Sure, it's called a balanced diet. For a complete rundown see the document called "Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2005".

There are a couple of things you should understand. The energy you derive from what you eat is measured in calories. Eat more calories and you are eating more energy. There is nothing you can do (legally) to force those calories to be burned at a faster rate than your muscles and other living processes are demanding. The burning of calories in support of your living processes and activities is called your "metabolism" and, contrary to popular belief, there is nothing you can do to speed up or slow down your metabolism without it having a profound and very obvious effect.

Some drugs such as "speed" are stimulants that force a speeding of your metabolism but it does not happen without a profound and obvious effect. Coffee, a very mild stimulant, has a similar effect and that is just about the maximum you can get legally. There are lots of claims - all unsubstantiated - that you can try if you have lots of money. The claims are either entirely the result of the "placebo effect" or so insignificant that they are not reliably detectable in a clinical setting.

You can be very certain that if a supplement existed such as the one you are searching for, and it were legal, and had a measurable positive effect, then you would have no difficulty finding it. Literally every athlete worldwide would be using it openly and the manufacturer would be boasting about it in all the media. There would be no "opinions" about its benefits. There would be no "testimonials" from obscure or anonymous figures. There would be widespread hard performance claims with the clinical evidence to back up the claims.



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gotta run...

SomeGuy,
I guess it is hard to pin- point what I am talking about...but yah...that is exactly my question. I feel like recovery can be inconsistent based on all sorts of variables of the run (e.g. type of run, speed, weather, etc...). Just looking to maintain steady recovery and stamina.

I was merely looking at what could I take...beyond a balanced diet to recover a little quicker. Maybe what I percieve as "balanced" may be just the lack of something. Probably just need to revisit counts of potassium, protien, calories, etc..

quote:<HR>Originally posted by someguy4000000:
gazelle I was doing a little research on my own and found this site

http://www.supplementwatch.com/reviews/category.asp?categoryId=206&categoryName=Sports%20&%20Fitness[/URL" target="_blank">

which has reviews for many vitamins and supplements. While many things on the internet should be taken with a grain of salt and nothing can replace the need for a balanced diet, I still think that there has to be a supplement for runners that is the equivalent of creatine for lifters. The exercise recovery portion also has some interesting things on it as well<HR>

The lifters don't get their muscles by eating a creatin supplement and runners don't get fast by eating some other supplement. Lifters get their muscles by lifting (and no small amount from illegal 'roids) along with a dietary content that will meet the demands of lifting. Runners get fast by running fast and eating a diet that will support that activity.

If we could get strong and fast by eating anything, we would have a nation of couch potatoes that looked like Arnold S. and performed like Roger Federer (tennis).


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gotta run...

quote:<HR>Originally posted by someguy4000000:
gazelle I was doing a little research on my own and found this site

http://www.supplementwatch.com/reviews/category.asp?categoryId=206&categoryName=Sports%20&%20Fitness[/URL" target="_blank">

which has reviews for many vitamins and supplements. While many things on the internet should be taken with a grain of salt and nothing can replace the need for a balanced diet, I still think that there has to be a supplement for runners that is the equivalent of creatine for lifters. The exercise recovery portion also has some interesting things on it as well<HR>

Thanks.
I saw this product and saw that it boasts what I am looking for with safety as part of the formula. Trying to also look at with a skeptical mind, but based on what I hear/read...it looks o.k. I may give it a whirl.

My search for an added supplement is because this is the first training where I am testing to see if speed builds speed or breaks me down. I have logged about 300 miles training at 1:15/mi faster than training paces for my last 3 previous marathons (7:30 vs. 8:45) and am feeling good...but my high mileage training is just around the corner and if I miss something in my diet....is there something safe to take to make up for one day's deficiency to bring me back ready for the next day?