Forums >Racing>How much to eat in 12 hr race?
Joggaholic
I'm starting some back to back long runs because I want to train for a 12 hour race, and one of the thing I want to practice is fueling. The race is a 2 mile loop, so I will get water/fuel every 2 miles. I'm not sure what kind of solid food will be stocked by the organizers so I can only train on stuff I know I can tolerate now, which are gatorade, gels, and bananas. I did some quick calculation to try to see how much I will need to eat, and I'm kind of shocked... The math is very rough. My target is somewhere between 50 miles and 100km, l'll just pick something in between, say 57 miles.According to the calorie calculator I'll need 5173 calories.Wiki tells me I probably have something like 1800 calories in glycogen reserve.So I need to ingest 3373 calories57 miles is 28.5 loops, so 118 calories per loop (each loop = 2 miles = about 25 minutes)118 calories (let's round to 100 cal) is roughly:1 pack of Gu (or 28 packs total in 12 hours) or16 oz of Gatorade (or 3.5 gallons total) or1 medium size banana (or 28 bananas total)Please tell me I did something wrong with my math because I can not imagine eating that much! I mean 28 bananas is A LOT! What are your experiences in how much food you had to eat in 12 hr or 50 mile races?
#artbydmcbride
Maybe you better vary your diet, 28 gu packets and 28 bananas and you will be a hot mess! How about adding some protein: peanut butter or ensure. And a cold baked potato is always yummey.
Runners run
How much to eat?
50 eggs
And we run because we like itThrough the broad bright land
Nobody can eat 50 eggs.
A list of my PRs in a misguided attempt to impress people that do not care.
I agree Ilene, I don't expect to go strictly on one type of food, but I'm surprised by the quantity I need to eat (the calorie equivalent of 28 bananas, be them sandwiches or candy bars, are still a lot), so I'm checking to see if I have gotten the numbers right...
According to the calorie calculator I'll need 5173 calories.Wiki tells me I probably have something like 1800 calories in glycogen reserve.So I need to ingest 3373 calories
I'm no ultra runner but you're numbers seem way off to me. I think if you try to consume 280+ calories per hour while running you are going to run the risk of your stomach shutting down.
According to the calculator you will burn approximately 5173 calories--but they will come from more than your glycogen reserves. At the pace you'll be running you should be able to generate quite a bit of your energy from fat. I have read anywhere from 40-50% of your energy can come from fat at 50 mile race pace.
So to finish the race you need to ingest a lot less than 3,373 calories.
At the pace you'll be running you should be able to generate quite a bit of your energy from fat. I have read anywhere from 40-50% of your energy can come from fat at 50 mile race pace.
Thank you Mike! I totally forgot about the fat part, I'm glad I was wrong, 1 gel/banana every hour seems a lot more palatable.
old woman w/hobby
Wing, these threads have some good information:
http://www.runningahead.com/groups/2000somethings/forum/Post/a92a24ddb3a34c9dbea1f5c4c7c4cb0c#focus
http://www.runningahead.com/groups/ultra/forum/bb4a7aab78e84ef59b3717aab3494a86/0
steph
I don't think Wing has any fat!!
I agree. Looks like Wing is running a 3lb deficit.
Wing, these threads have some good information: http://www.runningahead.com/groups/2000somethings/forum/Post/a92a24ddb3a34c9dbea1f5c4c7c4cb0c#focus http://www.runningahead.com/groups/ultra/forum/bb4a7aab78e84ef59b3717aab3494a86/0
Great threads there, thanks Steph!
So I need to ingest 3373 calories ...1 pack of Gu (or 28 packs total in 12 hours) or
I don't think this is far off. For about the past year I've been pretty successfully following Noakes' recommendations from Waterlogged: consume 20oz water + 60g carbs / hour. That's about 240 kcal / hour, or 2,880 total.
At my last 12 hour I ate 36 gels. 60 at my last 100 miler. Yeah, it gets old. I use gel flasks that hold 6 gels. Half a gel and 1/6 bottle of water every 10 minutes. A bottle lasts an hour; a flask two hours. (They make nice progress indicators -- wow, only two gel flasks to go...)
As mikeymike says, you don't need to consume that much to finish; you will be burning a lot of fat. But the more carbs you can get into your system the faster you can run.
What I find intersting is Wing arrived at the same conclusion via these calculations completely in his own as generally recommended- between 200-300 but usually closer to 250. Nice!
If things go according to plan, in the 12 hour I'm doing tomorrow night I'll consume 24 GUs, and I'll supplement with "real" food snacks on a regular basis as well. I'm very, very far from being what anyone would call an expert, but my own limited experience has shown me that I'll likely need every bit of that fuel.
but my own limited experience has shown me that I'll likely need every bit of that fuel.
Yeah. Problem is, knowing how much you can consume, without it being too much, and puking everything up. That just takes experience. But IMO gels make it easier, because at least they're very quantifiable. I did carb drink, real food, and way too much water at Western States last year. How many calories / hour was I getting in? I have no idea.