CoffeeNBooze wrote: »

I've basically been treating myself as a guinea pig and tried different diets this past year. Before that, I was lower carb for a long time. It really helps me in so many ways. Last year's experiments resulted in weight gain, my teenage skin problems making a return, and thin hair. Avoiding grains & processed foods the past few days and I'm already noticing a remarkable difference in all of the above. Ready to return to the lower carb life! It is so nice to not feel constantly hungry. If anyone has any tips for increasing energy (as this is my only real complaint about lower carb) please let me know!

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WNV0GJcrqp4

Foamroller wrote: »

HairTie1 wrote: »

Foamroller wrote: »

HairTie1 wrote: »

mountainrun73 wrote: »

HairTie1 wrote: »

I'm in. On a journey to qualify for Boston at Chicago Marathon in October using fat for fuel. Had 4 weeks of solid ketosis from Thanksgiving to Christmas, then I punted for a week with two days of major binge in there. Back on the wagon as of December 31st and seeing my first detectable ketones this morning. Woot!

Current: 184 pounds
Target end of January: 176 pounds (assumes 4 pounds of water weight will slide off this week)
Racing weight for 2017 season: 170 (goal to be here and stable by end of March for a half marathon PR)

Giddy-up!
Nick

Hey, I'm glad to encounter another distance runner here! Have you done a marathon before while on low carb? I'm curious about your experience and any tips you might have.

This is my first keto experience as an endurance athlete, so I can't help you with tips. I'm doing my own research though and my plan includes:

1. Base period (next 5 months). One month driving to optimal ketosis (1.5 to 3.0). 3 months experimenting with fueling for long runs... only fuel prior to runs, not during. Want to continue to train body to prefer fat for fuel late in runs. (UCAN + VESPA)
2. Build + Peak period (20 weeks prior to race through race day). As long runs get longer adapt fueling strategy to include UCAN and VESPA during run. Thoroughly test this fueling combination and check ketones before and after each long run.
3. Adapt if either UCAN or VESPA is not working for any reason (bonks, GI issues, ketone levels not where they should be, etc.)
4. Pre-race, do some very light "carb sneaking" (reference VESPA guidance) the day before. Morning of, UCAN bar + liquid fats (heavy MCTs) for breakfast, UCAN liquid + VESPA pre-race. Probably only one redose of UCAN + VESPA mid-race.

NOTE: This is an expensive approach. These supplements are not cheap. However, they seem to have credible bodies of scientific evidence behind them and plenty of fat-fueled elite athletes seeing the benefits.

Cheers,
Nick

Congrats on going for a serious tryout on keto adaptation ☺ You seem to have a clear plan. If you don't mind, I have a suggestion.
1. Try establish a baseline first, before you start using exogenous ketones. Why?
1a. If you first establish the acclaimed enzyme and mitochondria upregulation as a MECHANISM in the body, you force the body to get really good at burning fat and therefore produce ketones as byproduct. By giving exogenous too early....you might miss out on the rumored "extra benefits" after appx. 6 months in keto adapted state.
1b. Forget about performance the first month...or two. Let your body transition. Then ramp up whatever pace or time goals you have.
1c. Only a guess but if you give the body any substance you want the body to produce, I don't know how that affects the mechanism you desire to take place. Test the extra ketones now and then, but not on every training session.
2. If you're able, I highly recommend phasing in fasted training after a while.
3. Ask in r/ketogains many there use a boost up before training. I'm really not sure if you need it as a marathon runner.
4. Take collagen to help connective tissue and joints.

I'm not a coach or a runner or athlete, but did the transition in fall 2014. And I used to train 2 hrs daily for over a year.

Only fools are not open to suggestion! A beginner's mindset may be the single most important mental attitude for success.

1. Great add. I was thinking of only using pure MCT supplementation prior to shorter anaerobic workouts. Training quality is so important in breakthrough workouts that I don't want my energy source to be a limiter. Threshold mile repeats are head enough as it is. ;-)

2. I'm already on board with fasting training. September through December I did it pretty consistently twice a week. Problem was I did it before higher intensity, shorter workouts which resulted in poor performance. That's okay during prep/base period, but I can't do that once I get in season so I'm going to have to reconfigure the fasting days before longer z1/z2 training.

3. Is "r/ketogains" another forum group here?

4. Will look into it.

R/Nick

Fasted training requires even more sodium than lowcarb without exercise. I claim that lack of adequate salt is the number 1 reason people feel crappy on lowcarb.

-r/ketogains is a subreddit on reddit.com. for people on keto who exercise. There's also the century bicycle rider on 2ketodudes.com. You can also do a small carbup booster 15 min before anaerobic work. Like 15 g dextrose powder. I use Haribo... But a lot is placebo too, lol. I can do 3 hrs fasted training starting with 1 hr of sprints... IMO the people who feel like *kitten* doing anaerobic work, didn't salt enough preworkout. The FASTER study reports that keto adaptation actually refills glycogen in muscles on a regular basis in endurance athletes. So it's a myth keto depletes glycogen (permanently). I'm in a hurry for a party. But pm me if you want more info how I did it.