An Ode to the Carbo Load

Just days away from Marathon numero dos!  I'm so stinkin' excited now, I can hardly sleep (literally, I had to take a melatonin last night)!  I can't wait to get in the car and head 4 hours north to the BIG city (I miss the days when I LIVED in the BIG city).  In the meantime, I've spent some major time reflecting on how far I've come since I started this second journey the week of July 10th.  Since then, it's been full speed ahead!  I told a friend today, I don't know if I can stop training when this is over, I'd get bored.  I have hours upon hours of backed up DVR episodes that need catching up on.  However, when I think about sitting down in the evening instead of running, I get bored.  Training 5-6 days a week usually for 2+ hours a day has become normal.  I am used to eating dinner at 9pm now!  Speaking of eating...

And I have read and re-read my blog posts from the past months...

And I am fully aware that in these blog posts I love to talk about food...

So what's one more blog about food?  Here's my Ode to the Carbo Load :)

OHHHHHHH carbohydrates you make me smile.
You sit in my tummy for a while.
And give me energy to make me go
for hours and hours so I don't slooooooooooowwww
down.

Macaroni and Cheese and Baked Potatoes
Cheeze Ravioli and Pasta with Tomoatoooooooooo
sauce.
You make my heart sing a happy song
and make it possible for me to run very loooooonnnnggg
distances.

So from now until Sunday I'll be happy to eat
90% of my diet full of whole wheat
I'll be keeping it clean
So Renea won't be too mean  (Love you Renea :))
And I won't have to worry about hitting the wall
because my body is going to be full of allllllllllllllll
that glycogen.

The End.

But no seriously.  I started eating today.  And I'm not eating crap, but just as my ditty states, I'm getting most of my good ol' calories from lovely carbohydrates.  Why might you ask?  I read this article in my November 2011 Runner's World....

http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-242-301--14076-0,00.html

It's appropriately titled "Fill 'Er Up", and it gives lots of good information on how the pre-race carbo load affects your body, and what it actually does for the runner.  It also goes into the reason why you start carbo loading earlier than just the day before the race.  And in case no one wants to read the article, here's the gist.

Since this week, all of us Rock and Roller's are tapering and not really running very much (at least that's what is supposed to happen....).  We are in the resting/tapering stage.  Resting our muscles so they are fresh and ready for Sunday.  We've put the work in, we've ran our miles, and now we just prepare.  And the biggest preparation, is food.  Since we aren't actively burning all the calories we eat with our long runs, we can start storing Glycogen....

GLYCOGEN:  The fuel for our muscles, its the body's simplest source for getting energy.  When you run out of glycogen during a LOOOONNNGGG run, this is usually what is referred to as "hitting the wall."  Where you feel like you can't move your legs anymore and usually feel like you have to stop (a la me at mile 39 during my Ultra Marathon). 

We can start storing Glycogen early, since we won't be actively burning it off every day as we normally do.  As this article states, this doesn't mean that we are necessarily taking in more calories than we normally do, but simply, we are getting most of our calories (85-95%) from carbs.  And oh the glorious day!  Because most people love them some carbs.  This article gives you a good idea of "good carbs" to fill up on.  For you full marathoners, starting the carbo load a little early (I'm actually going to start officially with dinner tonight...) may help keep your energy level up for the entire 26.2! 

For the half marathoners, this isn't as huge of a deal, but still, from personal experience, I ran much stronger last year at RNR SA after carbing up for 2 days than I had at my previous half.  My time showed it (I shaved over 15 minutes off).

So do yourself a favor, read that article (google Fill 'Er Up, Runner's World if the link doesn't work), and see if that may work for you.  As I always say, it may not work for everyone, but I know that doing it this way works for me, so it might help you too!

I did get a couple comments from readers about "Running Faux Pas" last week.  And I wanted to share it with you (both people had the same comment...).  Seems another faux pas I left out, and it's an important one, is this:  If you are running this weekend, and your shoe comes untied, or you need to stop to get water, or you need to stop in general.  Head to the side of the street to do so, out of the track of other runners.  For those that have been in a collision in the middle of a race, it can cause major injury.  When you have hundreds sometimes thousands running on the same path, sometimes at a higher speed, if one person stops, it can cause a domino effect.  So be kind to those running around you, and step to the side if you have to stop!  Thank you to my readers that brought this to my attention!  I'm so happy to have your input!

In closing, I wanted to say a BIG thank you and good luck to all my friends that are running this weekend!  Each of you has helped push me and inspire me with your own journey's and efforts.  Everyone who has trained should be congratulated.  You are doing something that most people would never attempt.  So pat yourself on the back for a job well done.  You've earned that medal and finisher's shirt (still don't wear it to the race....).  Relax and enjoy the next few days, relax and enjoy the expo, and the chaos of the starting line, and really ENJOY the exuberance of the finish.  Because...YOU earned it!  What a great self affirmation to earn your goal...one mile at a time! 

And to paraphrase one of my favorite shows of all time (Friday Night Lights)...

Clear eyes, full hearts, can't lose.

Thanks for cheering me on!

Lacy