I am looking to talk about running. I was wondering if anyone knew about running marathons and low carb eating. Will I hit the wall early etc?

hi there #1 atkins!
nice to see a fellow runner around. although i've fallen off the running ban wagon, i did run my last 10K in october. this was before i started lcing. i would love to talk with you and do some research to figure out the best way to marathon run and lc at the same time. trainerdan gave me a training log for distance training, but not an eating plan. i do think that the cdk would be beneficial.
hope to hear from you,
regards,
brenda

HI,

I am fairly new to running. I began running for the first time in my life in Sept. I was running 3 times per week (2 miles). Now, I ran 17 miles last week, will run 18 this week and 20 next. I plan on running my first marathon in October and am really concerned about having enough energy to finish. I have yet to find someone who has ran a marathon while LCing. I wonder if it is possible. I have had god success so far with energy. The runs are real good. I am usually tired later in the day. How many marathons have you run? How painfull was it? How about the wall? any tips for my training?


thanks

oh no!! i have not ran an entire maraton. 26 miles would kill me. endurance is not my speciality. i did a 12k in may then the 10k in october.
ya know, there is a person, "goingfor60," who has done a triathalon while lcing. you might want to check out her journal.
what's your goal?
oh yea, it would also be a great idea if you started a gym log. trainerdan and fern and nat and a bunch of others would be happy to offer any support they can. there is a great bunch of fitness freaks (i mean that in a nice way) here.
good luck,
brenda

#1,

I have been training for marathons for years ( 10 marathons, one Ultra Marathon, dozens of medium triathlons) and run them infrequently but still run them none-the-less (one race a year or so). I h ave one in 2 weeks, the "COWTOWN Marathon", 26.2 miles, in Fort Worth Texas 23 Feb 2002. I have been doing the Cyclical Ketogenic Diet since mid Nov and doing my long runs of 15-20 miles after the carb up lately. That will be the key to your success on the marathon, coming out of ketosis and carbing for 3 days prior to the race and consuming carbs during. You can go back to low carb after the race but I wouldn't recommend doing it without carbing.

On the brightest side I feel that the "fat burning training" of working out while in ketosis will make hitting the wall gentler. Most of the pain "normal" people feel at 18-20 miles is their bodies conversion to fat burning for energy. Hey, we are good at that and actually feel better; so it should be a snap for you. Just make sure that you take the time to consume plenty fluids and a few carbs during the entire race. Don't worry about the 30-45 seconds it takes to WALK into a water point, grab a cup of fluids and drink it down, walk a few feet more to let it settle, then continue to run. Most races have water/fluid points every 2 miles which is perfect;(every 15-20 minutes) you can get yourself 6-8 ounces of fluid.

As you get within a few months of the marathon and your long runs run into the multiple hours you may find that the CKD is a better WOE as opposed to straight ketogenic. I feel fantastic on the one long Sunday run after carbing up Fri nite and Saturday (although carbs are tough on the stomache after a week of so few). Try a long weekly run and add 15 minutes each week. I started with an hour and last week did 2:30 after adding my time each week.

Good luck,

Mike

Brumleym,

Thank you very much for your repsonse. I may have to try the ckd approach I am up to 6 mile runs and 20 total for the week and for the most part feel run down all the time. I may need to start increasing carbs and it seems most athletes try a CKD or body opus approach. I also lift alot and I think all my carbs are used up quickly and my body slows down when forced into only fat for energy.

Wow, you have ran many marathons; great job. I admire that; I realize the hard work it takes to train. I find the most difficult thing for me is to keep my mind off the run. (mental tougness) I feel my body will outlast my mind forcing it to stop. I am getting better at it and am enjoying the runs more and more.

Any tips for the mental part?

Thanks again and good luck in 2 weeks.

Please feel free to respond to future posts; your repsonse was excellant and exactly what I was looking for but as you know, as the training continues I will have other issues to also deal with.

Any other training tips?

thanks DOn

oh yeah,

the funny thing, with the low carbs, I have energy for teh workouts but after is when I feel it. What you are saying is with 6-10 maybe 15 miles rund the low carbs may be okay but after that i will need more? actually, my body will probably tell me when something is wrong. Maybe when my body starts to really slow down during runs, I should start loading up then. ???