RACE… RECEOVER… RACE… an experiment in ultra-stacking! Step 2 - Nutrition

Last week I covered how I approached my training for two ultras (here) I planned to race rather close together; (Mad City 50k & Ice Age 50 mile) there was three weeks between the races.  To be able to consistently train for the first race and fully recover for the second, I was going to need to dial in my daily, training, and race nutrition. 

I am not a nutrition expert, though I do have a science and medical background.  I have experimented enough with myself to know what works for me.  I sought extra advice from Peter Defty (VESPA) and Ben Greenfield (Ben GreenfieldFitness).  Both Peter and Ben advocate a high fat ketogenic or OFM (Optimized Fat Metabolism) diet.  I guess I’m a little more moderate, I like fruits, Vodka, hard cider, and dark chocolate too much to be in ketosis as deep as they are.   That said, I did refine my diet, which was already grain free/gluten free, to lower my carb count a little more and add in more variety when it came to protein sources.  I changed the timing of the intake of carbohydrates to coincide with post session insulin sensitivity.   I also started to do all of my training either completely fasted from the night before or with just some green tea and coconut oil. 

DAILY NUTRITION

I often get asked what my diet is.  I hate this question as I do not have a “DIET”, unless you consider eating real, whole, and unprocessed foods a diet.  The descriptive term which most matches my eating habits is probably no sugar/no grains.  Now as I said earlier I am not a monk and will eat things like dark chocolate or drink alcohol, yes these are sugars.  I also will eat quinoa on a rare occasion.  That being said my diet is pretty clean due to the fact that I mostly eat meat, veggies, fruits, cheese, and the occasional starch (rice/sweet potatoes).  I do not eat processed foods or grains therefore my diet is absent of fake sugars, chemicals, gluten, and GMO products.  A sample of how I eat during the day is listed below.  There are days that will differ from this but this is usually how I eat 6 days a week.

BREAKFAST (Post Exercise – usually running)

3 eggs – scrambled in olive oil
½ serving meat (usually leftover from previous night)
½ - 1 Cup shredded cheese
½ banana
1 Cup of blueberries or strawberries
Green Tea

LUNCH (post exercise – usually weights or stretch)

Smoothie (12oz Coconut Milk, ½ Cup of beets, 2 TBSP of Flax, 1 TSBP Cinnamon, & 1 scoop whey protein)
½ Avocado

SNACK

Beef Jerky or Cheese
Carrots

DINNER

1 Serving Meat (fish, lamb, game meat, chicken)
Salad (veggies, greens)
Cheese (sliced or shredded)
Olive Oil

BENEFITS

I feel this diet gives me the optimal balance of fats, protein, and carbohydrates.  Eating simply, as I call it, allows me to maintain a lean body mass, as well as enjoy the foods that I really like.  I choose to eat for long term health not just short term performance.  A major change that I made was when I consume simple carbohydrates (fruits).  After soliciting advice from Peter I switched to eating fruit only post exercise.  First, I did this because my muscles insulin receptors would be sensitized thereby allowing for quick absorption of the carbs into my muscles, versus their being stored as fat.  Second it would aid in muscle recovery.

RACING / TRAINING

I separate these two where most people treat them as the same.  The reason most treat them the same is the old adage of “Never try anything new on race day”, therefore they practice how they plan to race.  Thankfully genetics has blessed me with an iron stomach during extreme efforts.  What this means for me is that I can more specifically train my body and mind during training and not be overly concerned during the race.  During the race I usually keep nutrition as simple as possible.  Below I will describe how I plan and execute my nutrition strategy for training and racing.  I will also give the why behind it.

TRAINING NUTRITION

The way I fuel training sessions is listed below, after the description I will delve into the why behind each.

#1 (Easy & Tempo Runs)

Coconut Water

#2 (Long or Workout Runs)

Coconut Water
VESPA JR (long run only)
Green Tea w Coconut oil (bulletproof tea)
Electrolytes (Salt)

BENEFITS

First, by completing my sessions fasted (no additional carbs to spike insulin) I train my body to utilize fats during all levels of exercise intensity.  Second, because I would not be spiking my insulin levels during the session I will not cause as much oxidative stress and therefore, I will recover quicker allowing me to go harder sooner.  This is where VESPA really comes into play.  VESPA is an amino acid supplement which acts as a key.  This key unlocks fat metabolism earlier allowing you to burn fat more efficiently as your fuel source.  (For more information regarding the exact science behind VESPA please view these articles (1) (2).)  Third, I was training my mind to handle hard efforts with little external glycogen.  The benefit of this strategy was apparent during Mad City when I had to take in fewer calories to sustain a higher intensity. I only took in about 400 calories total, about 100g of carbs for 3.5 hours.  When you compare this to the 50K I did 6 months earlier where I consumed 1400 calories total, about 300g Carbs for 4.5 hours and you can see the benefit of the training nutrition plan.

RACING NUTRITION

As I stated my race and training nutrition strategies differ.  I do not restrict glycogen (carbs) during races.  Rather I fully embrace their use in moderation.  I follow what some would call a “sugar drip” strategy during racing.  The human digestive system can absorb about 20oz of liquid per hour.  This doesn’t mean that you can’t consume more than that, just that your body won’t absorb it.  (You spend a lot of time in the woods.)  Keeping this in mind any calories you consume need to be accompanied by liquid to be absorbed.  This is the reason I keep my nutrition plan simple.  First it allows my body to get exactly what it needs to perform, and second I can adjust it if things change.  Here is a look at my nutrition before and during races.

PRE-RACE 

(2-3 hours pre-race)

2-4 Packets of nut butter (Depends on Race Distance)
Coconut Water
VESPA Concentrate
Green Tea with coconut oil

(40 min pre-race)

VESPA JR
Coconut water / water w electrolytes

RACE

(roughly each hour)
1 20oz Bottle water
Flask w honey, maple syrup, gels, or glucose powder diluted w coconut water
(I sometimes skip the flask and place the mix in the bottle) - EASY
1 salt tab (I use Succeed tabs, or Salt Stick)

(every 1:40-2:00 ish)

VESPA JR

(Last 1/3 of the race)

I will switch over to coke in my 20oz bottle and just drink as needed.  I feel the caffeine helps me focus and maintain my effort towards the end of the race.

I will grab the odd potato chip or orange slice at an aid station just for a change of texture or flavor.

BENEFITS

As you can see I keep my race nutrition simple.  The main benefit of this is that I do not have to think about it during the race.  A perfect example was Ice Age this year.  I planned on running on gels and plain water in my bottle.  The aid stations however were light on gels.  This really threw a wrench into some nutrition plans.  I simply switched over to filling my bottle with ginger ale, till the final 13 miles when I switched to coke.  I stuck with my timely utilization of VESPA and salt and had zero energy or GI issues the entire race.  Going forward I plan to continue this strategy, and possibly simplify it further by switching to a glucose powder.  I can easily carry the powder and empty it into my bottles at aid stations, thereby relying only on myself during the race.

I hope you enjoyed this look at how I tailor my nutrition for optimal health, racing, recovery, and eating pleasure!  If you have any questions regarding my diet, specific meals, VESPA and my use of it, or meal planning please do hesitate to comment on this post or to contact me.  Stay tuned for next week’s post regarding the supplements and methods I utilized for recovery to handle this challenge.

 
As always enjoy finding your own trail!

Round and Round the Track I Go! - March Training & Nutrition

If my February training was all about climbing, March can be summed up with one word TRACK.  My training this month involved track sessions, fasted long runs, and a peak mileage week.  Now I have not done track work since I was in the Navy running for my command. My memory of those revolves around the word PAIN; those hurt, a lot.  I tried to block out these memories as I swapped my Monday hill repeats for track sessions.  To compound the agony, Mother Nature has been holding Wisconsin in her vise like grip of winter.  With the school tracks snowed in and my refusal to run track workouts on a treadmill, I bought a pass to the Petit Olympic Training Center; they have an indoor track that circles the ice. 

I showed up for my first session, a ladder starting with a 400, working up to a 1600, then back down to a 400.  I went out like I was running a 100 for the first 400 quickly realizing I had no idea how to pace myself through a track workout.  The backside of this ladder workout was painful.  It only made matters worse that I was running these solo so I was sans company to share my misery.  Listed below is a brief description of several of the track sessions I completed.

Ladder workouts:

(400-800-1200-1600-1200-800-400 with a 400 recovery)

(4x400, 2x1600, 4x200 with a 200 or 400 recovery)

Repeats:

(6x800 w 200 recovery) (12x400 w 200 rec) (6x1600 w 400 rec) (3x1000 w 400)

Another facet of racing that I am working on in training is my ability to utilize fat as a fuel longer.  To really prioritize this I completed all of my long runs backed up against race pace runs the previous day, fasted, and without consuming extra calories.  This means I would run hard on Friday, eat my normal meal, then run on Saturday without consuming any carbs both before and during my run.  I practiced this regardless of run distance.  I really feel that this training has allowed my body to adapt to solely burning fat, and allowed my mind to adapt to running through hypoglycemic states.  Below you will find how I prioritized my nutrition pre run, during the run, and for the rest of the day.

Pre Long Run

12oz warm water with apple cider vinegar

Green tea with coconut oil

1 VESPA JR

During Run (2.5+ Hours)

Coconut water

Post Run Meal

12oz Coconut Water

1C Full fat Greek yogurt with cinnamon, flax, 1/4C blueberries, 1/4C pineapple, ½ banana

½ Grapefruit

1 multi vitamin

1 fish oil

1 vit D3

Afternoon Snack

¼ C raw almonds

Some Raw Cheese (Maybe)

Dinner

Large kale salad with beets, asparagus, tomatoes, avocado, broccoli, shredded mozzarella cheese, & onions

6oz chicken

½ sweet potato

Red Wine or Hard Cider

Dark Chocolate (Maybe)

Foam Rolling, Active Isolated Stretching, & 1 Magnesium

I had my largest volume week, ever, at the end of this month; it is now time to taper for Mad City 50K on Apr 20^th.  Time for this Ultra Runner to see if focusing on speed instead of long and slow will pay off!  Wish me luck!

TOTALS

RUN               303 Miles  39:59:40

SWIM            4     Miles

BIKE              0     Miles

My Diet (OFM) and Why

My Diet (OFM - Optimized Fat Metabolism)

I've had a lot of people asking me about my diet.  If I were to really classify my diet into any category it would sound something like this.  I follow pescatarian, paleo, and low carb high fat and protein principals, yeah silly.  I am not 100% strict with these ideas however; I will eat lean meat (Organic chicken, buffalo, and venison).  A more accurate description of my diet is the following simple statement; I follow the 80/20 rule, 80% (6 days a week) I eat a diet filled with fruits, vegetables, leafy greens, nuts, fish, organic dairy, and very little grain carbs and the other 20% (1 day a week) I am not as strict.  A good example of my diet would be Ben Greenfield’s Food Pyramid.  This approach works very well for me as I have two young daughters.

I like to cook and more importantly I love to re-construct recipes to more closely match my diet while preserving their taste and enhancing it.  90% of the time I have great success in this hobby as my wife and daughters can attest to.  The other 10%, well I guess there are just some recipes that are just meant to stay unhealthy!

A typical day for me involves 3 main meals and 2 snacks.  My 1^st meal of the day, breakfast, is also my largest.  This happens for 2 reasons.  First I usually work out early in the morning, and complete these workouts without consuming anything but water.  I do this because this helps train my body to utilize fat as an energy source rather than carbohydrates.    Second I like to eat breakfast with my family and this is the most convenient time to work out without affecting family time.  I then follow this up with a snack, lunch, another snack, and then dinner. 

These are some of my usual breakfasts; homemade waffles or pancakes covered in nut butter (Almond, Peanut, and Nutella), hard boiled eggs, 1/2 a banana, and fruit, or a parfait made with Greek Yogurt, almond butter, cinnamon, vanilla, flax, 1/2 a banana, and frozen fruit.  For beverages I have water, decaf green tea, and almond milk with a tbsp of whey protein powder.   My two snacks are a 1/4 cup of mixed nuts, and 1/2 an apple.  Lunch follows an afternoon workout and is usually blended beet juice and almond milk, and a fruit smoothie consisting of organic almond milk, frozen fruit, bananas, vanilla, cinnamon, & protein powder.  Dinner is a large selection of vegetable, leafy greens, nuts/seeds, organic cheese or eggs, lentils, or lean protein source like fish, buffalo, or chicken.

I have found that a diet high in good fats and lean protein and low in carbohydrates from grain and sugar sources has multiple benefits.  The first benefit in relation to fitness is training your body to utilize fat as an energy source and not carbohydrates.  This is essential for endurance athletes because as humans we have an indefinite supply of fat in our body but very limited, 90 minute, supply of carbohydrate for energy.  By teaching your body to burn fat you will have more consistent energy through out your workouts or races.  Because of this diet I am able to utilize a product called VESPA which enhances fat metabolism, and REDUCES, not eliminates, my need for carbohydrates during long workouts or races. As a benefit because I have a reduced glycemic load my insulin receptors are more sensitive to sugar, so when I do consume gels during a race I receive a much bigger boost.  This diet also aids in recovery post work out or race.  Ben Greenfield has numerous podcasts detailing diets similar to this and their benefits, he gives great tips on using fat for fuel for speedier recovery, and the benefits from the great nutrients available in healthy fats

In response to specific questions I recently received regarding recipes I have created I decided to begin posting a recipe every 2 weeks from my collection.

The 1^st will be the recipe I use for my gluten free, low carb, protein packed waffles and pancakes!

Enjoy!

As always do not hesitate to contact me with any questions or suggestions.  You can contact me by replying to this post or at the following e-mail nmwied@hotmail.com