Fueling marathon training with junk

[wambam]

Hypothetical question: Do you think it's possible to fuel marathon training by eating garbage for every meal? Lots of processed foods, refined sugar, etc. 

[clseale]

Sure? This is a weird question. lol

[wambam]

I'm curious because my coworker claims to training for a marathon. I've never been a runner and I eat really squeaky clean so I didn't know.

[lb2006]

i'm sure people do it....

And i had a mini-snickers during my longest runs b/c i couldn't stand the thought of stomaching another Gu...and it was impractical to carry a sandwich

[Deleted]

Can you be more specific? I don't eat "squeaky clean," but am guessing my diet even with the junk food I consume is healthier than most of the general population. If you are horrified that she isn't just eating clean, well, you don't need to eat clean to be a runner IMO.

[Susie]

I am training for a half ironman, and I ate cupcakes this weekend. I definitely don't eat "squeaky clean." So I am going to go with yes, this can definitely be done.

[wambam]

Apr 29, 2013 11:19:11 GMT -5 @mjmksb04 said:

Can you be more specific? I don't eat "squeaky clean," but am guessing my diet even with the junk food I consume is healthier than most of the general population. If you are horrified that she isn't just eating clean, well, you don't need to eat clean to be a runner IMO.

Not horrified one bit. Just curious. 

I've never seen him eat a fruit or vegetable. Or anything that didn't come in a Frito-Lay bag. It's hard for me to imagine working out after eating what he eats.

[gt7301b]

My husband ran a 3:15 marathon and had a lean cuisine and diet coke for lunch almost every day.

He is trying to BQ this year and is working on changing his diet.

[clseale]

I would feel like crap doing it, but if he's taking in enough calories, technically he has enough to "fuel" his runs. I know I feel better when I fuel with good food, but if his body is used to a bunch of processed food, it probably doesn't make him feel crappy, ya know?

[emuni04]

It's possible, but obviously not ideal. I ate like crap through my first marathon training, resulting in a 15 pound weight gain and a less than impressive finish time.

[runaways]

I mean, I basically did for my first half marathon. Not on purpose, I just wasn't used to being so hungry all.the.time. and would eat anything and everything. So I'm sure it can be done for a marathon as well.

[ebeth]

Apr 29, 2013 11:21:44 GMT -5 gt7301b said:

My husband ran a 3:15 marathon and had a lean cuisine and diet coke for lunch almost every day.

He is trying to BQ this year and is working on changing his diet.

does he have sides or something?  that isn't enough food for me let alone a marathon training dude!

op: you don't have to eat squeaky clean to train for a marathon. would he get better results by cleaning up his diet? maybe. 

[runblondie26]

That's how I fueled most of my marathons...in my early 20's.

[gt7301b]

Apr 29, 2013 11:37:10 GMT -5 ebeth said:

Apr 29, 2013 11:21:44 GMT -5 gt7301b said:

My husband ran a 3:15 marathon and had a lean cuisine and diet coke for lunch almost every day.

He is trying to BQ this year and is working on changing his diet.

does he have sides or something?  that isn't enough food for me let alone a marathon training dude!

op: you don't have to eat squeaky clean to train for a marathon. would he get better results by cleaning up his diet? maybe. 

A fiber one bar..... Then he would end up binging when he gets home, cause a lean cuisine and fiber one bar isn't enough calories for a man who runs 40-50 miles a week.

It wasn't until Mr. GT read an article online that was basically titled, "The one thing holding you back from your full potential is processed foods" that he started to work on his diet.

[Deleted]

That sounds like my first marathon training! I did eat fruits/veggies/lean proteins but I was so hungry ALL.THE.TIME and overwhelmed with getting my calories in with healthy foods, I ate the stuff that made me feel happy aka junk. lol

It's not something I want to repeat though.

[Brit]

Read Hungry Runner Girl's blog. She eats a lot of healthy stuff, but a ridiculous amount of sugary cereal, frozen yogurt, candy, sugary desserts, etc. She runs super fast and huge mileage.

[wambam]

Apr 29, 2013 13:16:48 GMT -5 @vtcupcake said:

newsfeed.time.com/2011/03/11/can-it-be-done-mcrunner-trains-for-marathon-on-all-mcdonalds-diet/

I find this very interesting not only because of the content, but also because I know a guy named Joe D'Amico. Weird.

[onwisconsin]

Yes, it's absolutely possible. Not ideal, but he's probably used to it. Most of my runner friends don't eat 'squeaky clean'. Hell, you can usually find us out for chips/salsa after long runs.

[wambam]

Apr 29, 2013 14:25:16 GMT -5 @vtcupcake said:

Apr 29, 2013 13:18:52 GMT -5 wambam said:

I find this very interesting not only because of the content, but also because I know a guy named Joe D'Amico. Weird.

I think everyone from the Northeast knows someone named Joe D'Amico

 LOL Fair enough. Not a popular name in Ohio