My JogStyle recommends: No marathon without carbohydrates

April 11, 2011 - PRLog -- The first big marathon events are approaching and hobby runners as well as professional sporters are just in the middle of their preparation for the great competition. A total of 42,195km wants to be absolved – this is high performance sport. Besides an intensive training the right nutrition is of utmost importance before participating in a marathon. During such a run the body is exposed to extreme conditions and not every sporter finally passes the finish line. To master the whole route and maybe even reach a personal best time, the body has to be provided with sufficient energy. Preparing for the marathon you often get the advice to take in enough carbohydrates. My JogStyle explains why this is so important.

Carbohydrates are nothing but energy suppliers. They are made of a chain of single building blocks as for example glucose (saccharine). The muscle tissue absorbs glucose from the blood and chains it up to the valuable glycogen. Monosaccharides as dextrose can be quickly assimilated by the blood and thus lead to a rapid performance enhancement. The blood sugar level rises, but decreases again after only a short time as monosaccharides are also consumed relatively fast. For a competition it is therefore reasonable to take in complex carbohydrates which, due to their longer chain-linking, raise the blood sugar level more slowly and keep it constant over a certain time.

Before starting at a marathon the carbohydrate take-in should be increased to prepare the body for the upcoming exposure and optimize the glycogen store as this is the most important energy storage for short-term top performance. The more carbohydrates are stored in form of glycogen the higher the effect on the final performance ability.
Thus the input should account for about 70% of the daily food intake. Cereal products, potatoes, pasta, bread and vegetables provide the body with the necessary complex carbohydrates. Special nutritional supplements are also qualified for an effective marathon preparation. Also during the run it is sensible to take in carbohydrates via bananas or energy bars. Thus the blood sugar level is kept constant and the feared performance slump can be prevented. To guarantee a healthy regeneration the emptied glycogen stores can be refilled most effectively in the first two hours after the marathon.

Further valuable tips, the most important running events as well as more information about nutrition and health can be found on the online blog by Omron www.myjogstyle.com. JogStyle keeps you running!