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[Milichal]

So I started liking Nuun when the coaches with team gave it to us. Now, I'm a Nuunbassador, and I get it a little cheaper. I guess I'm going to have to try gels...any suggestions on decent flavors?

[Amy L]

Originally Posted by Fortissimo

Chances are you're bonking. In races I didn't consume enough fuel I've bonked at around the same mileage. This year we will be increasing my caloric intake from 200 calories an hour on the bike to 300 and on the run from 150 to 200 to see if that helps with my bonking. The worst part of bonking for me is that's when I go into the dark place of, "What the heck am I doing this for?"

I totally think I bonked! So I should consume more during the races?

I was also wondering if I did not fuel properly the day before the races? At home, I make sure I am eating plenty of carbs/protein, but it is so hard while being away. I find it easy to stay hydrated while traveling, but finding the same things to eat is challenging.

[kadterp]

Amy that was a problem for us too marathon weekend. Finding decent food! Well wait I mean finding food that has veggies with it! Does nobody believe in salads and vegetables anymore? I honestly don't know how I would have survived if I was a vegetarian! We brought with us breakfast stuff to eat before the race, but I know we weren't eating enough good stuff after.

As far as GU flavors, it depends on what you like. I tend to go towards the sweeter flavors so Salted Caramel and Vanilla are my go to. For Honey stingers I like the Orange blossom ones

[Fortissimo]

Amy, I too have difficulties eating while we're on vacation. I can only take restaurant food for a few days before I go crazy. I love salads and they are so hard to find at WDW. DL and CA have better choices for salads and lighter sandwiches. Not sure why WDW can't do the same.

As for GU, I prefer the chocolate and the vanilla flavors.

[disney_duke]

That's why I study the menus on the All Ears site to get an idea of my choices. And then I do my best to eat those exact or similar things at home during training - especially during that all important longest run of training.

Or just stay in a place with a kitchen and go grocery shopping.

[Tim Sullivan]

Ha...you ladies are funny... vegetables at Disney? Does Gravy count? :P

If you're looking to try Gu, I have a shorter list of what I don't like...mainly the Espresso/Coffee flavour...and IIRC the Jet Blackberry (the caffeine laced berry flavour) are not great. All others are fine....I used to buy the salted caramel by the case They've got a new salted watermelon that I've been wanting to try...won't happen for a while now.

One other thing to keep in mind with Gu (and any other caffeine-based gels) is the caffeine will give most gels a rather bitter flavour to them. Some mask it well (the Salted Caramel, Vanilla Bean and Mandarin Orange for example) while others...not so much.

Finally received my UCAN order today...after my long run of course.....but will next have a chance to try it next week, so I'll be able to report back on how it goes. Though I'm so dying to try the vanilla cream recovery flavour....8 hours post run isn't too late to have a recovery drink...right???

Tim

[Milichal]

Looks like I have some new stuff to try out...

And in other news, I'm changing my race list...(see sticky)

[Amy L]

I'm so happy to hear it is not just me that finds eating at Disney before races challenging! Why don't they offer more side salads or extra vegetable options? I agree with Robin that DL does a much better job with this. I had no problem finding healthier things to eat pre-race. On the night before the marathon we had planned to eat at EoS, but when we got there (during an off time even) the line was ridiculous! It "snaked" through the restaurant and then way out the door. It was easily a 1 hour+ wait. After waiting in corrals for the past 3 days, forget waiting again. We decided we would go back to BW and find some place. In the end, I just cooked baked potatoes in the microwave and feasted on those and beef jerky.

[Tim Sullivan]

I think one of the things at play here is the location of the parks. Most things in California just seem to have that health-consious vibe to them. My company is headquartered there, and every time I go to Cali for meetings, the food offerings always seem way healthier than we get at meeting locations elsewhere.

WDW, being in the South....well that's just a much different food culture, now isn't it? :P Nothing wrong with it at all, but I would agree that it is harder to find healthier choices. I also think part of the reason is that so many people have that "I'm on vacation" mindset, so many don't mind relaxing their food eating morals while there (or, if you're like me...tossing them out the window entirely... hehe)

One food place that I loved was the food court at Riverside. They have that custom made pasta bar...I found myself eating there every day before/during the Marathon weekend in 2014. Definitely helped that I was staying at PO as well, so that's what I'd recommend as a great spot to eat decently.

Tim

[Milichal]

I am terrible at eating doesn't matter where or when. I really need to work on that aspect. Right now, it's a super busy time at school and my "fun" job. i feel like crap when I don't eat right. Suggestions on what to eat?
I'm a fan of the food court restaurants at Disney. They usually have something I like (AoA has tandoori shrimp that is amazing), and I can get a lighter side dish. The Plaza restaurant at MK was pretty good too, even though I think the chef was annoyed at my pineapple allergy. The chef at Chefs de France was pretty nice and very honest about not using pineapples at his restaurant. I think those are my favorite places to eat at Disney.

[Tim Sullivan]

I also have a love/hate relationship with the Dining Plan as well. We've been lucky the last two times we've gone to be attending while a free dining offer is available....so of course we've taken them up on the offer. I mean, why not? Food is a major expense, so why not cut it out?

The foot allotment, at least for my family (of big appetites) is still WAY too much food. Like crazy amounts. Then when you couple in the "all you care to enjoy"..... food overload! That's why it is nice to do it every once and a while, lucky I don't have to do that all the time.

Tim

[kadterp]

Amy if you did a five hour marathon on baked potatoes and beef jerky, what would a good meal given you for a time?

And Tim let us know about that recovery drink! Sounds yummy!

[Tim Sullivan]

So, I broke down and used both Ucan before and after my speed work run on Thursday. It was only a 10km session, so I didn't REALLY need it, but any excuse to give it a try

All in all I do have to say I felt pretty good throughout the workout, and I never really felt my energy levels drop at all. Now, it was only an hour of running, and even with the speedwork was probably not in need of it.

Recovery stuff tastes pretty darn good, I really liked taking the guesswork out of what I needed to consume post-run to recover. It also had me feeling pretty good for the rest of the afternoon, and I didn't feel any post-run tiredness, which was nice to have as well.

All in all, I'm looking forward to trying it on longer runs and efforts. MIGHT try it on Monday, as I've got IIRC a 14km....but also would like to get some "starvation" runs in before I start getting really long, so we will see what wins out.

Oddest thing about it is the Orange flavour that I got for the pre-run fuel wasn't orange. I'm just so used to the colouring additive there to give the colour that you're used to seeing....I will be honest it did throw me a bit

Consistency wise, I was also pleasantly surprised. Maybe I had built up an expectation of it being grittier in my head, but I found it a lot smoother than expected. I also found the texture/consistency pleasing as well (mixing 250ml water with one scoop of Ucan). If I was using it as an energy drink mid-run, I'd probably water it down a bit more, but I'm also looking forward to trying to make some gels out of it as well.

Oh...AND I also got some new shoes and socks yesterday? Gee, what an exciting day for me :P

Tim

[Amy L]

Sounds good so far Tim. Keep us posted on how Monday goes. I really need something new to try, I am already sick of the stingers. I was planning on a 13 mile run today but between the cold, the wind, and the packed ice/black ice I kept "running" into I was exhausted by mile 12 and called it a day.

New shoes and socks are always exciting!

[Tim Sullivan]

I'm super excited about the shoes. I've been meaning to pick up another pair, I usually keep at least three shoes in rotation, I've found that I can max out the life of shoes when I have eat least three pairs to go to (one pair for my long run, the newest, the other two alternate with my shorter runs during the week).

One pair is getting close to the end of their life (can feel it sometimes when I run) so I've been thinking about slowly rotating in another new pair. My usual shoes are Asics Gel Kayanos, but I'm not in love with the way the newest version fits, plus I think I need to go a little longer, so was going to see if the LRS can order me in a bigger size.

At any rate, I was out and about with the family on Thursday night, daughter needed to exchange a Christmas gift, and I run in a particular running sock (Injinji...those "toe socks" you might have seen). I can only get them locally at one store that specializes in everything outdoors (is closest to relate it to our Canadian version of REI...but better).

At any rate, to make a long story a bit shorter, just decided to see what they had in their running shoe section...and lo and behold I'm surprised to see they've started carrying Hoka One Ones....a shoe I've been wanting to try for about a year now, but they are REALLY hard to find in Canada.

So I've gotta try them on, right?

Shockingly, they actually have my size, and the fit was pretty good. The best thing about the store is they have about the most liberal return policy in the world on any of their products, so even i I take them home, try them for six months, if I don't like them, full 100% money back refund...so what do I have to lose?

So have brought them home and took them for their first run this morning. Really different, super cushy feeling. So far, so good with them, but I plan to work them slowly into my shoe rotation, as Hoka don't really do "stability" specific shoes...so we will see how the body tolerates them. New coach has me working on my running technique and changing my running stride slightly to be more efficient, lower the risk o injury etc... which would also mean that I'd be able to run in any shoe because of the new technique... so we will see what happens with them.

Tim