Fueling The Long Run

With RAracing team member Dr. Kanoa King of Performance Health NH 

Dr. Kanoa King logging some long miles.

The long run can feel like you are biting off more than you can chew so here are some tips on keeping you feeling good from start to finish. Your body can only store so much energy and we don’t want to be dipping into these reserves every time we do a long run so it is important to stay fueled and hydrated to get the most out of your long runs and recover more quickly. Everyone’s “long” run is different but broadly anything lasting longer than 90 minutes can be considered a long run in terms of fueling and hydration.

Things To Consider:

TIME: How long are you going to be out on the run?
WEATHER: Will it be hot? cold? What is the humidity?
EFFORT: What pace/effort will you be running at?

Basic Rules

*Very specific person to person and is variable based on sex, practice and see what works for you

Know Your Sweat

Water and Electrolytes are specific to an athlete’s sweat rates. Sweat rate is the amount of sweat you lose in a hour.

Keep it Simple

More complex foods such as bars, real food and chews can be harder to digest in hot weather or harder efforts so stick to simple sugars like your favorite sport drink mix or gels.

(Check out our selection of nutrition products.)

Add calories with your Electrolytes

Check your sports drink mix for calories a lot will have electrolytes but no calories.

(Options like Tailwind are perfect for combining your calories and electrolytes.)

Practice

My biggest tip is to practice with different fuels during training so you know what does and doesn’t work for you when it comes to race day. On colder days you might not sweat as much or feel like you need to drink but still make sure you take your calories in.

Author: Kanoa King, 6.25.2020