Extra Calories (Read 901 times)

Hi, I'm kinda new here and was wondering if anyone has advice regarding calorie intake in a high mileage training plan. I'm planning on running my first ultra in a few months and during the week have several days with 10 or more miles. I know this is pretty average compared to the runners who do 70+ mpw but I think I may have a similar concern. How many extra calories do I need? Using the various formulas around to find this it seems to be around 100 extra calories per mile. With that math doing a relatively short 10 mile run adds 50% of the calories I would normally need (around 2000, perhaps more) to my diet. With longer runs that increases two to three times that amount. That's a lot of extra calories. I feel like I need that amount too because if I stick to my normal diet I get extremely tired. While reading various running forums and seeing how many people have really, really strict diets while doing intense training I don't understand how that makes any sense. I also don't understand how to add the extra 1000 - 2000 calories without resorting to high calorie, high fat options. I've tried eating only healthy foods multiple times a day (6) with a high mileage training plan but feel a lack of energy compared to having a normal diet supplemented with unhealthy alternatives. In conclusion: 1. I'm 20, 5" 10' weigh 145, casual runner, usually run 40 - 50 miles a week with a 7:15 - 7:30 average pace on most of my longer training runs 2. I constantly feel the need to eat and the only way to eat enough to feel satisfied (have decent energy throughout the day) is to add large portions of high calorie (not so healthy) foods to my diet. I feel like I'm doing something horribly wrong but don't know what because my body feels fine, any help?

Hey, welcome! This has been asked a lot 'round here, as you can imagine. Check out some of these threads.

Hey Trent, without meaning to sound like a smart arse, is there anything you DON'T know? I think maybe you should set up your own website so we can just come directly to the Master with all our queries And on the subject of diet/food, I'm really interested to know what your personal daily food intake is like in comparison to how many km's you run per week, just so I can compare it to my own. Cheers & happy weekend :-)

Trent, just out of curiosity, how the HECK do you find any time to run?? Have scientists already found the secret to cloning and there are actually a dozen or so Trents around sharing the running, yoghurt making, oatmeal cooking, canning, doctoring and website organising?? Phew!!! I'm tired just READING about everything you do

Besides, I think one of the best parts about distance running is how GOOD food tastes when you're that genuinely hungry for it.

Have to agree on this one....my morning bowl of porridge (oatmeal) with peaches & prunes never tastes as good as it does after a long run first thing in the morning!!!

To run, you need calories. But don't feel as if you need to "fuel your runs". At most relatively easy efforts, we burn as our fuel source primarily our stored fat, which does not need to be replenished like glycogen does. To propel yourself at high effort, you do need stored glycogen, which is the storage version of carbs. At any given time your body stores a maximum of about 2000 cal of glycogen. Your body does not particularly care how it gets those carbs (i.e., there really is no such thing as junk carbs in terms of glycogen storage, however complex carbs are less likely to be easily absorbed from your GI tract and therefore less likely to replenish glycogen or to make you gain weight). French fries and potato chips help replenish glycogen as well as pasta, but bring with them extra fat. High fructose corn syrup may be more likely than other simple carbs to form abdominal fat when consumed in excess. Whether you run or not, your body uses up about a third to a half of its glycogen just to keep you alive as you sleep at night, so you are constantly using and replenishing your glycogen. To sustain and increase muscle mass you need proteins. To do this, you need to consume the variety of amino acids that serve as the building blocks for protein. As long as you are able to find and eat the diversity of needed amino acids, including the ones that your body cannot manufacture on its own (the so called, essential amino acids) then the source does not matter. If you like tofu, so be it. Egg whites, great. Steak or fish or chicken, bring it on. As long as you are getting all the needed amino acids in sufficient quantity, you should be fine. To sustain yourself when not running at maximal pace and to support your running at most easy paces, you need fats. You are always burning some fat, even when running at maximal pace; the proportion of calories supporting your effort coming from fat simply drop as you increase your effort. One pound of stored fat is enough to propel most runners about 40 miles, provided that there are also enough carbs around to support the fat (or that the runner is running slow enough that the carbs are not the major energy source). There are lots of different fats out there, and some are better than others. The fats that are bad are considered so because they damage your body in ways that the better fats do not, and some of the good fats actually protect your body. Trans fats inflame arteries. Saturated fats do the same, and increase your risk of cancer. Cholesterol fills the walls of the inflamed arteries. As we are learning more about fats, it seems that the more natural fats (e.g., olive oil, butter, grain oils) have fewer troubles than the relatively synthetic ones. The major problem with snacks and fast foods is that they are made using the synthetic oils that contain the trans- or saturated- fats. Eating out at nice restaurants, you often will encounter just as many hidden fats and bad fats as you will at a fast food restaurant, so don't be fooled by ambiance or price. However you choose to eat, you need to do it in a way that is sustainable. If you feel like you are eating special on a diet, or feel like you do not have energy then you will not sustain that type of intake. If all you eat is fast food, you will balloon up, feel terrible and then get sick and die, also not sustainable. A nice balance of interesting foods, including a healthy and well balanced base with occasional snacks and meals out is generally sustainable and inexpensive. Making your own foods helps you be in control, cut cost, and ensure that you get the needed calories to support your running. You do not need to eat salads only, and can loose weight eating pasta and bread and rice, so long as you balance those things with proteins and healthy fats, and keep the portions in balance with your energy needs. You can use on line sites like nutritiondata.com to figure out how many calories are in a serving of food, and match your running miles (~100-130 cal/mile) and your living calories (~1500-2000 cal/day) with what you eat. If you weigh, for example, 145 lbs and you run 25 miles per week, you need approximately 1750 cal/day to live and an additional 2600 cal/week for your running. No more.

To get an idea of how many extra calories you've spent running, just start logging your runs either on this site or with some kind of logging software. They will calculate the calories you've burned based on weight, distance run, gender, etc. Just add that to what you need daily. Oh, and take the nutrition advice offered in other posts to get those calories.

Fixed

Marcus, Awesome advice above........I am sure Trent meant to add that. Ha!

So to be clear: 1. You DO NOT NEED extra calories for most runs, either as fuel or as recovery. 2. You DO NEED something to help you recover. Protein is helpful in this regard. Marcus and Tchuck like their protein shakes, I like my natural proteins from eggs and yogurt smoothies.