healthy diet.
• Do not eat any heavy foods within 3 hours of running
  Have a Super Smoothie and/or sandwiches >1 hr before competition and another cut down Super Smoothie 15 minutes before starting. Cut down Super Smoothie every 1hr of running.
• Go easy while stomach contents settle – especially if running on a downhill
  ½ hr rest with food & liquid every 3 hrs – But don’t get cold and seize up!
  

If you hit the “wall”:

• Get extra carbohydrates on board
• Glucose drink
• Super Smoothie
• Hot, sweet cup of tea
• Rest ½ hour and/or do an extended period of power walking or other less strenuous exercise while energy levels are restored
• Check that you are not dehydrated/over hydrated?
• Are there signs of hypothermia/hyperthermia (Refer to my E-Book on Hypothermia and Sport)?
• Are you going too hard and depleting glycogen stores too fast?

My Blog and E-Publications have heaps of additional and detailed information about nutrition for sports and general health. Search for them (include the archives) and have a good read. The E-Book, Training for a Marathon by Lorraine Moller and me is probably the best start. If your question remains unanswered, then you will just have to send me an email and I will do the best I can to assist.