Nutrition - Tips from Jeff Galloway

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Tips from Jeff

Pre Race Dietary Countdown

Rules:
1. Don't try anything new.
2. Go through the same schedule and foods that worked for you in training.
3. If you hear sloshing in your stomach, you don't have to drink for the next 30 minutes.

24 hours and before: Normal balanced meals. Plenty of liquids all day long, especialy electrolyte fluids (I drink Accelerade). Before marathons you can eat extra carbohydrates.

18 hours before race: Start eating small meals, every 2-3 hours. Keep drinking fluids. After lunch, cut out red meat, fried foods, dairy products, fats, nuts, and roughage.

12 hours before race: Don't overeat. Only light, digestible foods like energy bars, bread, small sandwiches, which you've tried before long runs and races. Keep drinking water and electrolyte fluids. Avoid salty foods.

4 hours and less: Water mostly, with some electrolyte fluid, in small, regular amounts. Cold water is absorbed quicker. I recommend 6 oz. every hour, 8 oz. on hot days. If you want Vitamin C, take it two hours or more before the race.

During race: Drink a cup at every water station - especially the early ones, unless you hear the sound of water sloshing in your stomach.

Recent research has shown that consuming a snack that is 80% carbohydrate and 20% protein helps deliver energy to the muscle during exercise and restocks the energy stores afterwards. I use the products "Accelerde" during exercise and "R4" afterwards.

Eating All Day Long

Yes, it's better for fat control and your energy level if you eat every 1-2 hours. Our digestion system was designed for grazing: taking in modest amounts of food all day long. Each time we eat, even small amounts, our digestive system gears up to process the nutrients and dispose of the bulk. This means that you're burning calories for an extended period beyond the eating of the snack - in order to digest the food. This increase in metabolic rate makes you feel more energetic and motivated.

from Galloway's Book on Running, 2nd Edition (Shelter Publications, 2002), p. 226

Fatburning

The human organism is lazy. With a primary mission of survival, each of us is programmed to slowly build up extra fat storage. For millions of years, this has been a proven "insurance policy," which allowed our ancient ancestors to survive through periods of starvation and sickness. The mechanisms of fat storage support a well-established principle called "set point." This powerful regulatory mechanism increases your appetite for weeks or months, after periods of fat loss due to reduced calorie intake, illness, and even psychological deprivation. Unfortunately, it does its job too well, leaving you fatter than you were before the fat loss. Understanding how the set point works as your hedge against starvation is the most important step in learning how to adjust it downward, or at least manage it, for the rest of your life.

What is fat?
When you eat a pat of butter, you might as well inject it onto your thigh or stomach. While dietary fat is directly deposited, protein and carbohydrates (even sugar) will be converted into fat only when you've consumed too many calories from those sources throughout the day. If you're trying to reduce the fat blanket, it helps to eat complex carbohydrates (baked potatoes, rice, whole grains, vegetables) and lean protein sources (legumes, turkey breast, nonfat dairy products, etc.)

An unlimited supply of the best fuel for running.
Only body fat is used as fuel, not the fat in your diet. It is an excellent energy source, leaving a small amount of waste product, which is easily removed through the increased blood flow of exercise. While stored sugar is limited, you can't run far enough to use up your fat storage. Even a 140-pound person with the unusually low level of two percent body fat has hundreds of miles of fuel on board.

Another difference between men and women.
Men tend to store fat on the surface of the body, often on the outside of the stomach area. Most females store fat internally at first. Thousands of areas between muscle cells are filled up first. Many young women feel that some dramatic change has occurred around the age of 30 when they suddenly start showing fat accumulation on the outside of their bodies, while maintaining the same diet and level of exercise. They've actually been storing fat inside for many years. Once the inner areas are filled, women notice a dramatic change on the outside of their thighs or stomachs, often in less than a year.

From Jeff Galloway's new Marathon! (Phidippides Publications, 2000), pp.47-48

Boosting Blood Sugar

Jeff Galloway During my first 70 marathons or so, I didn't eat anything. On each of these, my blood sugar level was so low at the end that I hardly enjoyed the exhilaration of even the better ones. I thought that low blood sugar was a given, that it would crash regardless of what I did on all runs beyond 20 miles. Even on my best marathons, I finished feeling exhausted, unmotivated, unable to concentrate very well, and very hungry but often nauseous. A good nap usually turned into a long evening hibernation. Without eating, the vitality wasn't in the legs or spirit the next morning - even after some 12-hour slumbers.

I've now run my last 40+ marathons using an energy bar as my blood sugar booster and have enjoyed the afterglow of each - even the tough ones. By attacking the blood sugar condition before it got too low, I learned that you can not only feel good during the latter stages of a marathon but you can also have a good attitude all evening.

Each runner needs to try out various blood sugar boosters during training runs and then stick with the plan that works best: how much to take and when to eat.

From Jeff Galloway's new Marathon! (Phidippides Publications, 2000), p. 63

What You Eat Makes A Difference

A good balance of fresh, complex carbohydrates (50-60% of the calories) along with some protein (20-25% of the calories) and a little fat (10-20% of the calories) will leave you satisfied for an extended period after eating. Too much food, too much sugar and starch, or too much fat in a meal will lead to fat accumulation. Galloway's Book on Running, Second Ed. (Shelter Publications, 2002), p. 226