Mid Race 'Food'

mr.wiggle

Hi all, I was just reading an article on 'natural'foods to eat during a race, and one that stood out for me was, a peanut butter and jam sandwhich.:)
http://www.active.com/nutrition/Articles/Best-Race-Foods-for-Runners.htm
Now, I am a big fan of these little delectable's, but never thought of cramming one down my throat during a run.
I've a few weeks to go yet before the Cork City Marathon, and am seriously thinking of encorporating these into my training runs!
There's a nice halfway point on the course where Mrs.W. can meet me armed to the teeth with these:pac:
Up to now, its been water and chocolate for me
What are your thoughts?

TFBubendorfer

If you're running an ultra and therefore very slowly, that makes sense.
For a marathon, no. You won't be able to digest it.

lgk

Stick with energy drinks, gels, electrolyte replacement. You'll get enough that way to suplement your natural glycogen stores. Try carb loading to boost pre-race levels.

Marathons are too short to start taking on much in the way of solid foods.

poskantor

The distance of the event is a good steer on how you should take in calories but it really depends on the intensity you're planning on running at and how long you think the marathon will take. If you think the marathon will take e.g. 5 hours then its probably not a bad idea to eat something solid, gels and energy drinks are easier to digest but over a long period could cause stomach problems.

mr.wiggle

Well thats , that then, isn't it!?
No pb&j's for me on race day!
Just have to have em for lunch!:D

Thanks for the replies.

firemouth

I experimented with solid foods during long training runs and DCM last year,I found to get any benifit from them I needed to start eating them very early and not to wait until half way or further on,when your body doesnt have a chance to digest them.Little but often was the key and i found starting to eat a very small amount after the second or third mile and continuing up until mile fifteen,at intervals of every third mile,kept my energy up and helped me to finish long runs and the marathon strongly,my recovery time afterwards was also greatly reduced.