How to eat 500g carbs per day

JohnnyBingo

Just wondering how are people in training for marathon meeting their carb quotas? I weigh just under 70kg so allowing 7g per kg (which I believe is the correct amount??) means I need to be getting close to 500g per day. I am finding it difficult to get close to this and now only 5 weeks out from my first marathon. I am getting the miles in - did 20 yesterday and the legs were empty for the last few miles. I want to make sure I get the nutrition right to give myself every chance of running an enjoyable race (if such a thing is possible)

Also, should I be consuming this amount of carbs 7 days a week or just on the days when I am training which is 4 on the road and 1 in the gym?

macinalli

There was a thread here before about this.

I think that most people here would tell you to have a healthy diet and eat what you usually eat. There's no need to start eating huge amounts of carbs for 5 weeks before the race - last thing you want is to put on a bunch of kilos and undermine your training.

tunguska

JohnnyBingo wrote: »

Just wondering how are people in training for marathon meeting their carb quotas? I weigh just under 70kg so allowing 7g per kg (which I believe is the correct amount??) means I need to be getting close to 500g per day. I am finding it difficult to get close to this and now only 5 weeks out from my first marathon. I am getting the miles in - did 20 yesterday and the legs were empty for the last few miles. I want to make sure I get the nutrition right to give myself every chance of running an enjoyable race (if such a thing is possible)

Also, should I be consuming this amount of carbs 7 days a week or just on the days when I am training which is 4 on the road and 1 in the gym?

Hmmm. Im not sure counting carbs is an exact science. I mean I wouldnt base my marathon on the maths alone. Your body is a far better judge of what you really need, let it dictate how much carbs, fat, cals, etc you need. If you're feeling zonked at 20miles in a trainng run that could be due to a lot of other factors than grams of carbs conusmed. Eat what you need especially after training, thats critical. Dont leave it hours after training before you get some food in, youre asking for trouble with that.

Im not saying you should do this, especially 5 weeks out, but just be aware to keep things in perspective:

http://www.active.com/running/Articles/Should_you_bonk_on_purpose_.htm

BenMicheal

Quick answer to your question: Cornflakes are your best friends if trynna hike up the Carbs - Easy, tasty & high in carbs. Apart from that white carbs after training is important to quickly replensih stores. One other thing ot try, which can be easier said than done, is to eat the largest amount of your daily carbs after training but before 8pm(ish)

Gringo78

JohnnyBingo wrote: »

Also, should I be consuming this amount of carbs 7 days a week or just on the days when I am training which is 4 on the road and 1 in the gym?

What's the average amount of time per week you are training? Is the gym cardio or weights?

JohnnyBingo

Gringo78 wrote: »

JohnnyBingo wrote: »

Also, should I be consuming this amount of carbs 7 days a week or just on the days when I am training which is 4 on the road and 1 in the gym?

What's the average amount of time per week you are training? Is the gym cardio or weights?

Monday - 1.5 hr mix of cross training, core work and weights
Tuesday - rest
Wednesday - 5 miles medium pace - 45mins
Thursday - 10 miles slow- 1hr 40 mins
Friday - 5 miles medium pace - 45 mins
Saturday - rest
Sunday - 20 miles LSR 3hrs 40 mins

HardyEustace

BenMicheal wrote: »

Quick answer to your question: Cornflakes are your best friends if trynna hike up the Carbs - Easy, tasty & high in carbs. Apart from that white carbs after training is important to quickly replensih stores. One other thing ot try, which can be easier said than done, is to eat the largest amount of your daily carbs after training but before 8pm(ish)

Highly processed food - full of sugar, salt and crap.

Eat clean.

macinalli

JohnnyBingo wrote: »

Monday - 1.5 hr mix of cross training, core work and weights
Tuesday - rest
Wednesday - 5 miles medium pace - 45mins
Thursday - 10 miles slow- 1hr 40 mins
Friday - 5 miles medium pace - 45 mins
Saturday - rest
Sunday - 20 miles LSR 3hrs 40 mins

That's 40 miles per week plus crosstraining. IMO you don't need to radically change your diet to cope with that level of mileage. You mentioned above that this is your 1st marathon - I'd say that your body is probably just not used to the mileage that you're doing lately. If your legs felt empty at the end of a 20 mile run, it could be that you're just not used to 20 mile runs! It takes time to absorb your training and key things for this are to eat healthily and take rest when you need it.

TFBubendorfer

BenMicheal wrote: »

Quick answer to your question: Cornflakes are your best friends if trynna hike up the Carbs - Easy, tasty & high in carbs. Apart from that white carbs after training is important to quickly replensih stores. One other thing ot try, which can be easier said than done, is to eat the largest amount of your daily carbs after training but before 8pm(ish)

That's awful advice. You couldn't do any worse than easting tons of highly processed food and simple sugars.

The best option is to eat normally. Choose healthy food and eat when you're hungry. Immediately after a tough training session you can ramp up on simple sugars (white bread, cereal, sports drink), any other time stay away from that crap.

Forget about eating 500g of carbs a day, that's outdated anyway. Weigh yourself regularly and you'll get a good handle on the amount of food you need without having to count calories or grams of carbs.

gnu

I'm reading Anita Bean's Complete Guide to Sports Nutrition and according to her the g/kg bodyweight/day are:

4-5 g/kg for 3-5 hrs/week moderate intensity excercise
5-6 g/kg for 5-7 hrs/week
6-7 g/kg for 1-2 hrs/day
7-8 g/kg for 2-4 hrs/day
8-10 g/kg for > 4hrs/day

She notes that in most of the studies from which these recommendations came, liquid carbs (meal replacement shakes and glucose polymer drinks) were used to supplement small frequent meals.

I'm only passing on what the book says (it seems to be well-researched though) - I've no idea if this is something that will actually have benefits in practice.

clear thinking

BenMicheal wrote: »

Quick answer to your question: Cornflakes are your best friends if trynna hike up the Carbs - Easy, tasty & high in carbs. Apart from that white carbs after training is important to quickly replensih stores. One other thing ot try, which can be easier said than done, is to eat the largest amount of your daily carbs after training but before 8pm(ish)

Conrflakes? madness! They are about 25% sugar, eat them if you want to become diabetic. Otherwise 100g of porrige, lunch with 100g of sweet potato and 100g of basmati for dinner is fine. I'm about the same weight and that would be my max for any marathon build up. if you are squeezing in a few more then a bit extra rice at the end of training is fine along with a decent recovery drink with protein & your only permitted sugars of the day.

Otherwise Do. Not. Eat. Sugary. Carbs, cornflakes included ffs, it will destroy your ability to avoid the wall. White bread - no, corn flakes - no, ordinary spuds - ok but favour sweet potato etc...

BenMicheal

clear thinking wrote: »

Conrflakes? madness! They are about 25% sugar, eat them if you want to become diabetic. Otherwise 100g of porrige, lunch with 100g of sweet potato and 100g of basmati for dinner is fine. I'm about the same weight and that would be my max for any marathon build up. if you are squeezing in a few more then a bit extra rice at the end of training is fine along with a decent recovery drink with protein & your only permitted sugars of the day.

Otherwise Do. Not. Eat. Sugary. Carbs, cornflakes included ffs, it will destroy your ability to avoid the wall. White bread - no, corn flakes - no, ordinary spuds - ok but favour sweet potato etc...

Above is suggested that you run a 3 hour+ LSR - the average Joe will burn up 20 grams of sugar per hour. If you need 500g of carbs a day to function you’re going to be doing a lot of exercise & you will be burning a hefty amount of sugar i.e. sugar that needs to be replenished for basic functioning. Also cornflakes are not 20% sugar, its only 7% as the link (http://www.livestrong.com/article/497740-what-nutritional-value-do-cornflakes-have/) Granted when you add milk the proportion rises but if again you need to replenish sugar levels.
Also it’s a general rule of thumb to eat high GI foods such as white bread after a workout to replenish glycogen levels.

macinalli

BenMicheal wrote: »

Above is suggested that you run a 3 hour+ LSR - the average Joe will burn up 20 grams of sugar per hour. If you need 500g of carbs a day to function you’re going to be doing a lot of exercise & you will be burning a hefty amount of sugar i.e. sugar that needs to be replenished for basic functioning. Also cornflakes are not 20% sugar, its only 7% as the link (http://www.livestrong.com/article/497740-what-nutritional-value-do-cornflakes-have/) Granted when you add milk the proportion rises but if again you need to replenish sugar levels.
Also it’s a general rule of thumb to eat high GI foods such as white bread after a workout to replenish glycogen levels.

Ben, I saw from your log that you're doing your 1st marathon this year, but if your nutrition plan is based on this then it will not go well. The golden rule for all plans is to eat healthy, and I don't think that anyone will claim that corn flakes are a healthy food source. As outlined above, porridge, rice etc is what you should be aiming for.

And even after a LSR (which you only do once per week), there's no need for corn flakes. At her chi-running course Caitriona McKiernan recommends a glass of milk and a banana within 15 minutes of the end of your run. End of story. After that it's back to the usual healthy diet.

BenMicheal

Thats true haven't ran a marathon yet so welcome to all this advice. When I was cycling we were told that Cornflakes were a great alternative/shortcut every now and again for carb loading (based on reasons mentioned above) as Pasta, Rice, Sweet Potato can get very monotnous very quick due to the large amounts one would need to eat to reach your intake goal. Also you usually have to accompany these staples with sauce etc which generally can be high in sugar or fatty?

I'm gonna guess that this notion should be ripped up and thrown in the bin for running?

RayCun

BenMicheal wrote: »

Pasta, Rice, Sweet Potato can get very monotnous very quick due to the large amounts one would need to eat to reach your intake goal

This is the problem really, you don't need to have an intake goal, you don't need to force-feed yourself a certain level of carbs.

Eat a normal, healthy diet. Plenty of fruit and vegetables, plenty of water, just your usual amount of carbs.
Eat something immediately after your long run, like in the 10/20 minutes after you finish running. It doesn't have to be anything special - a banana, chocolate milk, a regular lunch if you can prepare it quickly enough.
And on the day of your long run, you will have to drink plenty of water to replace what you've lost on the run.
That's about it really. No need to over-complicate things.

BenMicheal

RayCun wrote: »

This is the problem really, you don't need to have an intake goal, you don't need to force-feed yourself a certain level of carbs.

Eat a normal, healthy diet. Plenty of fruit and vegetables, plenty of water, just your usual amount of carbs.
Eat something immediately after your long run, like in the 10/20 minutes after you finish running. It doesn't have to be anything special - a banana, chocolate milk, a regular lunch if you can prepare it quickly enough.
And on the day of your long run, you will have to drink plenty of water to replace what you've lost on the run.
That's about it really. No need to over-complicate things.

Chocolate milk? Would that not be loaded with refined sugar?

menoscemo

BenMicheal wrote: »

Chocolate milk? Would that not be loaded with refined sugar?

Yes but immediately after your long run your body wants/needs some quick release sugars (to replace Glycogen) and some protein (to repair muscle damage). Chocolate milk contains both.
It is only recommended to drink it immediately after a long run or long intense speed session (or race).

Krusty_Clown

BenMicheal wrote: »

Chocolate milk? Would that not be loaded with refined sugar?

This thread is about carb-loading. I'm sure a bowl of cornflakes would make a perfect substitute for chocolate milk, after a long run or a marathon (althought slightly less convenient!). But.... It's not necessarily a good choice for carb-loading (which is something you do in preparation for a long run or marathon), for a couple of reasons:
1) Multiple bowls of cornflakes with milk will provide a sugar spike, but little to no slow release energy (your first couple of miles will be great, but your 20th mile could be quite tough).
2) Lots of dairy content before a long run or long race can cause bowel issues.

That's why the breakfast of long distance runners (in Ireland, not talking about Kenyans here!) tends towards the porridge. It has slow and fast release sugars (a far greater proportion of slow release energy than cornflakes), one serving is enough (you'd have to eat several servings of corn-flakes to get the same benefit), and it has limited fats. For other meals, complex carbs are generally required as part of the diet (50+mpw), including rice, couscous, some breads, bagels, potatoes (and sweet potatoes), pasta etc.

A long distance runner's diet is quite different to a diet'ers food make-up as there is a strong emphasis on carbs, where the typical dieter tries to minimize carbohydrates They key point is that you need just enough carbs to supply your needs for your long run, rather than over-eating. The heavier you are, the more weight you have to carry around. If you are new to running, or running less than 50 mpw, then the emphasis should be on eating healthy, correctly portioned, well-balanced meals.

TFBubendorfer

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

This thread is about carb-loading.

No it's not. The very first sentence of the OP was:

JohnnyBingo wrote: »

Just wondering how are people in training for marathon meeting their carb quotas?

Krusty_Clown

TFBubendorfer wrote: »

No it's not. The very first sentence of the OP was:

By carb-loading, I don't mean that period of two days where you increase your carb-ratio. I mean general carb'iness.

meijin

These pages provide some interesting info about it:
http://fellrnr.com/wiki/Carbohydrate_Loading
http://fellrnr.com/wiki/Nutrient_Timing
http://fellrnr.com/wiki/Carbohydrates_and_Glycemic_Index