 
|
|||||||||||||
              
|
Monday, May 01, 2000 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Cheryl Collins Gatons ran the Pittsburgh Marathon three times, finishing second in 1996 and 1999. Collins Gatos is now in semi-retirement and is serving as the Post-Gazette's race expert this week, discussing everything you wanted to know about running marathons.
Today's question: Many runners eat lots of carbohydrates in the days leading up to marathons. What is your approach to carbo-loading?
"I'm not one to carbo-load a lot. But a lot of people do. I had a coach who told me that after you run your last hard 10-mile run not to eat any carbs until three or four days before the race. I would have four or five baked potatoes the night before the race. I'm really not a pasta eater. But a lot of people drink the Gatorade, eat the pasta, bread, even M&Ms. But a lot of people eat carbohydrates all the time because they're runners. They're always eating bagels, breads, that type of thing.
"I think most runners' diets consists of carbos anyway. Some people really get serious about it. But I would usually just eat baked potatoes the night before. The difference might not be that major. If you're talented, you're talented. One of my coaches -- Joe Sarver -- used to have pizza and beer the night before races. If you're a good runner, you're a good runner. A lot of that is overrated."
|
||||||||||||
