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8 Replies Last post: Mar 28, 2006 8:01 PM by Ice Cream  
Click to view massarunner's profile Rookie 2 posts since
Mar 27, 2006
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Mar 27, 2006 1:20 PM

Not eating much during taper weeks

I'm doing my first marathon in two weeks and I'm very excited.

The tough thing is - is that I haven't been able to eat all that much this past week. Some **** life anxieties that I wish I could have avoided, and it has affected my appetite as well as the processing. So, I eat very little. (Maybe 600 calories if I could guess...)

I felt the difference for my 10 mile run yesterday and now I'm worried it's going to affect my marathon. I've lost some weight, which I'm not complaining about, I just don't know if it's the right time for that. I'm hoping to focus and be back to normal by next week.

Can I replace the calories with Gatoraide or even Endurox or something? Should I be concerned about lack of energy storage?
Click to view Stevie Ray Lopez's profile Legend 532 posts since
Dec 3, 2007
1. Mar 27, 2006 1:51 PM in response to: massarunner
Re: Not eating much during taper weeks
You need energy. You can't replace this with a pill.

Eat.

Period.

If real life is making this difficult... and real life will do that sometimes... then 1) you can drink smoothies and other calorie-dense drinks and 2) you might want to reconsider whether running a marathon is the right thing for you right now.

600 calories a day is probably bad for most people who are sedentary. Trying to run long distances on this is setting yourself up for woe. Trying to do a MARATHON after weeks of this type of diet is a spectacularly bad idea, most likely.

Eat.

Also, it isn't a good idea to experiment on race day or this close to race day. Even if endurox could help you, it's too late in your training cycle to mess with. But a pill won't do what you need.

What you need are calories.

Eat.
Click to view teetime's profile Legend 459 posts since
Aug 17, 2002
2. Mar 27, 2006 3:19 PM in response to: massarunner
Re: Not eating much during taper weeks
SR is right ... one or two days with low calories and you would likely feel a bit drained but be okay ... 2 weeks right before your race and you may very well be in trouble.

You are by now well trained so why not back off on the running a bit and let your stomach calm ... while adding in easy calories ... ensure (canned drink with lots of cals), PB, small bowl of buttered noodles. At this point don't worry too much about what you eat, just think of what sounds at all good and try that ...

when I feel no interest in food I have this thin german toast (110cal a slice but not high volume and smear it with PB or butter ... easy to eat and high cal for low volume).
Click to view Phatso1184's profile Expert 47 posts since
Nov 15, 2003
3. Mar 28, 2006 7:34 AM in response to: massarunner
Re: Not eating much during taper weeks
I can't eat if I'm really stressed or anxious either.


If I had a marathon coming up though I would be forcing myself. You need to be storing up energy or you're going to flop.
Click to view Swampy13's profile Expert 58 posts since
Oct 31, 2005
4. Mar 28, 2006 12:27 PM in response to: massarunner
Re: Not eating much during taper weeks
600 calories? Yikes! I'm no expert, but that's pretty low. PLease eat more. Food is the best source of energy for our bodies.
Click to view Detroit094's profile Pro 133 posts since
Mar 14, 2005
6. Mar 28, 2006 7:00 PM in response to: massarunner
Re: Not eating much during taper weeks
I may get flamed, but here are my two cents.

I say if you are hungry, eat..if not, don't.

Barring any circumstances you aren't telling us about (illness, pre-existing medical conditions, etc), your body is your best gauge. Again, if you are purposely not eating to keep weight down or for some other reason, or if you don't have time to eat, thats different.

But, if you are genuniely not hungry, don't force it. I think that would be the worst thing to do. In the same vein, however, it seems as if your body is out of wack. If this is the case, i would strongly recommend NOT running the marathon. Life gets in the way of stuff sometimes. You just have to go with it. Theres nothing shameful about putting running on the backburner for a while. I'm sure this isnt what you want to hear, but its what I would do, and I speak from a ton of experience. Going into a race not feeling like yourself is never fun.
Click to view Born to Run060's profile Legend 557 posts since
Jul 1, 2002
7. Mar 28, 2006 7:17 PM in response to: massarunner
Re: Not eating much during taper weeks
quote:<HR>Originally posted by Detroit:
In the same vein, however, it seems as if your body is out of wack. If this is the case, i would strongly recommend NOT running the marathon. Life gets in the way of stuff sometimes. You just have to go with it. Theres nothing shameful about putting running on the backburner for a while. I'm sure this isnt what you want to hear, but its what I would do, and I speak from a ton of experience. Going into a race not feeling like yourself is never fun.<HR>


I agree. You may have a miserable experience (maybe not). Can you pick another marathon a couple of months out so that you can put the energy into you need. If you are racing this marathon fueling is not something you want to take lightly.

Good Luck!
Click to view Ice Cream's profile Legend 602 posts since
Dec 28, 2003
8. Mar 28, 2006 8:01 PM in response to: massarunner
Re: Not eating much during taper weeks
Two weeks is a long time away. I would just eat if you feel like it and not eat if you don't. Make sure you make healthy choices, though. Don't bother eating more calories than you burn in a given day on purpose.

I usually try to lose some weight three to one week before the marathon. feeling bad during one run does not mean anything, really. Remember three days before the marathon is when it really becomes significant.