The triathlon and running season is heating up here in Houston and around the country. If you are competing or doing races of any significant length this year, you need to plan how you will fuel your body during the event. What you do depends on the length of the event. For a 5K you may carry nothing or just a bottle of water. For a longer race, however, you may need to think about what your body needs and how you are going to get it.

Different athletes have different likes and dislikes when it comes to sports foods. Some like to go all liquid, some like to make their own fruit leather with chia seeds to use. Whatever you decide to do, I would encourage you to Keep It Simple!

When I ran the Paris marathon last year, one of my client’s friends showed up with probably a dozen baggies pinned to her waist. Each baggie had different things in them (gummy bears, gum drops, jelly beans, etc.) and was used at different parts of the race. I kjnow of triathletes who have two drinks, a couple of types of gels, and blocks they use during their race. That is WAY to much for my brain to think about during a race. 

In longer distance races, keeping it simple makes your race day much simpler. You have less things to pack and locate on race morning. And, you have less things to think about during the race.

For most of us, there seems to be a point in the race where we cannot think very well. Keeping it simple means fewer things that you have to think about executing during the race. If you have one sports drink and one other type of fuel (blocks or gels), and you know that every 10 minutes you take a drink of sports drink and every hour you take a gel, that is a lot easier to think about while racing than having to remember every 10 minutes drink from bottle one, every 20 minutes take a gel, every 30 minutes take a drink from bottle 2, etc. Which fueling strategy would you want to follow?

Remember when planning your race nutrition to find a couple of fuels you like and plan to keep it simple!

Last year, I was contacted by a great running coach, Lowell Ladd, about one of his clients.  This particular client is training for his first marathon and writing a book about it.  He wants nutrition counseling. . . .can I help?  Of course!  I talked with Tom Coyne and we got started with his nutrition planning.  He has a group of 12 friends who are training to run the Paris Marathon in April, 2010.   They have a fun blog called 26.1 To Go.  I love the tag line for the blog, “The quest to solve the greatest mystery in sports: Where the hell is everybody running to?”

Then, I started thinking. . .when am I going to have a business excuse to go to Paris?  Then, I thought some more. . . when I am going to have such a great excuse to, um, run the Paris Marathon?  It only took a few minutes to go from thinking about running it to being a registered participant, to thinking “what the heck have I just done!”

I ran both the Houston and Marine Corps marathons in 2001.  My reasons for running Paris are many: because it is there and I can go, because it would be “fun,” to see how my training and nutrition have changed now that I’m a sports dietitian.

I began training a few months ago and training has been going well.  It has reminded me of a lot of the issues that my clients face when training for and racing a distance event.  However, now that I really understand how to fuel before, during, and after my training has been much smoother.

We are a month out from the race.  I’m filled with a mix of excitement and fear.  At this point you start to wonder and worry about every little ache, pain, and/or tinge.  “Was that a real pain?”  “How is that going to affect my run?”

I’ve also decided to dedicate this run to help those who have a hard time being physically active – those with disabilities.  I’m raising money for Challenged Athletes Foundation.  If you’d like to help CAF “provide opportunities and support to people with physical disabilities so they can pursue active lifestyles through physical fitness and competitive athletics” you can make a donation by clicking here.

In the mean time, I’ll keep training and planning.  And, dreaming of running through the streets of Paris.