Suggestions

Would like to start a thread on general nutrition.

Being relatively new to the sport, I'd like to get some feedback on what others have used for pre/post nutrition. What worked/didn't work for you? Things of that nature.

Currently, I drink 32 ounces of Accelerade (sometimes Gatorade) an hour before, while continuing to hydrate throughout my run. And for the past 2 weeks, I've been guzzling a 32 oz. chocolate milk afterwards. To be honest, the "Count Chocula" milk has worked better than any recover drink I've tried thus far. I'm sure consuming something that tastes a thousand times better than your average recovery drink has nothing to do with it ... but it does seem to work just as well. I haven't been paying too much attention to what I eat the night before or the morning of, but I'm sure that plays a huge part in the longer runs. Any recommendations?

Well, I guess I'll be the first to chime in here. What's worked best for me lately (that has also been a benefit to general nutrition and weight control) is a focus on fruit. That may not "sit" well in the stomach or bowels with some people for running, but I eat a banana or other fruit plus some kind of grain-based carb before a long run. Then GU or power bar during, along with Powerade, and more fruit immediately after. After that, other food is fair game, depending on the time of day, or how hungry I am after and what I crave :-) I hear protein is recommended soon after a run to help muscles recover and strengthen. But fruit has really done some amazing things for me in terms of energy and overall health.

A recent article (Runner's World or Trail Runner, can't recall) noted that for longer runs (~2-3 hours or more) or if you sweat heavily (that's me), you should use the "Endurance" drinks, which have more electrolytes. I really liked the Powerade Endurance fruit punch even after 4 hours, whereas I got tired of Gatorade after awhile.

Anyway, I suspect running nutrition is different for everyone, but really that's the point ... it's nice to get some ideas of things to try, maybe something new or obvious you haven't thought of.

This is a little thing, BCR, but (especially if a discussion becomes lengthy) it would be nice if the links for navigating to other topics or areas of your site were attached at the bottom of the page as well as the top.

That way, my fingers don't get exhausted from scrolling aaaaaaaall the way back to the top before clicking ;-)

(And now is when you start to consider removing my posting privileges...)

Good idea, and I agree - I just added the main links to the footer (see below), and a "top" quick link on each post. Later on I could work in a little dropdown menu to jump to different forums, but I'm not sure if that would be used a lot (?). By the way, this thread is about nutrition suggestions vs website suggestions :-) Seriously not a big deal ... just don't forget about the feedback form.

Okay, I could segue my question into the proper fueling needed to recover from all the scrolling I had to do.. but I don't think that would fly ;-)

Thanks for letting me know, and I'll scoot my butt over to the right spot.