Carnivore 10K coming up!

(Bean) #1

I’ve been an off and on runner for over 20 years. Ten years ago, a 10K was no big deal, but it’s been about six years since my last race. I discovered I needed to train this time.

I’ve been a carnivore for around two years, although I’ve done some minimal plant-food introductions, I’m back to full carnivore at the moment. I was having too many reactions/ RA flares and needed to focus on being ready to run, especially after I cracked one of my ribs 9-10 weeks ago and messed up my training plan. I ended up doing 5K to 10K in about four weeks. I couldn’t back out- one of my adult kids and a friend are running too.

I’m as ready as I’m going to be, I guess!

@Alecmcq any tips? This is my first carni 10K. Hydration is probably my main concern. I’ve been training fasted.

I ran 10K this morning. It was fine, but I think I need to add some short hilly runs over the next two weeks. I’ve done too much time on the treadmill between weather, injury, and Canada burning.

Anyhow, any carni running BTDT is welcome.

(Bob M) #2

I wouldn’t worry too much about hydration. If you have time and have a scientific mind (within a few pages of text, he talks about internal temperatures of runners after a marathon, taken rectally; lots of graphs too), this is a good book;

https://a.co/d/iu3FEBs

He details how “fast” people don’t need to drink at all for a marathon. Slower people might need to drink, but not nearly to the extent everyone thinks they should.

(Bean) #3

Thanks- I’ll see if I can track down a copy.

I would like to know how they recruited for that. :eyes:

The PKD (Paleomedica) doctors noted in a presentation that high fat carnivores don’t need as much water in general, but they aren’t working with endurance athletes. ETA- not that I’m an endurance athlete!

(Alec) #4

Bean
What kind of time are you expecting/targetting? It could be anywhere from 40mins to an hour and a half! :joy::joy:🫣.

My advice:

  1. You do not need any nutrition during the race at all. In fact, nobody does, even carb burners. A 10k is too short to worry about glycogen depletion. But you, especially, will go fine as a fat burning carnivore without eating anything on the run.
  2. Hydration is an interesting one. In 10k races I generally don’t drink anything, there’s simply no need. The exception to that is if it is hot: if it is, one decent drink half way round probably helps to cool you down and provides some refreshment. It’s not really about dehydration, more keeping cool. One important point about drinking on the run: you need to practice it in training. Drinking water while you are breathing hard is a skill, and you need to practice it!
  3. Replicate the course in your training: if it’s a hilly course, go do some hills in training. If it’s a flat course, find a fast flat circuit and go for it!
  4. On the day, don’t go out too fast: aim to negative split ie start 10-20secs/mile slower than target, and then speed up a bit in the 2nd half.
  5. Most important (which I sometimes forget!) is to remember to enjoy it! We do these things for fun, and it needs to be fun or you don’t stick at it. Unless you’re aiming for a PB, I would always recommend going just a little bit slower and enjoying it more. PBs hurt. That’s why they are PBs.

Hope you go really well. When is the race?
Cheers
Alec

(Bean) #5

Thanks! (Wish I could double-like your post. Good advice).

Race is in 12 days- Saturday the 28th.

Course is considered hilly- so I really need to improve in that regard. :flushed:

I am slow- this morning I was around 70 minutes. I’ll just be happy to finish this one. I used to pretty much just show up and run, and I’ve never been very fast. I just like to do it.

What is your opinion about water the day before/ morning of the run? I don’t do as much for electrolytes these days. Any benefit there? I think I’ve maybe been drinking too much, but man, has it been humid.

(Bean) #6

I found a copy at Open Library. What an eye opener. It is dense, but very readable for someone who reads a lot of academic stuff. I’ve read probably 1/3 of it. Main take away:

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Noakes, T. (2012). Waterlogged: The Serious Problem of Overhydration in Endurance Sports . Human Kinetics.

(KM) #7

Good luck! I sure wish I were a person who could just show up and run!! I get annoyed and uncomfortable around the 30 mark. Seconds, that is. :joy:. Keep us posted!

(Alec) #8

If it’s hot and/or humid I would make sure I am well-hydrated before the race: as you say, that means water and electrolytes the day before and maybe a bit on the morning of the race. I personally like to have a coffee or 2 before a hard run: caffeine is a proven legal performance enhancing drug!

During a 10k, no need to take in water or electrolytes or salt or frankly anything. Again, unless it’s hot and/or humid, in which case I would take some electrolytes and/or salt at halfway through a 10k. It is not required for health, more for refreshment and therefore performance in the 2nd half.

Dr Noakes is spot on: you are more likely to die of over drinking than under drinking during a race. Interestingly though for my long long races (think “marathon in 5 hours” long!) I do take in a LOT of salt and electrolytes. My biggest health issue during a really long run is low blood pressure… often brought on by dehydration. So I have to be careful. But there is a MASSIVE difference between a marathon and a 10k. So, for a 10k, you don’t need to drink.

(Bob M) #9

I liked it. I think when he wrote that book, he was an advocate of high carb. I don’t think he became an advocate of low carb/keto until later, but I could be wrong.

Also, I have no idea how they got people to allow them to take rectal temperatures. I get the idea, they wanted to know what the internal temperature was to see how hot they got, but that’s not my idea of a fun thing to do after a marathon.

I recently did a 5k (45 minutes, talk about slow!) and next year, I may do it after fasting 24 hours. They start at 7pm. But I’m used to taking my dog for a jog, and we jog at “dog speed”, which is a bit over 2 miles in 45 minutes or so. But we get to see squirrels, horses (if we’re lucky), fawns (she flushed one out from the side of the road), smell all the smells, and leave pee-mail for everyone.

(Bean) #10

Fun. My doggo passed away last fall. We call it pee-mail here, too, lol.

(Bean) #11

Hey, I don’t have any photos yet, but I ran today. I’m glad I did it. I had a lot of stupid set backs this summer, but I finished with a middling time for my age. Respectable given that my marathon-running kid said it was a really hard course for a 10K. Humid and hilly is kind of the unofficial tag line. My kid and her high school friend finished first and second in their (30s) age group. It was pretty fun. Glad it’s over though. I need to back up my training to move forward with both strength and running.

(Alec) #12

Well done! Kudos!