What do you eat when you run?

I am getting ready to run my first ultra marathon, the Moab 50K. I am very nervous and fully expect to drag my sorry butt across the finish line somewhere near the end, but I will finish. I am curious to see what everyone takes for nutrition and how well it has worked.

[SIZE=3][FONT=Calibri]When running a marathon I start taking gels (Accel Gel, not as thick as other gels) about mile 6-8 and then every other aid station usually every 4 miles. I also take salt pills about 3

good topic as I'm looking to get into ultra running myself

:popcorn:

It sounds like gels work for you. I go the gel route as well along with various gummy chews. One method I use on long runs is that my GPS beeps at me every 20 minutes to remind me to take in food, salt, and or liquids.

Salt is your friend whether in capsule format or tablet. Nuun was a game changer for me in terms of hydration and salts. Once again it is a personal choice for what works for you.

My experience at the Red Hot 55k is that I wish I had a drop bag with food at the aid station around mile 17 and beyond. Even though you do gels, you want options at that point. Everyone is different but for me I would have killed for a PB&J, pizza, burger...etc. Just have stuff that you know you can hold down. I'm lucky and I have an iron stomach, pizza and burgers are no problem.

Have fun and don't go out too fast.

Gambel Oak thanks for the advice. I was planning on a few drop bags at the last two aid stations. By the time I come through I am worried they might be out of food. I have heard good things about Nuun but haven't had time to try them. I am running Squaw Peak in June and was going to start trying Nuun after this race. I also set my watch to 30 minutes reminders it really has helped. Doing a mountain bike race 2 years ago I got caught up in the race and was horrible at taking in food, and I paid for it later in the race. Worst bonk ever, now I try to stay focused on eating and running my own race, it is harder to do than you think.

On a different note Gambel Oak. I am trying to get an idea of my finish time so my family doesn't have to wait for hours. Do you mind if I ask you what time you finished the 50K. I was hoping to finish around 7 hours but don't know if that is realistic. I have run 3 marathons and finished in 3:40, 3:50, and 3:30. The 3:30 was the 2010 St. George marathon and was my most recent race. I realize St. George is all downhill and the other marathons are flat or downhill as well. My half marathons are between 1:36 - 1:43. Any idea on what to expect for a finish time. Thanks.

Seven seems realistic based on your road times but I would just have your family get there early and bring a book. I can't really give you any descent beta, I ended up injured and walked the last 14-15 miles so no comparison. My feeling is that the last 1/3 of the race was way more runnable than the first 1/3.

The big lesson learned at the 2010 crusty snow and mud extravaganza is to just walk the snowy parts and save yourself for running the more runnable parts. You will probably have awesome weather though.

I havent done an ultra, although I fully trained for one - then wrecked my Achilles. I cant drink gatorade regularly - I fill my bottle, or my hydration pack with water and take in gatorade (or whatever) at the aid stations - too much sugar with the gels, makes me nauseous. I really like Snickers bars - the minis. :-)

Nuun is awesome! I recently transitioned to 50k's and you definitely need to get some calories in for that distance. I like to keep really dry foods out (Clif bars...) since it's hard to get them down after you've been running a while. Gels are good, but I need some more substance after about 20mi to finish strong. Candy bars, etc. are good. Usually aid stations will have weird stuff too like donuts, M&Ms, pizza, etc. Practice on a long run...

As far as times... My marathon PR is 2:51, and my first 50k was just under 4 hours on not much training. Honestly, it may sound weird, but you get into a less "race" kind of mindset in ultras and it's more about keeping it steady, so there's less pressure. Thomas, if you ran a 3:30 and feel like you're in shape to do that now, I'd bet you could pretty easily hold up 9:00-9:30 pace for a 50k? Which is somewhere in the neighborhood of right under 5 hours. You'd be surprised how much farther you can go when you slow down a little. Plus, hey, it's only another 5mi, right? Good luck on that first ultra, you'll get hooked quick

Well it is a good question that what we eat while running. I eat chocolates and drink energy drink of and any energy juice.

I can't say enough good things about Jelly Belly Sport Beans.

It's nice to have something to chew on every now and then when you've been sucking down gels for a while, and they Sport Beans are the perfect mix between substantial and easy enough to get down.

And they taste good.

I LOVE sport beans! I always eat them on long runs... that little kicky 'zing' on the taste buds puts a little pep in my step - I swear!! :-) Love the orange the best.

I just wanted to stop by and say thank you. I got new ideas from the answers.