Autumn 2020 Half Marathon Group 😍 Bonus post! A bit of admin, and let's experiment with food!!

[roseabi]

Hi again!

This is an extra post (hey we give value for money here 😊😊😊)!!

★ Admin first

Thanks to all of you who have followed Linda and me - I hope this means that you have been receiving email notifications of our new posts. In addition, it would be good if you could either follow one another also, or hit the 'Save' button on HM Group posts so that you get notifications of all new comments. I don't want you to miss out on the discussions!

Please do check back with Tuesday's post to find out more about all the group members:

healthunlocked.com/marathon....

★ Experimenting with food!

I noticed that quite a few of you are concerned that you may not be eating the right sorts of food to get the most out of your training. But the thing is that, as long as we are eating a reasonably well-balanced diet combining macronutrients (carbohydrates, proteins, and fats), and micronutrients (vitamins and minerals), to give enough energy (calories) to keep us going, we should be fine. The most important thing is that the food is accessible and enjoyable to you as individuals. Most training plans at some point will mention experimenting with eating food on your longer runs, and I often tell people to test things and find out what works best for them. This experimenting includes: food the night before a long run, at breakfast on the day of the run, to nibble on during the run, and to recover afterwards. And also, of course, your fluids!

So let's start the experimenting now! Why not!? 😄 I thought it would be a great project to all get to work on your own ideas, and in a few weeks we can start to share our experiences!

Here are some of people's favourite running foods from Tuesday's post, for inspiration:

Bananas | Nakd Bars (very popular!) | smoothies | energy gels/bars | porridge | peanut butter and jam sandwiches | jelly babies/beans | flapjack | dates | fudge | coconut water

What you may notice about all these foods is that they are easy to consume (either because of their consistency or because they are bite-size), and that they contain a good deal of sugar for that energy boost!

Some recipe information was also provided:

Power Flapjacks from RockRun (thanks to Irishprincess!): rockrun.com/blogs/how-to-gu...

Anita Bean's cookbooks (from annettebrown, ta!): anitabean.co.uk/my-books/ - there are also some recipes on this website

Squeakjacks by Sqkr (suggested by lexi6, cheers!): drive.google.com/file/d/1GN...

pb&j with fried banana porridge oats (this is actually a credit for the image I used in this post, but it contains so many of the foods runners love!): twospoons.ca/pbj-with-fried...

Happy running and eating everyone!!!

linda9389 & roseabi xx

June 26th, 2020

[roseabi Ultramarathon]

Mentioned in this post: Irishprincess , annettebrown , and lexi6 - thanks all!

Also, if anyone finds that they are saving our posts and not receiving email notifications of comments, please let Health Unlocked know by emailing [e-mail] with the details, cheers!

[SueKen Half Marathon]

Food? Tuesday post? Just realised I completely missed off that question - oops! Always a contentious subject for me, as I’m a Type 2 diabetic, which I manage with a low carb diet, which kind of rules out many of the favourite running foods!

I don’t do anything special for 10k runs, but for greater distances I was experimenting with porridge (which gives me a huge sugar spike so I have to time it carefully before a run). Oats are generally not that bad in small quantities so I plan to experiment with some lower carb flapjacks in my Autumn training.

[roseabi Ultramarathon in reply to SueKen]

Looking forward to hearing more about that! Do you get advice from the NHS about your diet as a person with diabetes? What do they say about your running?

xxx

[SueKen Half Marathon in reply to roseabi]

I don’t get any special advice but my diabetic nurse is a runner too, and she tends to approve of me keeping up the exercise🙂

[Run46 Half Marathon]

Thanks Roseabi, all working well for me, I always receive emails to let me know you and Linda have posts...I don't delete them for a few days so I can check back to see what folks are adding throughout the week.

A bagel with honey seems to sit well 60/90 minutes before a run...I love peanut butter but it doesn't seem to sit as well before a run.

Also jelly babies give me no trouble, even on the way round, which is a blessing 😊

[roseabi Ultramarathon in reply to Run46]

Ah cool, you are so organised! xx

Bagels I love, and honey! Peanut butter is high in fat, which can be difficult to digest, so doesn't work for everyone.

Jelly babies are fab!

[Irishprincess Administrator Half Marathon]

Although I love the flapjacks I’m going to try your suggestion of peanut butter and jam sandwiches on my long run on Sunday. I assume they're better made with white bread?

[roseabi Ultramarathon in reply to Irishprincess]

I think that would certainly glue it all together more effectively! Also probably the less fibre the better...

[cheekychipmunks Half Marathon]

Hey guys. Before a longer run I’ll make sure I have a banana, or maybe porridge with blueberries and a banana if it’s a later start, like in a race for example. I never run later voluntarily!

During a run, all I take is a handful of jelly babies and I start nibbling them from 10k onwards. But lesson learned last summer when I got caught in the rain and they turned into jelly slugs! The pocket in my hydration vest wasn’t waterproof. 🤦‍♀️

I also take plain water as well as some with Tailwind - I’m not fussy about which flavour. 😋

Oh, and thanks for the tip about saving posts. I’ve never done that before! 👍

[roseabi Ultramarathon in reply to cheekychipmunks]

Here's a link to Tailwind's website in case anyone's not heard of it and is interested. The idea is to get all your on-the-run calories in your drink:

tailwindnutrition.co.uk/

I never knew that would happen to Jelly Babies - eek! I have had them go really soft in the heat, but I found them quite delicious in that state 😄

'Saving' used to be 'Following', but anyway I hope it works for you! I have had reports (and have noticed myself) that the notification emails are not always received.

[linda9389 Administrator Marathon]

I've experimented with food far too much during lock down 🤣.

I'm definitely not trying PB, PB&J or dates! Or marmite!!! But I will have a go at making some healthy running flapjacks. Have been meaning to for at least 12 months now , but there we are -I've publicly committed now.

I'd give another vote for porridge and blueberries before a run (well, any day to be honest).

[roseabi Ultramarathon in reply to linda9389]

I can't get with the texture of porridge, but muesli is a good alternative I suppose! Oats are a good energy source I think xx

[Cantstopmenow Half Marathon in reply to linda9389]

I've got a low fat muesli/flapjack recipe if you need one. X

[linda9389 Administrator Marathon in reply to Cantstopmenow]

Ooh, can you post it? I'm sure lots of people would be interested 😊

[Cantstopmenow Half Marathon in reply to linda9389]

Will do x

[roseabi Ultramarathon]

I have carried fig rolls with me during marathons (comment from a volunteer at a water station: "you ought to have a cup of tea with that!") 😄

And I made some energy bites to have during my first triathlon - they were really nice but a bit melty (scroll down this post for recipe):

healthunlocked.com/marathon...

[annettebrown Half Marathon]

I’m receiving everything, thank you. It’s interesting to hear everyone’s different eating preferences. I find a banana/empty stomach generally works well for me, before a run & jelly babies if you need a bit of help!

[roseabi Ultramarathon in reply to annettebrown]

Perfect! xxx

[Cantstopmenow Half Marathon]

If I run in the morning I would normally have a cappuccino and banana before a 5k run, with the addition of muesli before a 10k run. Later in the day, I make sure I've had plenty of water up to an hour before I go out.

I've just seen the cupcake (sorry half marathon) post. I normally have a fairly healthy, mostly vegetarian, low fat diet.

However, yesterday I hosted a birthday celebration and consumed 3 cupcakes, 1 cream scone and 2 profiteroles (among other things). Today I ran 14.5k in the driving wind, rain and, at times, hail. It's the furthest I've been since lockdown. I really enjoyed it, didn't feel tired and could have run further - maybe I need to rethink my diet 🤔😂

[roseabi Ultramarathon in reply to Cantstopmenow]

Lol!

[Nevvy Marathon]

mmmm, squeakjacks sound good. I used to make "powerballs" which were just dates, soaked in a little warm water and whizzed up with cocoa powder, nuts and other dried fruit. A bit messy, both to make and to carry but yummy.

[roseabi Ultramarathon in reply to Nevvy]

Sounds good!

[roseabi Ultramarathon]

Also mentioned in this post... Sqkr !!!!

[Sqkr Half Marathon in reply to roseabi]

It's me! 😄 👋 Looking forward to going out for long enough to need a squeakjack in my pocket 😁

[roseabi Ultramarathon in reply to Sqkr]

The beauty of marathon training 😊😊😊

[Kiwipie Half Marathon]

I’ve been experimenting with food & and it experimented with me 😢 Read about all the healthy benefits of flaxseed, omega 3, protein, fibre and gave it a go. Reaction, nausea, bloating and chronic stomach pain!

Well at least it wasn’t a run day.

[roseabi Ultramarathon in reply to Kiwipie]

Sounds like you may have a bit of an irritable gut 😥

[PurpleFish59]

Tried the the power flapjacks today for a boost out cycling, and they are delicious, will take one for my long run at the weekend (if they last that long 🤭) will try the squeakjacks next. Banana does not agree with me so really appreciating these alternatives!

[roseabi Ultramarathon in reply to PurpleFish59]

There's nothing much more yummy than flapjack!! 😊😊😊