Many runners consider themselves to be doing a good job with their fueling if they’re taking the equivalent of one gel every hour or so during a race, maybe even a training run. Those who fuel better than most are probably taking closer to one gel every 45 minutes or so.
However, the National Academy of Sports Medicine has made the following recommendations:
Activities 1.5-2.5hrs, taking an average of 30-60g of carbs per hour.
Activities greater than 2.5hrs, taking an average of over 90g of carbs per hour.
Well, if your average gel (or serving of chew/drink/etc.) has somewhere between 20-25g of carbs. Even the “better than most” aren’t doing better than averaging 25 g per hour for a 2-hour run.
The reason for such a high carb intake during long runs? The more fuel you can take in during your workout, the less you’ll deplete your muscle stores of carbohydrates. Once your muscle stores are depleted, is when we hit the “wall.” Additionally, the less we deplete our muscles during training, the easier it is to recover from those runs and the higher quality training you can do.
In short, more carbs means more effective and healthier training as well as faster race day.
Want more information on how it looks to meet recommendations and how much you actually need? Check out the rest of the article in The Training Club.