Fueling for the Distance: Guest post with Dr. Susan Kleiner.

Earlier this year, Dr. Susan Kleiner joined us for a guest post on hydration. Today, I'm very pleased that she's agreed to share information on proper fueling, right in time for the peak fall training season!

Fueling For The Distance

As we move into fall, most of us get very serious about training. It’s such a great time to get outside to run long distances; the temperatures are just perfect almost everywhere in the country: not too hot and not too cold. Fueling up for long distance fall sports takes some knowledge of your own body and what’s available to you.

While everyone’s body is a little different, there are some basic principles to fueling to maximize your efforts.
1. Hydration is the most important. We fatigue quickly as we dehydrate, no matter how well you’ve eaten. And you’ll never maximize your training time without enough fluids on board. While water is great throughout most of the day, it isn’t enough if you exercise more than 60 minutes.

You can also use various types of fluids not only for hydration, but for their other ingredients that may enhance hydration, fueling, and endurance. Sports drinks during exercise are obvious. They enhance hydration, keep you drinking, and add a small amount of carbohydrates to add to your fuel source. A brand new carbohydrate supplement, VitargoS2, is causing a sensation in the long-distance world of sports (www.genr8speed.com). It passes into the bloodstream much more quickly than any other carb supplement without bloating. So you can double your energy pipeline for the long haul. It has great research behind it and there is nothing else like it.

Milk products before and after exercise are great sources of carbohydrates and whey protein that work together to promote fueling and refueling, hydration and re-hydration, minimize muscle damage and promote muscle recovery and growth.

Caffeine before exercise has been shown to enhance endurance by lowering our rate of perceived exertion. In other words, we don’t notice how hard we’re really working, and so we continue to pour it on long after we otherwise would have slowed our pace or intensity. While many people turn to coffee, colas and energy drinks that contain caffeine, none of those beverages contain the full range of support for multiple systems in the body as does Awaken by solixir, a unique new beverage (www.solixir.com). The caffeine content in Awaken is very low (30 mg), but you get the same sense of energy through the natural mix of botanicals that interact with many different energy systems in the body. I have switched from coffee to Awaken Orange Maté by solixir, and so have many of my clients.

2. Eat breakfast. There just is no substitute for breaking your overnight fast. A bowl of whole grain cereal, fruit, milk and an egg is an easy combination that will make you feel great.

3. Eat regularly and enjoy it. Between meal snacks are critical to keeping your blood sugar levels, your energy and your mood even all day long. Try sticking to real food rather than engineered snacks like bars. Fruit and cheese, dried fruit and nuts, vegetables and hummus or peanut butter, a glass of milk or a latté, are all great choices.

4. Recover after exercise. Within 15-30 minutes after exercise your body is primed to recover at the fastest rate. Drinking a smoothie with whey protein and Vitargo S2, or even chocolate milk, are ideal strategies to give your body the protein and carbohydrate that it needs to refuel, recover and grow, helping you prepare for the next day’s workout. There is no substitute for this immediate nutritional boost.

Within two hours after exercise have a robust meal. This is still part of your recovery regime. I also add Restore by solixir. The refreshing pomegranate ginger beverage supports immune function and continues your recovery process.While this isn’t an exhaustive list, if you accomplish these four strategies every day, you’ll feel so much better, and you’ll notice a huge boost in your energy, your endurance, and your performance. Eating breakfast, eating regularly and following a recovery plan will keep you fueled well throughout the day, avoiding the uncontrolled appetite surges that often happen during the hard training season.

Have fun and run long!

Dr. Susan Kleiner

Great tips! I need to work on proper fueling to keep those "uncontrolled appetite surges" at bay. I don't know about you, but as I get more serious about my training, I get hungrier. And then I worry about eating too much and gaining weight right when that's the last thing I need to do. For me, though, I think the hydration principle is key. Since Dr. Kleiner's last post in May, I've worked hard to improve my hydration and I feel like it is paying off. I definitely notice when I'm not fully hydrated; aside from the usual reactions (fatigue, headaches, poor performance), I also get hungrier!

I hope these tips will help you as you move through the fall season. They will certainly help me as I seek my 5K PR in October (and I can use all the help I can get . . . ).

If you would like to learn more about Dr. Kleiner, check out her web site, Power Eating.

Have a great day, everyone!

~ Felice

Hydration for runners: A guest post by Dr. Susan Kleiner!

We're tackling some serious business here at The Happy Runner: Hydration. Since I'm no expert (hydration is actually something I really need help with), I consider myself very fortunate to have an actual expert who was willing and able to write on the subject. So, today, I bring you a guest post!

Our guest poster is Dr. Susan Kleiner, president of High Performance Nutrition, an authority on eating for strength, the author of several books (including Power Eating: 3rd. edition and The Good Mood Diet: Feel Great While You Lose Weight), and the nutritionist who worked on the development of the new Solixir beverages. You can learn more about Dr. Kleiner by visiting her web site.

There are so many things to think about when you want to run well: training, flexibility, diet, rest, mental focus and fortitude. Of all the questions that I’m asked about how to improve running performance, the most frequent is, “What is the single most important thing that I should focus on to enhance my running?” That answer is pretty easy: focus on hydration.

Of all the things that affect performance, both physical and mental, hydration has the most immediate and powerful effect. Everything else follows. Staying well-hydrated is more than just drinking enough during training and competition, it’s drinking and eating well all the time, with the goal of limiting your level of dehydration at all times, and especially during a race. Once you dehydrate out on the road or trail, you won’t fully rehydrate until 24 to 48 hours after the event is over. Going into an event well-hydrated is essential, and limiting the level of dehydration during your event is the goal.

Not only is drinking important, but so is eating. Fruits and vegetables are full of water and rich in electrolytes essential for maintaining water balance, nerve conduction and muscle contraction. Diets abundant in fruits and vegetables typically contribute about 4 cups of fluid to your diet every day.

If you run long distances, don’t be afraid of having some salt in your diet. On warm days when you sweat more than usual, it’s important to have enough sodium in your system. While you don’t want to go overboard, it’s a good idea to have a moderate amount of salt in your diet on those days. If you are already eating foods high in salt like fast foods, processed foods, and lots of snack foods, then you should probably think about replacing some of those with more natural, whole foods. If you are already eating a diet that is low in processed and packaged foods, then adding some pretzels and baked chips, salting your vegetables, and drinking a regular V-8 juice can add just the right amount of sodium to keep your fluids in balance out on the trail or track.

It is particularly important to be drinking, of course. Not just around exercise, but all day long. Have a fluid plan just like you have a food plan. When you wake in the morning drink at least 2 cups of water. Throughout the day take sips from the drinking fountain or carry a water bottle with you. Adding ice to the water and using a thermal sleeve can help it stay cold for several hours.

Sports drinks are fabulous for around exercise, but they should not be the beverages that you drink all day long. You want to get your calories and electrolytes from foods that also contain all the other important nutrients you need to perform at peak levels. Sports drinks are lacking in everything except the 3 nutrients that your body directly uses during exercise: water, sugar and electrolytes. They are empty of everything else so that these nutrients can be absorbed and utilized quickly during activity. Throughout the day choose water, lowfat and nonfat milk and 100% fruit juices to round out your fluid intake and nutrition.

Fluid Replacement for Athletes—A Summary of Practical Applications from the National Athletic Trainers Association Position Statement

Before Exercise

2-3 hours before, drink 17-20 oz of water or sport drink

10-20 minutes before, drink 7-10 oz of water or sport drink.

During Exercise

Athletes benefit from drinking fluid with carbohydrate in many situations.

If exercise lasts more than 45 minutes or is intense, fluid with carbohydrate (sport drink) should be provided during the session.

A 6%-8% carbohydrate solution maintains optimal carbohydrate metabolism.

During events when a high rate of fluid intake is necessary to sustain hydration, carbohydrate composition should be kept low (less than 7%) to optimize fluid delivery.

Fluids with salt (sodium chloride) are beneficial to increasing thirst and voluntary fluid intake, as well as offsetting losses.

Cool beverages at temperatures of 10 degrees to 15 degrees C (50 degrees to 59 degrees F) are recommended.

Every 10-20 minutes, drink 7-10 oz. of water or a sport drink. Athletes should be encouraged to drink beyond their thirst.

After exercise

Within 2 hours, drink enough to replace any weight loss from exercise; approximately 20 oz. of water or sport drink per pound of weight loss.

Within 6 hours, drink an additional 25%-50% more than weight loss from exercise.

-- Susan Kleiner, PhD, RD, FACN, CNS, FISSN

Thank you, Dr. Kleiner! I think my big problem is that I don't hydrate well enough before I exercise. I need to get better about drinking all day long. I don't think just drinking black coffee all morning is really cutting it!

If you have any questions about hydration, leave a comment and I will pass them along to Dr. Kleiner. And be sure to check out her web site (here)!

Drink up, everyone!

~ Felice