Some of you may have recently found out that you have secured a place in the London Marathon. Congratulations! Now it’s time to start thinking about training and feeding your body right. In today’s post we will explore some of the body processes which allow this incredible feat of endurance to happen. Even if you’re not running the marathon, hopefully some of the topics here will help you understand the processes of the body a little better.
Metabolism Whether you are running the marathon or not, the metabolic process is constantly happening. Even when we are sleeping, the basics such as a heartbeat and breathing require energy from somewhere to keep us alive. If any of you can think back to your school days and learning about energy in science, you may remember that energy is never created or destroyed only transferred from one form to another. So in our bodies, energy is transferred from what we eat to provide energy for our muscular system, our nervous system and for the chemical processes to occur and some energy is also lost as heat. This process is basically what metabolism is.
The energy balance in the body is energy intake plus energy stores minus energy expenditure. So if intake and expenditure is not equal, then we either use what we have already stored if expenditure exceeds intake or we store the excess if intake exceeds expenditure. Storage of energy can happen as either fat stores or glycogen stores.
This basic equation is important when it comes to running a marathon as the physical demand on the body’s energy stores is huge. It takes time to train the body’s ability to use its stores efficiently and conservatively enough to allow you to complete the full marathon
Fat and Glycogen stores
So let’s look at fat stores and glycogen stores. Glycogen is the body’s first port of call when in need of energy for movement. Glycogen is created by the body from glucose when we eat carbohydrates and is stored in the liver and in the muscles.
Fat stores are a reserve of energy in the body and can be formed from excess glucose in the blood stream. However converting fat stores back into a useable energy source for movement is not a fast track system and the body does not favour it. You may have comes across the term ‘the wall’ when researching on marathon running. This is basically when your glycogen stores are depleted and your body is forced to rely more on its fat reserves. Research suggests that you can train your body or metabolic pathway to increase its capacity for using fat reserves during a race.
Fasted Training
This type of training can increase those metabolic pathways for using fat stores. However it is generally recommended that if you choose to do this type of training that it is at the beginning and not further into the training plan. Fasted training is usually performed in the mornings as this is naturally when the body is in a fasted state from not eating since the day before. It is advised that you do no more than 60 minutes at each session.
Macronutrients
These are fat, carbohydrates and proteins and they offer different calorific amounts. Fat offers around 9 calories per gram, carbohydrates offer around 4 per gram, as does protein. A focus on carbohydrate is usually recommended for marathon training as this will allow increased glycogen stores. Sports nutritionists may recommend that 50-65% of daily calories come from carbohydrates for endurance training.
Finding out how much you need
If training for less than an hour as long as you have hydrated yourself properly throughout the day beforehand then you shouldn’t need additional fuel or fluid during the first hour. After 60 minutes aim for around 750ml of fluids per hour and longer than 90 minutes, you will need a carbohydrate snack.
A general guide to calculating your carbohydrate requirements for training lasting longer than 90 minutes is to take your body weight in kilograms and multiple it by 0.8. Once you have calculated this then try to consume your carbohydrates in 20 -30 minute intervals to give a steady release.
Other things to consider:
Endurance training can lower immunity
The immune system requires carbohydrates to function efficiently. As these are used up during prolonged training it can leave the immune system weakened and the fasted training method puts the most compromise on immunity. It is advised to refuel with protein and carbohydrates 30 minutes after a long session to help support the immune system.
Making sure your diet is full of foods supporting the immune system is beneficial. Try to include a variety of fruit and vegetables with a rainbow of colours and especially mushrooms, cherries, blueberries, raspberries, pumpkin seeds, oats and a good quality whey protein from grass fed animals may also beneficial. Try adding herbs and spices such as turmeric, garlic, ginger, oregano and cinnamon. And perhaps you could switch your usual cuppa to one of matcha green tea or tulsi tea for their powerful antioxidant properties.
Oxidative stress
Physical exercise does cause damage to the cells of the body know as oxidative stress. Meaning that it increases the amount of free radicals in our bodies which can cause cellular damage. However this does not outweigh the benefits of exercise. But we can help minimise this damage by including lots of anti-oxidant rich foods in our diet as above. Beta carotene, vitamin C and E are just a few antioxidants we can easily increase in our diets.
The ORAC value is sometimes referred to when it comes to antioxidants. This is the oxygen radical absorbance capacity. Basically the higher the ORAC score, the more powerful it is as an antioxidant. Herbs and spices that top the ORAC charts are ground cloves, cinnamon, oregano, turmeric and cocoa as well as pecans, ginger, elderberries and kidney beans.
Sweating and electrolytes
When we exercise generally we sweat more. This loss of water takes with it vital minerals out of the body such as sodium, calcium, potassium, chloride, magnesium and zinc. These are needed in the body for efficient nerve, muscle and immune function and regulating blood pressure.
Foods such as bananas and prunes are good for potassium, almonds and figs contain calcium, pumpkin and sunflower seeds contain magnesium and zinc. See the energy ball recipe below for topping up your electrolytes after a training session.
Be careful of electrolyte drinks and their additives, some may have excessive added sugar and some research suggests relying too heavily on them may decrease the muscles capacity to burn fat as effectively.
Sleep
Good sleep is important for everyday health and wellbeing and especially important if putting large amounts of physical stress on the body. Sleep is crucial for repair and in particular the REM (rapid eye movement) stage of sleep which is the final phase of our sleep cycle. Sleep deprivation may increase the levels of the stress hormone cortisol in the body and has also been shown to reduce glycogen production. So try to aim for your 8 hours a night, preferably getting your head down before 11pm to avoid disrupting natural hormone cycles.
Happy training and good luck!
