Fueling for a long run is a challenge that we all face from time to time. I am not sure there is anything worse than getting out on a long run or ride and starting to feel slower because your blood sugar is dropping. You know the feeling — your whole body gets tired and you start slowing down and there seems like there is nothing that you can do about it. I rode 60 miles on Saturday and killed the out section, but of course I had to turn around and come home. Miles 55 to 60 were pretty tough because I had not brought enough fuel for three hours. I ate before the ride and thought that I could get by with two bottles instead of three. That small mistake made me push really hard for those last five miles and if I had to run off that ride, it would have been tough. Bonking is not fun. Ever.
I did write a basic overview last year of nutrition strategies and how to avoid a bonk, but I want to talk specifically about how to fuel up during your long workouts.
When running, the number of calories you burn are dependent on the distance you cover and your weight. Your speed or time have nothing to do with it. Of course, the faster you run the more calories you will burn each hour. Runner’s World has a great calorie calculator on their site (click on the link) that asks you to input your weight and the distance run. Personally, I weigh 185 lbs. right now and according to the calculator, I burn about 140 calories per mile when I run. I use a Garmin Edge 500 and according to my months of tracking the data, I burn a little less than 800 calories per hour when I am biking. If I run my typical 7.1 mph, I am burning just under 1,000 calories per hour when I am on a long run.
There is no way that my body could absorb that many calories in an hour to replenish the energy expenditures required for a run or a ride. Every body is different, and bodies can absorb anywhere between 250-325 calories per hour. When I am in the middle of the season, mine can get up to about 300 calories. So that leaves me with a significant deficit. Fueling up before your run or ride is the only way you can hope to get through a workout of two or more hours. There are lots of great ideas out there related to pre and post-workout fueling, and we will talk about those another day. Today I want to review the strategies of the people I know.
Eat Up People
I swear I have tried about everything during workouts of 3+ hours with varying results. I also have friends who have some interesting strategies to intake their 300 calories per hour during a long workout.
George Gel Eater — This is the person who is usually responsible for the foil packets that line your favorite route. I am sure they have good intentions and want to come back and pick up their garbage after their run or ride, but time just gets away from them. Gels are convenient, compact, and pack a punch. The challenge that I have with them is they do require water to wash them down and decrease their osmolality (basically its concentration) to a level that will allow them to be absorbed. The problem I faced when I used gels during long workouts was I had a tough time getting the balance of gel to water right. I constantly felt bloated and like the gel was just stuck in my stomach. If you can’t absorb the calories consumed, then they are doing you no good. That and for a five hour ride I had to take 10 with me.
Peter PowerBar – I have a buddy who tried to fuel most of his long rides with PowerBars. While I love a PowerBar in the middle of a ride, using these as your only source of calories can be dangerous for the same reasons as gels. It is tricky to get the bar to water concentration right. And then what happens if you forget to eat your bar. I personally prefer a ProBar, but they have 350+ calories each. My personal preference is to consume nutrition every 30 minutes, so opening a ProBar and eating half can be tricky. If you like solid food in your stomach, some type of bar may be the best approach for you. During a run, I don’t love solids, but during a ride I crave them after three hours. The best solution for me is a ProBar.
Liquid Mike — Yeah, I had to make the list. This is my blog and this is certainly a vanity piece. 
Regardless, I feel using liquid nutrition is the easiest way to consume calories during a long workout. My brain doesn’t always work at 100% capacity during a long workout, so having my nutrition premade takes the guesswork out of calorie consumption. I mix Infinit with water so that each water bottle contains 275 calories and I target drinking one bottle per hour. I have tried using powdered Gatoraide, HEED, Perpetuem, and just about every other powdered drink out there with various results. I didn’t love Gatoraide and HEED and Perpetuem were alright. My buddy Jason from the fitness blog Cook, Train, Eat, Race sent me some Herbalife24 Prolong. The Infinit I use and the Prolong both use carbs and protein for their calorie sources and include electrolytes to help in absorption. I am scheduled to test the Herbalife24 Prolong this week on some shorter rides of 30 miles. I have been using Infinit for several years and absolutely trust the quality and results I get out of that product.
Freaky Frank — This is that guy in your circle of friends who tries some of the weirdest things out there. Now, I admit that I have fallen into this category. When I did LOTOJA in 2011 I had cut, boiled, and salted red potatoes that I ate by the pound. That was a 12 hours in the saddle day, so I had to eat something solid. I also made a modified California style roll that had scrambled eggs and ham rolled in rice and Nori. I didn’t love the taste of the Nori while riding, so that hit the cutting room floor. When I am riding an organized century with my buddies, I really like to raid the sandwich trays and roll lunchmeat and cheese up together and I eat those until I can’t eat anymore. When we stop at convenience stores to refill on water, I will usually buy a packet of lunchmeat and just eat it plain. For some reason it always sounds good.
Why This Discussion Matters
I love talking training and the strategies we all use to reach peak performance. I would really like you to leave a comment related to nutrition during your long runs and rides. I think we all have something to contribute to this discussion and I would really appreciate your comments and ideas. There are always beginner triathletes, runners, and cyclists who lurk here, so share your strategies that work and those that do not as well.
Related Topics:
Triathlon Training Tips
Triathlon Product Reviews
Triathlon Race Reports
I have been participating in running and triathlons for 10 years and love the feeling that training provides. You may not agree with me, but you know you just can't look away...
I too like Infinit.
The thing with bars is that they have to be simple. The ones that are made by pressing 3000 different types of nuts and berries together are just not appealing when I’m riding and impossible to even look at when I’m running. Clif bars may be the exception, but I’d rather a Powerbar, a gel or a Honey Stinger Waffle.
PS – Really sorry about Levi. I was pulling for Wiggins (I think you knew that) but I wasn’t pulling for him that much. My wife saw that last cash into the motorcycle and she almost took away my riding privileges.
Patrick you are right on about bars. I do like ProBars though and they seem to fit the “3000 different types of nuts and berries together” category. I swear I have seen Honey Stingers everywhere but I haven’t ever tried one. I guess I will have to pick some up this week.
The first crash was Levi’s fault. The second he says someone hit his rear wheel and put him down. That third one was just ugly. When the lead out rider started to get funky on the turn, I didn’t notice that there was another rider already down and the motorcycle was just protecting him. That crash could have been much uglier too. But I was proud of Levi finishing off the time trial and sticking to it. Then Tejay kept his 5th place overall and 1st place white jersey finishes.
But Paris-Nice 2012 belonged to Wiggins. I read an article this morning that quoted him as saying he thinks he can throw down for Tour d’France. Cadel Evans also said this morning his current form is not where it was at this time in 2011. I gotta think we are going to have a four or five man race with Wiggins, Schleck, Voeckler, Kloden, Evans, and perhaps a dark horse like Leipheimer or Sanchez up there in the GC. I think the 2012 Tour is going to be sweet.
Here is my routine.
Wake up and have a 100 calorie carb based smoothie along with coffee about 3 hours before I start working out.
Once I start on the bike I will drink the Herbalife24 Prolong sipping every 15 minutes and on alternate 15 minutes will sip on EFS Liquid Shot. Every two hours I will eat a HoneyStinger Waffle.
I have been doing this for a year and have never bonked or had any issues.
For a long run the start is the same but I will only drinnk and now eating at all, nor running off the bike. It is all liquids all the time.
Sipping every 15 minutes to make sure I stay hydrated and still getting in my nutrition.
Let’s also not forget about recovery as that is important in helping avoid the bonk in the long run too.
Great comment Jason. I believe the research that states fueling for your next workout begins as soon as your last one ends. Recovery nutrition is a very important part of fueling up, and I will put up a post related to that.
I am pumped to try the Herbalife24 Prolong that you sent over. The flavor smells pretty subtle, which is good. I don’t love strong flavors when I am running or riding so whatever I use cannot be overpowering. I think the main qualifier there is how does it taste when it is warm.
On rides that are over 3 hours I have had no issues with it getting warm and affecting the taste and you know how hot it gets down here.
The subtle taste is what I like probably the most. It does not hit you over the head at all and thus you can keep drinking it as opposed to others whose flavor is so strong you get sick of it.
This is why I also thin out Liquid Shot with water so that the taste gets subtle as well.
I think the underlying message here that I hope others recieve is that everyone is different. I know I need to take in more calories on the run than I do but my stomach also won’t take much more in than I take. Therefore I am choosy about what calories I take. I don’t have the time on the run to let my body digest complex carbs that might be found in some (not naming names) drinks. I need quick and dirty sugar. So for me, in a half or full Ironman, I seek cola and water at every aid station. HFCS is probably not the greatest thing for a teenager or elementary school age child, but for this Ironman athlete, it’s the top choice! I’ll also take in gels on the run as well but again I look for those with the simplest of sugars. The closer the number of sugars to the total number of carbs, the better for me.
On the bike I just take whatever is on the course and some of my own gel, unless it’s oncourse too. I’m not working as hard there and I can accept just about anything although I still stay away from solids. I usually don’t get in enough plain water to digest a Powerbar. I think plain water is my biggest issue on both run and bike. I just don’t get enough.
So keep experimeting and hopefully you can find your cocktail of choice.
For Ironman St. George I started on Coke at the mile 15 aid station and it was like someone used an AED on me. That HFCS was amazing and man all my body wanted was more, more, more. Then during LOTOJA 2011, I actually planned to use Coke starting at Hoback Junction. I had a 1 liter bottle waiting for me there, drank as much as I could, and then filled up a water bottle with it for the rest of the ride. When your blood sugar is super low, there is nothing like the thick syrupy goodness of a little Coke.
Thanks for checking in on this Alex.
Alex – that is the best statement. Everybody is different and even when we think we have it dialed in for our own bodies we may miss out on something better.
Gotta keep trying and experimenting during training so that come race day you are perfect for your race and not somebody else’s race.
I’m reading with interest because right now, my longest workouts are all under 2 hours, but I’m hoping to soon go long enough where nutrition will make or break me.
You will be there soon enough. I swear you take in 275 calories per hour and drink a bottle of water each hour, you will be fine. You could probably start a new fad by using Snickers as your fuel source.
I have to admit that I am one of those “gel” users as well as the “chomps”. On longer bike rides, I love to bring a bag full of pretzels. If it’s not to blazing hot, I’ve been known to bring Tootsie Rolls for that sugar buzz!
Let us not forget a really super cold Coke really packs a punch mid long ride!!
At the end of anything long…..for me it’s basic: Chocolate milk!
Gel isn’t a problem as long as you don’t leave your packages behind, which I am sure you don’t Diana.
I think I just saw an ad with Mirinda Carfrae saying that he favorite post workout beverage was none other than chocolate milk. Sounds like you are in good company Diana!
Yes everyone is different! I have a very sensitive stomach especially to things high in sugar which makes it interesting to try and figure out my nutrition. It can be scary too I had a friend that ran out of fuel and bonked on a long ride and had to hitch a ride back to our car.
There are two types of endurance athletes in my book Natasha — those who have bonked and those who will sometime in the future. It is just one of those facts of life that happens to everyone. I would say your friend was lucky that they were able to hitch a ride back to the cars. I would have had to make the “Call of Shame”.