Redemption Run - Part I

The Las Vegas Rock and Roll Marathon – my second marathon ever – is a week away.

I’m calling this my redemption run.  Yes, I finished the first time, but it was a poor finish in my mind.  I ran out of steam at mile 21.  My legs cramped at the end of the race, and I had to take a nap before I could even enjoy my post-race mimosas!

I can do better.  As I evaluated my failings in last year’s race, I realized that I was tripped up by two things:  nutrition and nerves.  I’ll address nutrition in this post.

My nutrition plan for last year was Clif Bloks – with caffeine – during the race.  I guessed that one block an hour would be good enough based on my body weight and the number of carbs per block.  I also counted on the caffeine to keep me energized during the evening run.  I was wrong.  At about the 3 ½ hour mark I hit the proverbial wall, and unfortunately, the caffeine caused a major digestive issue.  Thank goodness there was a real bathroom at that point in the course.

I am going to talk about poop.  I hope you’re not too offended. 

Runner’s bowels are a thing.  According to a post from the Mayo Clinic, “The cause of runner's diarrhea isn't clear. Contributing factors likely include the physical jostling of the organs, decreased blood flow to the intestines, changes in intestinal hormone secretion, increased amount or introduction of a new food, and pre-race anxiety and stress. What is clear is that food moves more quickly through the bowels of athletes in training.”

Anyway, what was I thinking?  Of course caffeine makes me poop.  It’s part of a time-honored morning ritual that works for many people.  I needed a new nutrition plan, and I needed to test it well before the next marathon.

First test – raisins and orange juice.  Hey, ultra-runners eat real food, so I thought, why not?  I tried this combination a few times and came to the realization that a) raisins make me poop, and b) orange juice makes me poop.  Scratch that…

Science in Sport to the rescue.  As a marathon participant I received an offer to try “what’s on the course.”  I’ve never been a fan of gels, but I needed something better and the offer price was right.  I was surprised by the size of the packets – they’re much larger than the more common gels.  I guess this makes sense – they advertise that you don’t need to take them with water.  The water is included.  I was also pleasantly surprised by the texture – it’s more like Jell-O that hasn’t quite jelled than the sticky goo I was used to.  I’ve used these on several training runs now and they’ve kept me going with no digestive effects.

According to Science in Sport (SIS), your body (liver and muscles) can store about 2000 calories. According to my trusty Garmin, I burn about 480 calories per hour.  If only I could finish a marathon in under 4 hours.  Not going to happen, so I’ll need to supplement. One SIS gel contains 90 calories.  One per hour worked in training, so that’s the plan.  Wish me luck.