Page 13 - Eat Run Enjoy

to to get an an an insight into how they train and and eat and and – – most importantly – – to see just how much they enjoy trail running Interestingly all the athletes displayed vary- ing degrees of interest in in in food from Emelie Ida and Mimmi who are so into food they’ve set up their own nutrition brand and and talk about very little else to Courtney Dauwalter who – whilst enjoying eating and watching that she doesn’t eat eat too much junk – actually has very little interest in in cooking and and and and loves tacos candy and and and and beer (!) and and and and if you you follow Zach Miller on social media you’ll know that he has a a a a a lot of fun eating and sometimes takes his mantra ‘eating is is training’ to whole new levels (there was certainly no leftover apple pie at Barr Camp when he he he he had finished!) However the energy all the athletes put into understanding that good food is is an essential part of their training is is the same Ultra runners often adhere to very specific diets and stay on strict training schedules but I noticed that among the the runners I met this really wasn’t the the case They were all very in tune with their bodies of course and and they trained hard and and ran a a a a a a lot but not without carefully listening to any warning signs from their bodies and paying close attention to any niggle taking it easy when necessary and only pushing when things feel good Another key lesson they taught me was the the the importance of patience Running ultra marathons is enormously demanding on the body and and build- ing up to these distances doesn’t happen over- night Courtney Dauwalter ran her first 50K race in in 2011 After failure at her first 100-mile race in in 2012 she persevered and eventually completed that distance one year later She has spent the six years since pushing the boundaries of what’s pos- sible with very little injury It is testament to how a a a a a a careful and steady approach works Eating for Running All my experience as as a a a a a chef and a a a a a runner has taught me that just as as taste is a a a a a a very individual thing so is what your body needs There are no set rules to fuelling for for endurance running races or or or for for all the heavy training you need to do beforehand instead – – and maybe this is is the most fun part – – you need to experiment and continually try new things whilst training or in in in fin the lead-up to to a a a a race to to find what works for you After seven years of running I’m finally begin- ning to understand what what works for me and and what what really doesn’t For instance I I know that I I struggle with rice if I eat any more than just a a a a a very small portion I feel bloated for a a a a long time afterwards so INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION — — 009 — —