How to Recover Fast with the Right Foods
Accelerade is a sports drink that has this 4:1 ratio. It can be consumed before, during, and after your runs to shorten your recovery time. It contains whey protein. If you are lactose intolerant or if you aren’t sure about how your stomach will react to consuming a protein-containing drink while on the run, you may want to be careful and ease into drinking Accelerade.
For those who don’t go for pricy sports drinks, there are some widely available products that are close to the ideal 4:1 carbohydrate to protein ratio. Yogurt and chocolate milk are popular choices.
What do you use to recover from your workouts? Tell me in the comments.
Related Posts:
Tart Cherry Juice Fuels Shalane Flanagan’s Marathon Debut
Drink Tart Cherry Juice for Faster Workout Recovery
Tart Cherry Protein Recovery Drink Recipe
Gatorade Recover - Tastes Great, but Does it Work?
Are Two Carbs Better Than One?
Sampling Accelerade
Recently, the eyes and ear of the Accelerade sports nutrition brand picked up my blog about their running gels on Twitter.
@PacHealthLab thanked me for the review and said they’d send me some samples to try out.
True to their word, I picked up some samples yesterday.
Here is what I’ve got to try:
- 1 x Accelerade branded drink bottle
- 3 x Accel Gels (Vanilla, Strawberry Kiwi and Key Lime)
- 2 x 2nd Surge Gels (Chocolate and Double Expresso)
- 1 x Endurox R4 recovery drink (Fruit punch)
- 2 x Accelerade sports drink (orange)
- 1 x performance nutrition handbook
- 2 x postcards
I’ll give them a go over the coming weeks and see how I go. Stay tuned!
NB: Again these are my own independent thoughts.
Partial final verdict on Accelerade running gels
Last week I first tried an Accelerade running gel - raspberry cream - and wasn’t impressed by the flavour. I did still post a balanced review.
This morning I gave citrus orange a go and again I didn’t like the flavour. I didn’t even consume the whole thing.
I’m not sure if I just picked 2 flavours that don’t agree with me, but I’m not going to give any more a go unless @PacHealthLab still decide to send me some samples.
For sure give them a go and see for yourself - this is just my experience.
What brand of running gels do you use?
Eyes and ears of Accelerade
Yesterday I posted about my thoughts on Accel running gels and the people at @PacHealthLab picked it up.
They tweeted:
@thetone We appreciate the honest review, Tony. Thank you! Do us a “flavor,” DM your address and we’ll send you some of our other gels!
Nice little play on words and good of them to send me some other flavours to try.
I can’t DM them until they follow me back so hopefully they do that and I get try out some more of their offerings.
Note: The posts about Accel gels are entirely my own thoughts and there is no third party involved.
Mid-Run Fueling - Q & A with TrainWithMarc, part 3
“K” asked me what my recommendations were as far as fuel goes. She’s tried gu twice and her stomach dislikes her for it.
For your upset stomach, you should immediately avoid whatever variables you can. In other words, accounting for taste, consistency, time before your run, etc will help eliminate the cause of your stomach issues. If it’s the flavor of the gu (https://guenergy.com/ ), then try a new flavor (or brand) as some brands have different consistencies and ingredients. If you find that it’s gu-typed products that you can’t stand ; don’t use them. Sometimes, just changing the flavor can make all the difference though.
If the flavor isn’t the problem and you’re still having issues, you may want to try different products. Professional runners, like Lauren Fleshman ( http://www.pickybars.com/ ), make products that are good (healthy and tasty) for runners. You may want to reach out to your friends and see what they use. There are also different companies making various products that can help aid runners in fueling. There’s always the prospect that you find something homemade that you like and can stand to eat mid-run. The possibilities are endless!
Another potential change you can make is in your pre-running ritual. Make sure you’re planning not only your run, but also your nutrition leading up to and after your run. Try eating blander or plainer foods in the hours before your run. Avoid eating heavy or dense foods before you run because they will “sit” in your stomach and eventually give you plenty of issues during your run. Remember, the more variables you can account for, the quicker you’ll be able to find the problem and fix it.
Prior to long runs, give yourself enough time to eat, drink and let food begin to digest. All runners are different, so only you know what your stomach can handle. Again, keep to simple foods (half a bagel and some peanut butter, water…) so that your body has a better chance to digest the food.
With my own personal training, I like to have a sports drink (Accelerade; http://pacifichealthlabs.com/) before hand and Endurox afterwards. I eat half a bagel and either cream cheese or peanut butter on top. I consume both of these roughly 1 hour before I run and I will be both comfortable (stomach-wise) and full of energy for an entire long run. For really long runs, generally over 90 minutes, I also have a gu (strawberry-banana or vanilla) roughly 50 minutes into the run.
Again, make sure you consume foods that you feel comfortable eating on the run. Plan your hydration, meals and mid-run snacks well in advance. Remember to experiment with any foods that you plan on using on race day in practice and during long runs or workouts well before race day. Know exactly how your body is going to react to the specific foods that you are going to use on race day.
What are your favorite during-run snacks? Are you a make-it-at-home type of runner? Leave comments below and be sure to check out other posts on this blog and also my website.
If you have questions or comments, please leave them below. If you have an interest in being coached by TrainWithMarc, please visit trainwithmarc.com
