Running

DanaDomnisor

Hi,
is anyone running while on keto? I mean long distance running (I do a total of 40+ km per week over 3-4 -5 running sessions).

Thx,

Dana

tcunbeliever

No, but I workout about 2 hours a day, so that might be ballistically similar.

If you are new to keto and having performance issues, give it a solid 3 weeks for adaptation...though, I think someone else said it took them about 5 weeks to adapt...it was about 3 for me.

Also, try some additional salt. If I get woozy feeling in the middle of a workout I always reach for the salt and so far it has always made me instantly feel better.

Running_and_Coffee

Yes, and I honestly haven't cracked the code for runs longer than an hour yet. My first month on keto, I really, really stalled and slowed down, and then I got back up to my old speed/comfort level--except when I've tried to do longer than 6 miles (I run about a 9:20 minute mile, so 6 1/2 miles is an hour.)

I am OK with this for NOW because I live in South Florida and marathon season is over here, so I figure I'll keep on doing 5-6 miles for a long run on weekends, which is always what I would do when the weather was hot, and by September when I start doing longer distances, I will hopefully be able to figure out the keto/carb thing, which many runners have figured out. I will be at maintenance anyway.

I am totally fine doing other types of exercise for long periods of time--it's actually just long distance I have the consistent issue with.

ClayBengal

Long distance cycling on keto but I noticed power is not there like with carbs and heart seems to take longer to warm up.

DanaDomnisor

Thank you ClayBengal- when you say "heart seems to take longer to warm up" it means your heart beat is lower than normal and it takes longer than usual to get higher?

DanaDomnisor

tcunbeliever wrote: »

No, but I workout about 2 hours a day, so that might be ballistically similar.

If you are new to keto and having performance issues, give it a solid 3 weeks for adaptation...though, I think someone else said it took them about 5 weeks to adapt...it was about 3 for me.

Also, try some additional salt. If I get woozy feeling in the middle of a workout I always reach for the salt and so far it has always made me instantly feel better.

Yes, I am new to keto, just about to finish the second week. I started after a marathon, as I will keep my running mileage low any way for the next couple if weeks.

I will be running longer on the weekend to test how I feel.

DanaDomnisor

Running_and_Coffee wrote: »

Yes, and I honestly haven't cracked the code for runs longer than an hour yet. My first month on keto, I really, really stalled and slowed down, and then I got back up to my old speed/comfort level--except when I've tried to do longer than 6 miles (I run about a 9:20 minute mile, so 6 1/2 miles is an hour.)

I am OK with this for NOW because I live in South Florida and marathon season is over here, so I figure I'll keep on doing 5-6 miles for a long run on weekends, which is always what I would do when the weather was hot, and by September when I start doing longer distances, I will hopefully be able to figure out the keto/carb thing, which many runners have figured out. I will be at maintenance anyway.

I am totally fine doing other types of exercise for long periods of time--it's actually just long distance I have the consistent issue with.

I am also considering to switch to Runstastic Results (own body weight training) for a month or two and only run for fun once in a while (the next marathon I will do is probably gonna be in October). The plan is to loose some weight and start the new training plan lighter (it also helps to improve running performance).

maureli

I am a runner, started keto a couple of weeks ago, and my run that first week was quite bad! Only ran again yesterday and felt quite a bit better. Hopefully my body will adjust and let me get back into it.

ClayBengal

DanaDomnisor wrote: »

Thank you ClayBengal- when you say "heart seems to take longer to warm up" it means your heart beat is lower than normal and it takes longer than usual to get higher?

No-if I push my intensity too quickly I will approach 200 bpm and I have to stop and let it get back to an acceptable rate. I make sure I am good with electrolytes before I start but for some reason it can still happen. Finding that if you just want to lose weight and be healthy you can just dial it back a little. If you want to compete you may want to carb up before big efforts.

kimmydear

I'm a runner and have been keto in the past. I've been doing more of a low carb diet in the past 6-8 months, but I am trying to go back to keto right now. I'm interested to see how it affects my running. So far nothing noticeable as I'm already used to running and intermittent fasting. I run a bit less than you, anywhere from 4.5-6 miles every other day.

DanaDomnisor

The impact on my running is huge- I feel my feet heavy as soon as I start and I simply cannot run at the paces I used to. I am heading towards the end of week 3 on keto. The scale did not move, but I think I lost some fat.

kpk54

DanaDomnisor wrote: »

The impact on my running is huge- I feel my feet heavy as soon as I start and I simply cannot run at the paces I used to. I am heading towards the end of week 3 on keto. The scale did not move, but I think I lost some fat.

I'm by no means a runner but do some fast pace walking for a few miles at a time. If I don't have enough sodium in me...my legs might be like lead. Especially in the hot NC summers, I'll take a dose of salt before putting on my shoes if I plan to walk.

KnitOrMiss

Look into the book, "The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Performance" by Phinney and Volek. It really helps you understand why it takes a while to build/grow new muscle mitochondria than run off of ketone energy...

DanaDomnisor

Thank you! I will!

JustBE13

I started back running April 1st and have been keto since May 1st. Running 3 days per week (about 3 miles). I am just now starting to feel good running. From what I have read and experienced it can take 4-6-8 weeks on keto for your body to truly adapt and then running takes off and people report faster times etc. Seems about right based on my past 6 weeks.

fuzacoza

Mixed results where I twice felt like dying, with muscles aching and white spots in my vision. Guess it was your garden variety bonking where I knew carbs were non-existent in my system. Went away fairly quickly with a snack though.

Still want to run a marathon sands carbs, or as little as possible. I use carb cycling so ketone urine strips will return negative results, once I prepare for some sort of competative run upping carbs. Currently finish a marathon at just over 4 hours.

I run every morning for at least an hour where I normally can go until dinner with just a whey protein drink, getting good carbs at night for the next day. Currently checking if I can get away with 62g of complex carbs as that pretty much will maintain some running performance.

That said I doubt I am even close to being "fat-adapted" and what I am really curious about.

fuzacoza

DanaDomnisor wrote: »

Thank you ClayBengal- when you say "heart seems to take longer to warm up" it means your heart beat is lower than normal and it takes longer than usual to get higher?

My bmp average drops a lot when I cut carbs. Can drop below 40 when in bed. Guess you then have to push harder to exercise in higher rate zones.

skctilidie

JustBE13 wrote: »

I started back running April 1st and have been keto since May 1st. Running 3 days per week (about 3 miles). I am just now starting to feel good running. From what I have read and experienced it can take 4-6-8 weeks on keto for your body to truly adapt and then running takes off and people report faster times etc. Seems about right based on my past 6 weeks.

I started keto April 15 and noticed a huge drop off in how I felt while running. I’ve never been a particularly quick runner or a very long distance runner, but what I felt able to do was exceptionally pitiful. I finally had what felt like a pretty good run yesterday and the stats seemed to back up how I felt, as my per mile average time for it was almost 45 seconds faster than any other run I’ve taken these last two months (even though the weather was the worst I’ve run in yet this year). I’m hoping that it only continues to improve from here.