What this section is about is success in an ultramarathon.  The details here are new, and you will do well to grasp what’s here.

This is telling you: Take your time, you deserve it.  We cover water, electrolytes, and carbs.  You know about those, but this is a different context than what you had in the past.

Water

Tap water is a general-purpose solution.  It is good for washing things and other clean up.  It is usually pure, but it is not the best for running.  We look at water only because we drink so much of it while running.  Tap water usually contains chlorine as a disinfectant, and fluoride to harden teeth.  Chlorine is a strong oxidizing chemical that kills bugs and is hard on tissues.  Fluoride was put in water to reduce tooth decay.  Where did that decay come from?  Eating lots of sugar.  If you go low-carb, your tooth problems will fade away because the sugar is gone.  So, drink water that is filtered by reverse osmosis, or natural with no chemicals added.  Some that I like: HINT, Gerolsteiner, Acqua Panna, LaCroix (No Financial Interest).  Some waters come in cans (LaCroix) and some come in bottles (HINT).  Cans are a pain while running, so I like to pour the canned water into an empty plastic bottle with a lid, then have the best of both worlds.

Of course, if you are running a race, you have no control over what water is on the course.

Electrolytes

Runners think of electrolytes as the salts that are sweat out while running.  Well, that’s only the whisper of a ghost.  The subject is very important to finishing your long runs, rather than getting a DNF.  Electrolytes are the electrically charged ions that make the body’s control systems work.  Most runners are not chemists, so we will talk about the effects of electrolytes rather than get into the chemistry.  There are many electrolytes, but the three that are key to running are: sodium, potassium and magnesium.  These show up everywhere – muscles, nerves, blood, digestion, energy production, and fluid regulation.  That’s why using them correctly is the key to running success.  What are the failure modes when sodium, potassium or magnesium or off from working values?

Electrolytes are the electrically charged ions that make the body’s control systems work.

Low sodium: sudden weakness, brain fog, dizziness, loss of motivation, “I just don’t have it today”

Low Potassium: heavy legs, slow pace, heart palpitations, difficulty generating power

Low Magnesium: cramps, twitches, sleep disruptions, irritability, poor recovery

Many of these can lead to a DNF.  It isn’t the legs, it is a poor electrolyte response.

Now for the sodium/potassium run/rest context.  When you run, your body needs lots of sodium for sweat, and not much potassium.  When you rest, your body needs sodium and a lot more potassium.  In rest, the good sodium/potassium ratio is 1.5.  That is big deal in the body.  What body system uses the top amount of energy?   Some would think the brain uses the most energy, and others might say the heart.  Unless you are a physiologist you’ve never heard of this system: the sodium/potassium pump system uses 40% of the body’s energy.  Without that system, you don’t have a life.  We don’t have the space here to get into this, so let me refer you to this explanation:  https://lpi.oregonstate.edu/mic/minerals/potassium

The Linus Pauling site has a huge amount of non-commercial nutrient information.

When you run, you need a lot of sodium. When resting you need a very different amount.

For running, I like my sodium/potassium source to be S Caps. For resting, I like my sodium/potassium source to be Morton LITE SALT ( NFI ). Ask your local grocery if they carry LITE SALT. It is simple to provide the right product for the job: S Caps on the run, LITE SALT at rest. There’s more to this than meets the eye: If you use regular table salt at rest, the ratio supplied is far from 1.5 Na/K, your body will still work, but it has to work harder to overcome the bad ratio. If you use LITE SALT it lets your energy system work with less effort.

Magnesium is the simpler system, but it is critical. Over 300 body enzymes work with magnesium. If magnesium is low, many systems work poorly. Most people in society are low in magnesium. The way to handle this is to take a supplement such as magnesium glycinate. The NOW brand supplies 100 mg per tablet. Take 1 per day, and that is your minimum. If you tolerate that, take 2 tables per day, one at breakfast and one at dinner. Some people might have loose bowels with 2 per day, but that should last only a few days. It is better if you can take 2 tables per day.

Failing without knowing you’re failing: problems with low electrolytes. When low, it feels as if you have leg problems. You don’t know that those symptoms are from electrolytes, not the legs. At the end of a marathon, people think their legs are dead, but they are short of sodium. To get over that, take more sodium, walk for 10 minutes to let the sodium be absorbed. Then the legs may work well again.

Eliminating cramps at night

Some people have problems with getting leg cramps at night with low carbs.  Those can be fixed by standing on the cramping leg for a few seconds until the cramp goes away, but I’ve found over time that the simplest thing to do is get your electrolytes right.  First, take Magnesium Glycinate once or twice per day ( early/late ), and also switch to LITE SALT for your food.

Carbs?

When the brain runs low on carbs at the end of a long run, you can take in a small amount of carbs to energize the brain.  You don’t want a lot of carbs as that will raise insulin and stop fat burning.    The high carb runner needs carbs to not crash.  The low carb runner runs on fat and doesn’t miss the carbs.  But late in a run a taste of something sweet can be useful. Just keep the amount small.  Note: the carbs don’t need to be large to be effective.  The carbs are for fueling your brain, not your leg muscles.  You only need a small amount of carbs.  Different people have different amounts to be successful. This is something to experiment with in your long training runs.  Try a taste of carbs here and there to see how little you need to reduce fatigue.  Remember – lots of carbs will shut down your fat burning, so get by on the lowest amount of carbs that keeps your brain happy.

How do you train on low carb?

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