Ritz took in the equivalent of more than 20 GU gels during the marathon. Is that normal?

First of all, not to question Ritz, (who would crush me at any distance...and about 1.5 miles at Chicago) but that is a lot of sugar! A pop tart the night before the race around bedtime?

And I doubt he's grabbing the paper cups of Gatorade at the regualr aid stations (for the masses) every 1-2 miles..last time I ran Chicago we had elite tables with our custom fluid bottles but they were more like once every 3 miles or 5km. You could probably put down 10-12oz each time but for a guy his weight (maybe 120?) it seems like he wouldn't need that much even?

Ritz has obviously had his sweat rate analyzed and probably had a dietician plan a fueling strategy. But I am surprised he relies so much on Gatorade. Why not take a salt pill or eat a lot of salty foods before the race? and I agree with Sage that he is taking in a ton of sugar prior to the race. That has to get blood sugar/insulin levels bouncing up and down furiously.

Peaked in 2012 wrote:

No Way wrote:http://www.gatorade.com/default.aspx#gseries?s=prime

Does it taste good? the packaging makes it look suspiciously like GU

Its nothing like GU. It really is just like super concentrated Gatorade. It's like the filling of a gusher fruit snack.

Anyone got tips to keep from rigging up after a race.

Bigtool05 wrote:

Didn't Renato Canova say that his Kenyan marathoners either take nothing at all or just a little water when racing under normal marathon conditions?

No need to drink up to 2 hours. That's why I haven't run farther than 30k in the last few years.

Nice to know I share at least one thing with Ritz: we both get stomach trouble taking Gatorade during races. When considering such a question, don't forget to take account of how much time you might be losing by carrying a bottle, stopping, mixing, etc. Also, be aware well before the marathon of what drinks are available on the course and try them out. I haven't run a marathon in nearly 20 years, but in my day, some had gatorade, others had different drinks, and some might bother the stomach and others not. Good luck.

based on some of my long runs this summer and fall, the extra efford added while running with a bottle is very, very small and is pretty much made up for with the ability to drink whenever you like as well as not having to slow down as much to drink (bottles vs cups). Also, sometimes the smaller races don't mix the gatorade very well! it could be way watered down.

I assume Ritz, like most elites, waters down his Gatorade. I've been fortunate enough to have bottles in a marathon a few times and always watered it down 50/50. It's waaaaay too sweet if not.

For me halves, unless it's a hot day, I don't drink anything. That takes me about 1:20. So the elites, have about 3/4 h more to cover for their full. No need to drink a gallon or so. And your body simply can not absorb all the fluid and minerals at the pace your sweating during a Marathon.

I would imagine an elite doesn't need more than 16 ounces during a Marathon. Water should suffice.

This thread should be deleted immediately because it is based on false information.

What if Ritz was a pickle juice sponsored athlete?

Another Michigan Runner wrote:

This thread should be deleted immediately because it is based on false information.

I agree. And the messenger should be shot.

read the book "waterlogged" by Noakes.

drinking that much gatorade will mess with your performance. The kenyans got it right in drinking very little-allowing thirst to be your guide and then just drinking water. all the sodium in gatorade is not what your body needs to compete. you (we) have all been duped by the sports drink industry into thinking because when we sweat we excrete seom sodium, that we must pump large amounts back inot our bodies. you just need some sugar (gels) and water and you will be set to go.

If Ritz consumes 5 oz of regular Gatorade every 2 miles - he'll consume 8.75g CHO every 2 miles and 114g CHO total. This is only equivalent to ~5 GUs or 55-60g CHO/hr. Of course, if he consumes that amount every mile - which I have never seen aid stations in every mile in a race - he'll consume double that.

The first scenario isn't out of line with other elite's nutrition plans.

For example:

http://athleticsillustrated.com/wp-content/uploads/Stellingwerf-MarathonCaseStudyIJSNEM2012.pdf

"On race day athletes consumed 61 ± 15 g CHO in 604 ± 156 ml/hr (10.1% ± 0.3% CHO solution) in the following

format: ~15 g CHO in ~150 ml every ~15 min of racing."

61g/hr. Note the 10% solution - Gatorade is 6%.

Oh yeah! wrote:

kCals don't work on Kenyans. Proven fact.

Bigtool05 wrote:

Didn't Renato Canova say that his Kenyan marathoners either take nothing at all or just a little water when racing under normal marathon conditions?

POD

DEAR ALBERTO SALAZAR:

Perhaps Dathan Ritzenhein's floundering marathon performance could be addressed with this innovation:

http://www.fuelbelt.com/

Ritz mixes gels with his sports drink, aiming for 90 grams of carbohydrate per hour, which comes to a total of about 750-800 calories for a full marathon. Assuming he burns around 2500 over the course of a marathon, that seems pretty sensible.

Remember, you can't access all of your stored carbohydrates the way your car accesses all the gas in its tank. As carbohydrate stores start running low, your body will force you to slow down to spare your remaining energy reserves.

The vast majority of serious marathoners underestimate the importance of carbohydrates. It always amazes me how often people say things like, "the marathon is an unpredictable beast," and "you just never really know what's going to happen," yet these same people often eschew on-course fueling. Most people who fall apart in a marathon, despite great training, are severely carbohydrate depleted.

Dept of Redundancy Dept wrote:

So that's why he wears black shorts!

There's a view that you should be training to use more fat not glycogen in the later part of the marathon, and that the use of carbs during long training runs - which you may have to do to accustom your stomach to them - is counterproductive because your body never learns to burn fat efficiently.

I don't know if that's true or how Ritz trains but it's a thought I'll throw out in case someone knows more.

Also, Ritz may be trying to avoid cramping. Some people drink pickle juice for that but I think Ritz is a Gatorade sponsored athlete so pickle juice may be out.

I don't have time to write a detailed post about this, but essentially you are right. We should be more efficient at burning fat, but we are "sugar burners"--as Americans (or Westerners, for that matter). A really apt analogy, which I think can be attributed to Peter Attia M.D., is that most people are driving a gas tanker truck and there are thousands of gallons of fuel onboard (fat), but you only have access to what's in the truck's tanks (muscle and liver glycogen). I actually sent an email to Steve Magness when he was coaching with the Oregon Project and posed this theory of Ritz' late-race fades despite his talent at shorter distances. The issue of energy at the end of a marathon is more likely one of a "brain energy" crisis that shuts the body down. However, if someone is an efficient "fat-burner," his/her brain can run on ketones and not have to rely on glycogen for energy. However, this cannot really be achieved through just a change in training nutrition, it probably needs to be more of a complete paradigm shift and this is the tough part when it comes to the running community. I would like to write more about this in-depth in the near future, but I thought I would give my two cents.

I was curious about the efficacy of a low-carb approach, when applied to competing at an elite level, but an example I have recently come across is that of cyclist Dave Zabriske highlighted here:

800 dude wrote:

Ritz mixes gels with his sports drink, aiming for 90 grams of carbohydrate per hour, which comes to a total of about 750-800 calories for a full marathon. Assuming he burns around 2500 over the course of a marathon, that seems pretty sensible.

Remember, you can't access all of your stored carbohydrates the way your car accesses all the gas in its tank. As carbohydrate stores start running low, your body will force you to slow down to spare your remaining energy reserves.

The vast majority of serious marathoners underestimate the importance of carbohydrates. It always amazes me how often people say things like, "the marathon is an unpredictable beast," and "you just never really know what's going to happen," yet these same people often eschew on-course fueling. Most people who fall apart in a marathon, despite great training, are severely carbohydrate depleted.

Then why is it the best marathoners seemingly take in very little carbs during the race? If, in fact, that is true but I think I remember Renato saying that in a thread.