The Nutrition Debacle: Part I

Hi. My name is Jacob and I have a nutrition problem.

Finally. I said it. I think that over my two years racing in the ultra/trail realm I have slowly and painfully come to the realization that I have a nutrition problem. I came from the triathlon world and excelled really well in that world... Then again the longest I ever raced there (other than the double Iron this March) was 11 hours and 6 minutes.

Did I have problems with nutrition then? Probably, but it was short enough a race that it wasn't an end all problem.

Now that I'm often trail racing for at least 10 hours some of those problems have grown and I've finally gotten to the point where I really can't ignore them.

I have now decided to completely re-vamp my nutrition strategy as I continue my build for the AT100. I am no longer able to just "wing" my nutrition. I've realized that to successfully finish a 100 I've GOTTA stick to a specific nutrition plan. When I came into the ultra running world it was such a nice change of pace from the triathlon world. All the ego's were put aside and everyone was welcoming and friendly. The more ultras I raced the more laid back I got not only in my racing but in my nutrition as well. I stopped calorie counting and I stopped eating like I used to during races.

That all finally came to a head last weekend at the Cap't Karls Lake 60K. Around hour three I just completely stopped eating solids and before that I was only taking in around 100-110 calories an hour through JUST gels! Simply put, this was not enough and was setting me up for disaster. All the mileage and training in the world cannot overcome this kind of deficit.

So, what is the new plan you ask?! Well let's start with what I was doing. When I was competitively racing Ironman distance triathlons I used two things. Gatorade Endurance Formula and Chocolate Accel Gels. (And of course water) I was great at sticking to my nutrition plan then of a gel every 45 minutes with Gatorade and water as needed. Then as always on the run, I'd end up skipping gels and normally fading pretty hard around mile 14-16 on the marathon, but I'd always finish "ok".

With my re-vamping I've decided to COMPLETELY drop both products. Not because I don't think they're great products, but because I think it's just time for something new.

So first off I had to decided how many calories I need to be taking. I've read and heard from most people that we need around 250 calories/hour. Before I was getting maybe 150 MAX an hour.

The first product I've picked up recently is the Honey Stinger Waffle. I've been playing with these for awhile and they're absolutely delicious not to mention around 160 calories. I may also play with the Shot Bloks since I can take those pretty easily without a lot of water at the same time. The Stinger Waffle can get pretty dry.

I'm still going to stick with a gel product and have decided to try the Powerbar Gel for awhile and see how that does. The Accel Gel I was using for awhile did have a milk product in it, plus some protein. I'm hoping that by dropping that gel in place of this one that I may get rid of some of the stomach issues I get when I take those gels in really how weather. The Powergel has 110-120 calories depending on the flavor.

So, with one waffle and one gel an hour I'm looking at around 270-280 calories an hour. Since that's a touch high of my goal I'll probably only eat 3/4 of the waffle.

Since I'm dropping the Gatorade I'm gonna have to find another way to supplement salt and electrolytes. Like I said before, I don't have anything against Gatorade, I just don't think it works as well in the ultra world. I would usually tend to drink too much of it early on (in the first few hours) and I wouldn't dilute it with enough water. I'd end up sick and craving nothing but straight water. After a few horrible sluggish miles of only drinking water I'd finally feel better and be running again.

So with that said I've also decided to pick up a product that was recommended by a fellow ultra runner called "S-CAPS". I'm going to be drinking only water and I think by doing this I'll really be able to stay on top of exactly how much salt I'm taking in and how many calories I'm taking in. I think that later on my training I may experiment with liquid calories like Ensure and Boost, but not until I get this basic nutrition plan dialed in.

As always, I am wide open to comments and feedback! Please let me know what has worked for you and what hasn't. As for you ultra vets let me know how this plan sounds. I've still got two more Cap't Karls 60Ks before my 100, so that's plenty of time to dial this thing in.

As for the "Part I", aspect of this post, I'm planning on writing later about how it's working and finally Part 3, how it worked in my 100. Who knows, I may end up on Part 7 before I finally get my nutrition down, but there's one thing I know for sure. I've got to start taking in more calories and staying on top of those calories instead of just going on how I feel.

As I've heard from numerous vets. "If you're hungry, you're already behind".

Last but not least, I have two quick questions for you 100 miler vets.

1) What happens when you take in more than 250 calories an hour? I mean is it possible to take too many calories?

2) What do you think of the water only thing as long as I'm getting my 250+ calories and taking the S-Caps? Being a tried and true Gatorade guy I'm afraid to drop it, but it obviously wasn't working all that well for me anymore.

And with that I leave you with "On Melancholy Hill" by the Gorillaz :)

_Jacob_