Fri, Jul-30-04, 07:48
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New Member
Posts: 17
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Plan: somewhat low-carb
Stats: 136/134/130
BF:
Progress: 33%
Location: Port Coquitlam, BC
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by TheCaveman
My dad (62 and two marathons a year) and my sister (two marathons a year, when she's not pregnant, which seems to be often these days) like the long distances. Neither of them will have anything to do with low-carb.
I've spent a lot of time on running forums and while it's hard to debate with most of those folks about low-carb and running, the question that seems unresolved is that low-carb hurts performance (times, and training stamina in general).
I would suspect that it does hurt performance, but I have no inclination to test this on myself, mostly because the human body is not physically or chemically adapted for long-distance running. While I do believe that low-carb makes for a healthier anything (runner, jumper, juggler, or couch potato), perhaps an unnatural activity requires and unnatural diet (high carb)?
I just wondered your thoughts on this. I do also agree that runners seem to have taken the Carbo Load to an extreme in the sense that they presume that if they are ALWAYS carbo loaded, then they are best ready to train and run at a moment's notice, kind of defeating the whole point of a Carbo Load.
Anyhow, it's always most fruitful to discuss subject with a low-carber, so I just thought I'd respond and hope that this thread is a good one.
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As you know, most of the runner's forums are pretty anti-low carb. Not all, certainly. Some brave souls have spoken up and described how it has worked for them, and that's what has got me thinking about it.
The human body may not be born for long-distance running, but it certainly can adapt. The body is an amazing thing - how it changes and adapts for maximum output, depending on what we ask of it. Just amazing! If you'd told me 4 years ago, when I was about 180lbs and a size 14-16 that I'd be running today, let alone long-distance, I'd have been ROFLing hysterically. How things change, eh? 
Carbo-loading is not something I've ever focused on, except for the day or two before a race. There seems to be controversy with regard to that, too. Everybody's got opinions, it seems! lol 
Marcia
"The miracle isn't that I finished...the miracle is that I had the courage to start" - John "the Penguin" Bingham
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