COACH’S CORNER – GET THE RIGHT NUTRITION FOR YOUR ULTRA

Nutrition for ultra running

Ultra running is not only a test of physical fitness and mental strength; it also comes down to an eating contest.

Why is nutrition so important in ultra events?

The root cause for the majority of DNFs in ultra running is the dreaded gastro intestinal problems or as most of us know it, ‘GI issues’. Basically we are putting food in, but our digestive system is not able to process it. For shorter events our digestive system can cope with us surprising it with an energy gel here or an energy bar there. However, this approach in an ultra will ‘find you out’ every time and more often than not will lead to GI and performance issues.

During physical activity our body re-routes blood away from our digestive system to the muscular system, and in turn our digestive system moves into a sleep mode. Our body has limited glycogen stores (energy used for physical activity), which in most of us will only last only a couple of hours.

Therefore, nutrition becomes not only a necessity, but an aspect of training that we simply cannot ignore. Our digestive system is a little like us when we are unexpectedly woken – we are surprised, a little grumpy and then probably not very helpful.

Tips to help train and develop your nutrition strategy.

1. Practice makes permanent– just like our physical and mental training, we need to train our digestive system to wake up ‘happy and helpful’ to utilise and break down the food we are consuming. Testing and practicing different food strategies on our long runs will help you develop what works for you and your digestive system. It will also reduce the changes of GI issues during your goal event.
2. Stay hydrated – water is just as important as the food we add. Without this our digestive system is unable to transfer the fuel to our blood stream. I’m sure we have all experienced taking on food but it just sitting in our gut, causing bloating and nausea. Without the correct level of water, the food will just sit there all day long. Cramping is also associated with poor hydration as the body starts to redirect water from our muscles to prioritise in regulating our body temperature (sweat).
3. Develop different strategies– the majority of us set an A, B or C for our event goal. We should adopt a similar approach for our fuelling strategies to counter when things don’t go to plan, which is generally more often than not. Therefore, it’s important to be flexible with our fuelling to counter some of the uncontrollables such as weather, aid stations running out of supplies, etc. For me, flat ginger beer settles my gut and flat coke gives me a quick but limited boost from fatigue. The key is to practice in training and don’t be afraid to adapt on race day and ‘do something’, the problem is unlikely to just go away.
4. Little and often – don’t cram your digestive system with food, give it a chance to wake up happy with a manageable amount of work to do. Too much food at once will make it grumpy and unhelpful. Again, experiment and practice, practice, practice what types of food and quantity works for you on your long training runs.
5. Nothing new on race day– we have all read, heard and probably said this one before. Some of us have most likely winged it with a new pair of shorts or top, maybe got away with it or got chaffing from hell. Your fuelling on race day should be just like your training. You have practiced it so often, it’s now just business as usual (BAU). You’re not going to be tempted by the brightly colored jellies or muffins at an aid station.

Trust in your training and don’t be the person that winged it!

To get in touch with Tony, or for more advice, head to his website Tony Smith Run Coaching or search for Tony Smith Run Coaching on Facebook.