My eating and drinking while on the run is a work in progress. It shouldn't necessarily be this way, but it is. The gist of it is consistent; check out this week's video to see my general routine.
But I'm constantly tweaking the amounts. I've never drank a ton while running, but I've always run out of gas, too. Joyce Brody, clinical nutrition manager at AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center, has been an invaluable resource as I've written about nutrition. She says you should plan to drink two cups of fluid for each pound of water weight you lose during a run.
The easiest way to figure this out is to weigh yourself before and after your run. It's a good gauge for what you need to run smart without bonking.
When I go 18 or 20 miles, I lose five to six pounds; that's a lot of fluid to be pumping back into my body afterward.
So, I've taken to carrying 32-ounce bottles of Gatorade with me on the run. It's pretty cumbersome, but you get used to it. And it's done two things for me:
One, it's helped my performance. By staying better hydrated, I've been able to run stronger on these long excursions.
And two, it's given me a chance to incorporate a little upper-body workout into training.
