The Raven's Roost

I'm diving back into the problems of fueling long run efforts, carb intake, and all that jazz. So this post is allllll about that.

As the start of marathon training approaches I'm again pondering my fueling strategies. I feel like I have pre-race down pat. I have reliable digestion with minimal gut distress, which is a nice way of saying I have the cast-iron stomach of a scavenging bird. But I'm also reading about this newer high-carb intake curing race efforts lasting over two hours and thinking about actually giving this a shot.

I've been following the Tour de France, sort of. Mainly the thing where mountain bikers jump over the peloton, and of course, what do the riders eat? Amby Burfoot shared a deep dive into Tour riders' nutrition, which is what has me thinking that a much higher carb intake during racing might be what I need.

I've been relying on Gu all this time, along with whatever else is being handed out on the course. Often this is a good way to discover new energy snacks I like - Honey Stinger chews? Yes! Other times I wind up deeply regretting my choices, like with the Huma Chia Seed gels. ("like sucking down a packet of frog spawn") But I usually have an absurd number of Gu packs stashed about my person. One problem I've had with race nutrition is remembering to eat, and Garmin has my back on this one because my particular watch now lets me set fuel and water reminders to go off at set intervals. I tend to forget or deliberately skip late-race Gu because "I'm almost done." Which never turns out to be a good idea, and I keep doing it.

In my rummaging around on Google I've found some much higher-carb options and I'm probably going to buy a box of these Carbs Fuel things and try them out. Each packet is 50 grams, compared to most energy goo's 20 or so. I could easily train my gut to take two of these an hour. That's 200 calories per packet, combined with my electrolyte drink. I usually do half and full marathons with my own hydration vest so I've got 1.5 liters of sports drink of choice on my back. What I'm seeing in studies suggests that being able to handle 300-400 calories per hour might be exactly the boost I need.

I've tried a number of different fancy sports drinks, including one with CBD and THC (!) in it, and I'm more or less sold on lemon-lime Gatorade with some electrolyte powder added to it. Some runners use a similar formula with Kool-Aid. Fox and I have been joking that we need to concoct a drink with all those sugars and things but that tastes like garden hose water and market it to Gen X runners.

In other events, I've got some errands to run today. I've put aside a box of books to donate to the Friends of the Library for their book sale, and we need water softener salt. I'm not running today but I want to find out if there are any events taking place at the Twin Lakes soccer fields coming up, because I'm going to do another mile trial, and this time I really am going to run it on pavement. Yesterday I was doing intervals, and it was 70 outside. Might have been in the 60s in some of the more forested areas where the pine trees make it nice and cool. And I was hitting my 5k paces pretty easily. I was slowing down by the end but I expect that, and it was getting warmer at that point. I know I shouldn't bank on it being nice every morning like this but I'm going to take advantage of this pattern while it lasts.

 Today we're having one of "those" Florida winter days. It's currently drizzling rain and nicely gloomy. It was around 60 when I got up. The high should be around 70 and tonight the low should be around 32. Note to self to put sensitive plant friends in the garage this evening. 

We finally, finally finished most of the deck work yesterday. The only thing really left to do is the very top step on the back deck, which will require two decking boards screwed into place, and the gap between the ramp and lower deck in the front, which is getting a temporary cover. Later this summer or fall we'll be pouring a concrete pad for the lower deck, more than likely, and we'll put a more finished ramp extension down to the surface. But now all the stupid fucking handrails are up, and to code. I guess the next step is pressure washing everything, then staining and putting down traction paint, or whatever that rough-textured stuff is called. The north face of the house needs pressure washing as well.

Next week being the lunar new year, I'm looking at doing something a little more fun and maybe making bao tacos. You make bao dough as usual but roll it out into flat rounds for steaming instead of doing up a bun, then you fill as desired. Probably pork loin, seitan, and a good Asian cabbage slaw. I have a reliable recipe that uses rice vinegar, sesame oil, and most importantly, no mayo. I've kind of got food on the brain today. I spent some time this morning re-setting up my CRON app, and based on that adjusting my supplements. Then I started fiddling with the macros and remembered why I hate fiddling with macros. I feel like I'm doing pretty good nutrition-wise and if not, my doctor will say something to me. Which reminds me I need an appointment soon, or the insurance company will take it as an excuse to stop my anxiety meds. 

Otherwise I'm just trying to relax some today. I still feel tired, though maybe that's just yesterday's big push to finish our outside work before the rain came through. Planning to go draw for a while and then get in a longish afternoon yoga session.