Testing real food on the long walks
I've been experimenting with food that has not been "designed" for athletes. For many years, I took only Clif Bars with me on walks longer than 90 minutes. Two years ago I discovered Clif Blok Shots and switched to those as I found the energy boost happened faster than with the Clif Bar and with less heaviness in my stomach. This makes sense considering the Bloks likely have a higher glycemic index than the bar.
Then, this past fall for some reason nothing that resembled a "designed" sports supplement was appealing to my taste buds. So, I have been experimenting with substitutes.
Knowing that I need to ingest electrolytes, I have been taking orange juice cut with some water and a touch of salt added. I like it.
Three weeks ago, I researched figs (since I love Barbara's fig with blueberry bars) and discovered that dried figs are high in potassium. So, for my most recent two long training walks of 18k and 20k I have taken two fig bars. I like these too.
If anyone has suggestions, it's always interesting, educational, and fun to know what works for others. Let's spread the experimentation around!
Labels: Nutrition/Hydration
posted by Wow Power Walking Founder @ 8:06 PM
7 Comments
7 Comments:
At the Ottawa marathon last year, we met a man who had ran the event every year since it started and he said he always brought date squares for a long run. I have yet to try it.....
Yes, I have heard that Fig Newtons are great......I believe a WOW alumni use to use those. My husband, who was a big marathoner in the 80's and 90's had a friend make up his own sports drink 1 L. water; 1/3 cup sugar; 1/4 tsp. salt and flavouring to taste (oj;lemon j; etc) Also a great thing I used in my first BIG SUR was a Basic Trail Mix of 1 cup salted peanuts/1 cup raisins/1cup M&Ms (portioned out as 1 oz is about 140 calories!)
You can add salty stuff (pretzels/sesame sticks(WHICH I LOVE) and dried fruit; date nuggets; cranberries.....just have fun with your taste buds. This mixture of course is not as easy to just grab since it is not 'one' piece but it does the work.
I have also taken along cliff shot bloks and sport beans, but i've grown tired of Cliff Bars. For a change i often take along apricots and orange slices. I like the suggestion of diluted orange juice with a bit of salt, which I will definitely try tomorrow. Last year at the Mississauga half marathon i was walking along side a runner (!) who whipped out a little baggie of potato chips! This was at about 14-15km and boy did it look appealing. I know that potatoes are relatively high glycemic index, and chips probably have a healthy dose of salt....which we might be needing to replace midway into a race. I have yet to try this. Any thoughts on potato chips, Lee?
Potato chips? I have my doubts. While I salivate over salty treats after a challenging walk - I could jump into a barrel of pretzels after race - I can't imagine the fat content in fried chips could do anything to promote performance before, during or after a walk. Fat is not readily available as fuel for our bodies in the way carbohydrates are and the fat to carb ratio of potato chips is high. Also, I like my fat with nutrients (think nuts, seeds, avocadoes) and potato chips are not high in nutrients.
I have used fig newtons off and on since I started. I have also used GROP, good old raisins and peanuts, dried fruit, as well as Cliff blocks. While the blocks are the easiest to use I prefer the fig newtons or the dried fruit. They seem to keep me going the best.
Due to allergies,I have never used Cliff bars or any other related products so I can't comment on the energy, etc that they provide in comparison to my suggestions.
I eat three different items that work well for me.
The first is Sun-Rype's Fruit Source bar (similar to a thicker version of Sun-Rype's Fruit To Go). They are easy to chew, come in different flavours and because they are 100% fruit, they taste great.
I cut the bar up into small cubes, put them in a 'baggie' and pop a piece in my mouth when I need a pick me up. Each 37gm bar is 100% fruit, has 130 calories; 10 mg sodium; 280 mg potassium; 33 g Glucides; 2 g fibre; 29 g Sugars; etc. I buy them by the box at Costco.
My next suggestion is a bar I make that uses Corn Flakes cereal, dried fruits, corn syrup and brown sugar.
My treat and real booster on a long walk and is a snack that I leave for the 15 k mark onwards. It is a baked bar prepared with a layered mixture of margarine, crushed graham crackers, shredded coconut, chocolate chips, condensed milk, walnuts and rolled oats.
I don't have the nutrition breakdown of either of those bars but can attest that they do the energy trick for me each and every time.
With Lee's okay I can provide the recipes in this blog or elsewhere on the website.
Happy trails everyone!
Last year I used salted mixed nuts with dried raisins/cranberries/apricots mixed with M&M's. It tastes great. I did approx. 24K every week starting June until Chicago.
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