Ultra Runners...
I'm looking for guidance on a nutrition plan for a 50 mile race in October. Nutrition has always been my weakest sport in triathlon-and with a 50 mile race ahead of me, I don't want to screw it up early in the race and have to suffer some long miles towards then end. I've read a couple Ultra running books (most recently Relentless Forward Progress) and basically have an understanding that its is crucial to eat a lot early on in the race-but what? And how much? I've read that many ultra runners take in solid foods (as a triathlete, I'm usually on gus and the like). What would be recommended? And cals/hr?
Any suggestions would be great. Thanks so much 
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No, not something I could do but was fun reading......
For my only 50 so far (JFK in '08) I tried PB&J, pretzels, and potatoes. None of that set well so I kept up with doing my usual Gu at 5 mile intervals. Tried and proven for me. I know how to keep my gut in check with Gu and water. Other stuff never seems to work. Finished strong @ 9:39 then went and ate 3/4 of a pizza and several Cokes.
Did a 50 miler last year and it was a blast. I did do a lot of solids during training and during the race. Unlike my first IM which I just did in Louisville10 days ago in which everything I did was for speed's sake, my nutrition plan for the ultra was more about feeling good, not feeling hungry, and staying hydrated.
I did all sports drink (except the last 10 miles or so I mixed in some Coke) and hydrated at a rate similar to regular run training which for me is in the range of 5-10oz every 15 minutes depending on the weather. Then I would take in about 100-200 calories/hour on top of the liquid calories. This consisted of small PB&J or turkey sandwiches, pretzels, M&M's and bananas. Some of this was based on what they would have at the aid stations. It was fun to use these things in training.
They had great volunteers at the race I was at and one guy was frying eggs on a portable camp stove and making egg sandwiches. Smelled delicious to me and so I ate half of one - big mistake. I had to slow down for about 20 minutes because of nausea. Thankfully I never threw up and when the nausea passed I was fine and learned my lesson. That was at about mile 30 and I finished strong.
I used the EN/QT2 Nutrition Webinar for my recent IM and had good success, so I would probably incorporate some of those priniciples into my next ultra. I might use an occasional caffeinated gel or a Powerbar instead of a sandwich. I would especially adhere to the carb loading diet tips discussed in the webinar on the days before and morning before you race. But I would likely still take in more solid food during the race than in a tri. Depending on the heat and your tolerance for sport drink I might also take in some SaltStick capsules.
Good luck and have a blast.
Hi Lauren:
Congrats on your adventure. I have done several ultra's in the past and nutrition to me varies based on temp, elevation gain, waht I can carry, etc. I was on my way to run Western States 100 and got injured. Then found EN and became a tri geek again and fell out of ultras.
Great Wiki post from Hedman here. Mike is an EN guy and lives here in NorCal. It is a good read.
Like everything else we do, you have to test, test, test. I used to eat between 300 and 400 calories/hour during an ultra. I like liquid calories and I LOVE Gummy Bears. For food, I at mostly at the aid stations. I know that I CAN NOT handle chocolate like the Oreos they usually have. But a few nuts, potato chips, 1/4 a PB&J always seemed to get me through. But Gummy Bear ALWAYS worked when I would start bonking or got tired. Plus they are easy to carry.
Check out this site for nuggets of info. Great stuff there. Looks kinda 1990's but don;t let that fool you. Run100's.com
Couple of tips:
1 - Break a pencil in half and wrap about 12" of duct tape around it. It helps with blisters and other unforeseen issues.
2 - Pacers are great, but controll the fast ones. If they join you at mile 25 they are fresh and you jump ran a marathon. Don't let them pick up your pace.
3 - Track you HR. If your HR goes up and your pace goes down - you are bonking.
4 - If you run hilly 50's (most of the ones I have ran have at least 5k of climbing) walk the up and run the downs and flats. Believe me, it works. And a hill is anything you can't see overat the base of it.
5 - Have I mentioned Gummy Bears? :-)
Have a GREAT run.
John
Love to know how you carried a salt stick? I found the small Fuel Belt holder with a lid (it is a little smaller than the old 35mm film containers) worked well and easy to carry. The Salt Stick just seemed to long. But that is just me.
Lemme know.
I'm sure I'll have more questions as the runs get longer. Thanks!!!
My race has an 11 hour cut-off too...I normally wouldn't be too concerned with that, but thinking about adding in the walk breaks and however it will feel roughly 40 miles in is a bit concerning! I refuse to DNF-so for whatever reason if I'm going that slow I'll finish (even if it is unofficial!) In your race do you get anything for finishing sub-11? We get some cool belt buckle...that's incentive enough...If I get that I'm wearing it ALL the time. LOL
Lauren,
Sorry that I am late to the party but have been off the grid for a time. I have run the American River 50 in Nor Cal 5 times and have done lots of other ultras. Most of my ultras have been on trails and no two trail runs are ever the same because of the topography. I live in Southern California and some of the trail runs are brutal and others are pretty tame. Like John Stark said power walk the uphills and run the flats and downhills. On most of the trails that I run, I run in heavy trail shoes with a good sturdy toe box. When your running downhill if you shoes are too small, the toenails can keep hitting the shoes resulting in the dreaded "black toe syndrome". Loosing a toenail is never fun, so remember to cut your toenails the week before and vaseline or Body Glide parts that are going to rub. I use Injinji toesocks and have never had a blister with them.
As far as nutrition, ultra marathon aid stations are old school. They have a lot more solid food with cookies, candy, potatoe chips, pretzels etc along with some gels and sports drinks. They usually have several types of soda pop ( Midwest term) and my favorite is Mountain Dew with sugar and caffeine. Having worked for years at the Angeles Crest 100 aid stations at mile 80 & mile 90, you get to a point where your body will start to crave things. By the time the runners reached us, most were on auto pilot but we had everything from soup, hot chocolate, hamburgers, hot dogs, along with the usual aid.
If you are not going to have a pacer, hook up with another racer depending on how isolated the run will be because there is safety in numbers and misery loves company. But always balance that with putting your interest first if they start to slow you down. After 25 miles, just break in down into getting to mile 30, then 35, then 40 and so on. You can run 5 miles right? Just string together another 5 miles run. No problem. Before you know it, you will cross the finish line. Good Luck.
As far as cramping, there is really no definitive answer. Yes I would take some mineral/salt tablets but not overdue it unless you feel you need it. Follow the plan but not into a brick wall. A couple of tricks you may want to play with these last couple of weeks. Do some leg drills like squat walking/butt kicks etc to build up your strength but not too much as you don't want to go into your race overtrained. Try taking ginger/rolaids tablets which help settle your stomach in the case of an emergency. Diluted Coke helps some people also settle their stomach.