Feeding and Watering the Runner.....

19 Miles Along the Appalachian Trail, Continued

Long distance runners make sure they start off a run with a happy stomach, adequate hydration and as many stockpiled carbohydrates as possible. The night before our run, I shared a big bowl of pasta crowned by home-grown, home-made tomato basil sauce with my wife, Jean.

Run day started at 5 AM with a good cup of coffee, a big bowel of oatmeal, some rasins and then, just before starting and waiting for the sun to come up, a Clif Bar and half a bottle of Gator Ade. Dave has his favorites too-- coffee, cereal, a banana.

Once on the trail, a squeeze bottle filled with Gator Ade or some other sports drink keeps us hydrated. Andrew introduced both of us to 20 ounce slip over your hand bottles that are mindless to carry. Both Dave and I drank about 2 quarts of liquid on this run. We were able to refill our water bottles at the Blackburn Trail Center, our turn-around point. The Blackburn Center is operated by the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club for the use of Appalachian Trail users and others.

GU packets squeezed into our mouths (perferably not all over our hands) every 45 minutes or so and washed down with sports drink helps to replace carbs and electrolytes lost to exertion.

With a long run and some pretty extreme exertion, you can eat just about anything that keeps you smiling, tastes reasonably good and helps to restore some of what nutritionally you're burning or physiologically breaking down. I shared a good amount of beef jerky with Dave at around mile 14 and engulfed a Clif Builder's Bar too. Both provided lots of protein, tasted really good and help in our recovery.

Lastly, the opportunist trail runner/feeder, like Andrew lunging after the grapes in an earlier blog entry, takes advantage of what is to be found along the running route and scavenges. Dave stopped briefly but passed up a last snack as he ran Rt 7 to the Gap and our parked cars.