So I just finished my second half marathon and I've noticed something consist with each race. About half way through, my body seems like it completely depletes of any energy stored. I don't seem to be able to store enough energy to keep me powered, my legs begin to cramp and my toes stand straight up. I don't feel like its fluids because I'm pretty well hydrated and I'm drinking both Water and electrolytes on the course.

Has any one got tips or ideas what is going on? I don't seem to have these with my sprint triathlons, which are shorter distances (at least on the running and swimming side). I'm wondering if my inability to consume enough calories because of the VSG will prevent me from running these half marathons all the way. I end up having to walk in the last 5-6 miles, which goes against my 'overly' competitive nature.

Thoughts?

Alas, Fern, it is Vancouver, WA, though I wish it were BC. That area is stunning. I am signed up for the 1/2, but talked to my coach about moving to the full. With the distances I am running now, he feels I should be in good shape for a full, but I don't think he understands the nutrition issues we face. I have an 8K this weekend and am carb loading right now for it. I will post after and tell you how it went and how I felt my nutrition affected me and my run.

Great thread! Looking forward to the follow up! Thanks guys!

Just a note on the follow-up... I met with a sports nutritionist after PdxMan's comments. She pretty much confirmed what he had to say. She is going to work up some diet thoughts for me and my special needs. Let's see how this goes...

g8 thread guys ,Looking forward to the follow up , keep goin

Hey all,

I made a post about the race over on my blog here on VST. Here is a link to it.

http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/blog/992/entry-2697-race-day-valentines-day-8k/

PdxMan, that is good stuff. What did your carbo loading meals consist of the days prior to the race? I think you are right on about us being in new territory, by the way. Congratulations!

Thanks, Mass.

I ate Pasta, graham crackers (huge carbs and calories there), crackers, bananas, pretzels, apples, Cereal and oatmeal.

I try putting everything in My Fitness Pal, but I find I am not 100% compliant with my entries. I am trying to get better.

Wow, excellent thread. I'm a bit behind you guys on progress but swimming, I'm up to 2.5 to 3 miles a week and just started the C25K program on the opposite days. It's good to know about the "bonking" risk and ways to mitigate. Thanks so much!

I encourage everyone to contribute there thoughts and experiences here. We are unique in what we are doing and certainly taxing what our bodies are capabile of given our modifications. I haven't been training as much as I should because my work takes me on the road quite a bit. I'm probably averaging 30-40 miles per week on the bike (often stationary), 10-15 miles on runs ((often treadmill) and 4-5 miles on swims. My times aren't as good as PdxMan but he is an inspiration to keep going. I'm looking forward to a quick 5K I have in 10 days and a sprint triathlon a week after that. Hopefully, this exchange of info will help me some.

An update... I worked on cardo loading, even though it was only a 5K and I noticed that I had much more energy. My time dropped to 26 minutes for the 3.1 miles which was a little longer than I hoped for and a lot less than I expected nased on my past two races. I got up early, eraly and prior to the race was able to comsume 2 bananas, a 1/2 serving of oatmeal, and some raisins and dried blueberries. The day before the race I got up to 241 carbs so I felt like I had enough reserves put away. This week will be telling. I'm going to focus on carbs as I complete my triathlon training, which is next week end in Palm Springs. I'll post again after the race.

Massindex commented on my thread about my 1/2 marathon I just completed asking for my experiences. I'm typing on my phone, so I'll give more info when I get home in a week. I am NOT a fast runner by any means, but I run straight with minimal walk breaks. I generally hit the "wall" about 5-7miles, but I've been known to hit it quite a bit sooner.

The race I did was the Disney princess 1/2 marathon. The most awsome thing that happened, is I was on the rundisney forum and happened to catch Jeff Galloway online!!! So I picked his brain. He ended up calling me to give me all the info because I had to explain vsg to him, but I found out quite a few things and tried them for the 1/2. First thing he said is NEVER carb up old school. The food will still be in there come race time and on average, your stomach will bounce 26000 times for the run. He recommended I start carbo-loading right after my last long run before going into taper (between 1-2 weeks, I did 1.5). He recommended 200 carbs per day during this time, but trying to hit 300 a couple days before. He also recommended pretzels because that little bit extra salt would help retain water needed for the race. He told he if I did it right, I should gain 2-5 lbs in those couple weeks as the carbs and salt help you retain water and something like 1lb glycerin stores with 2-3lbs water. I gained 1.8lbs. He recommended a light meal for lunch and dinner the day before with easy to digest foods. Not alot of protein. 3 hours before race time, chug 8-10ounces water, then no more til during the race, and only 2-4 ounces every 2miles. Apparently your digestive system all but stops while you run. The only time you want to eat is actually for your brain. Not your stomach. He recommends gummy bears and/or sugar cubes. I kinda thought maybe i was talking to an assisant, because he took quite a bit of time with me, but i decided to follow the advice. I went to the fitness expo the day before and he was speaking there. I stayed after and asked if he remembered me, and he did!!! Anyways, did the race and hit a very small wall at 8miles. So I stopped to pee at 8.5 cause there were only 2 runners in front of me, but I took me 15 min to get back to running!!! Damn women and bathrooms ( yes I'm a girl and yes I hate the line ups!! Even with stopping for pics at every mile (self portrait=15 sec) and that damn potty break, I finish in 3:09:56. Avg 14.something/mile. I had hoped to keep it under 3, but oh well. I finished and I am estatic!! Wow! I ended up writing way more than I thought!! But I know there's more I've forgotten. Ask me questions to jog my memory. That might help ( knew I should've written it down!!)

Thanks fern for the update. That's really good information. I'm up to 275 carbs today leading into my tri on Saturday because of your post. It sounds like you had a good race. One question... I was experiencing cramping in my legs and toes which started this discussion. Did you experience any physical issues?

Hello all, I am a year and a half out from surgery, still 15 lbs from surgeon's goal, 40 from personal. I have only just been bitten by the running bug in the past 2 weeks and I want to do it correctly. I got overexcited and committed the classic beginner's blunder by trying to do too much too fast with too little knowledge. I'm doing intervals on the treadmill and my knees hurt so much! I'm limping when walking and my gait during running feels like it must be dreadful.

Any insights for the newbie? Also, how best to eat, run, and lose weight as I am still so far from goal?

Globetrotter - Glad to have you join this discussion.

I always start where John Wooden said. "You begin at the bottom and work up from there." The most common cause of injury happens because of poorly fitted shoes. You have to go to a knowledgeable store or expert and get checked for your foot type and running style. Especially important for us because of the stress and damage we have put on our knees because of our weight. Next move up. Try compression socks on your calfs. The pain in your knees may have started from one of these two things. Without more information I hesitate giving advise. There are a lot of good running programs (C25K for example) that can help you keep to a proven routine. Moderation is the key and allowing for recovery time.

No cramping at all. I felt really good during the race, just fatigue. I would maybe try taking a couple really early walk breaks. The reason I say this, is because of the talk that Jeff Galloway had at the fitness expo. Someone talked about cramping in the toes. He said some people claw with their toes like they are trying to get traction within the shoe. He recommended taking very early walk breaks to allow the body to recover in intervals. Maybe you are doing the same thing? Do you feel you toes trying to grip? Maybe consciously try to make sure to relax them? I know my hip cramps up bad ( like a Charlie horse) if I don't force it to relax. It really does help. I'm signing up for 8-10 more races this year, so I'll see what more I can find out. It's a long way away, but I'm doing the Disneyland race in September, so anything unanswered, I can bring up at Jeff galloway's talk at THAT fitness expo!