NJRunner

Eat, Drink, and Be Faster

        by: Jamie Kempton  


Here are some healthy, high-energy food-and-drink essentials to put in your running bag:  


Water

Sports drink

Banana

Orange

Yogurt

Bagel

Energy bar

Pretzels




3-Step Pre-Race Drinking System
Consider trying the following drinking routine at practice. If it works, you can use it before meets, varying the amount of water depending on how much you can comfortably tolerate.  


2 hours before race: 10 ounces of water

1 hour before race: 10 ounces of water

15-20 minutes before race: 4 ounces of water

Total water consumption: 24 ounces




More Fluid
If you have any doubt that drinking is critical to running success--or you're the type of runner who forgets to bring a water bottle to practice--consider a study conducted by Gatorade on fluid intake and performance.

Gatorade had athletes run for 50 minutes, then sprint a final 10 minutes, for an hour total. These runners took no fluids during the hour of running.

In a second 1-hour trial, the athletes ran 50 minutes and sprinted 10-but this time they drank water during the workout. On average, they did the final 10 minutes 6 percent faster than in the first run. In a third and final trial, the athletes did the same 1-hour run-but now they drank Gatorade, and they improved their final 10 minutes by 12 percent over the first, nondrinking run.

These are huge improvements. Think of it this way: if being well hydrated helps you improve your 5-K cross-country time by, say, just 3 percent, for someone who runs 20 minutes that's a drop of 36 seconds. A 5 percent improvement means a full minute.

The message is clear: Drink up!