2013 Kettle 100 Adventure, My Nutrition (3 of 3)

Following a disappointing Kettle 100 DNF on June 1, I was left wondering; what went wrong, and how I might apply my learnings to the next attempt? (See post)

One thing that did not go wrong was the nutritional aspect of my training leading up to, and during the race.  In order to put the raceday nutrition into context, I’ll need to start 5 months ago, during a typical frigid Wisconsin January.  With lots of snow.  And it was cold.  I'm just saying.

I started a new nutritional strategy based on a modified Atkins diet, adjusted for athletes, whose plan is laid out very succinctly in The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Performance, by Jeffery Volek and Stephen Phinney.  This plan shows how an athlete can transition from relying mainly on carbs for fuel, to running on fats.  Now, for an ultra-runner, as you might think, this plan can be advantageous.  Work with me here for a bit:

Our bodies can provide a reserve store of, at most, 2,000-3,000 calories in carbs.  Burning 800-1000 calories/hr, this can equate to about 3 hrs during a tough trail run.  We can take on, at most, 200-250 calories per hour of carbohydrates.  So adding the stored carbs with the calories taken on during that time, I get at most 4 hrs of running before my glycogen tank runs dry.  Kaput.  What happens then?  I bonk, that’s what happens.  My brain is now competing with my muscles for whatever fuel it can get.  I become a zombie, pure and simple.  The slow kind.

Now consider fat as a primary fuel source.  Even with a low body fat %, I have enough on-board energy to run 100’s of miles.

Starting out on this diet, my body was trained to burn carbohydrates.  I was stuck dealing with the bonk in EVERY long race; and running out of fuel really sucks.  But of course, my body is also burning fat, which allows me to continue, though in a less-effective, zomboid fashion.

Everyone knows there are two types of zombies, ...mainly (no, not girls and boys).  The slow ones and the fast ones of course.  Think of carb-fueled me late in a race.  Slow zombie, all the way.  Drooling and whimpering and stumbling along.  As a fat burner?  Think fast zombie (or at least faster).  Drooling and whimpering, but moving at a good clip.  Brains!

Enter a new way of eating, one in which I eat less than 50g of carbs per day.  This new nutritional strategy allowed me to train my body to burn primarily fats; to become keto-adapted.  The results have been amazing.

• My racing weight dropped from 160 lbs, to 135 lbs on Kettle 100 race day.
• Because of that weight loss, hills have come less of a challenge.
• I experienced no central fatigue (no bonking) at all during the 63 miles and 12+ hrs of running.

I did supplement during the race with a product called UCAN.  This is a super-starch carbohydrate powder that, when mixed with water, provided a steady drip of carbohydrates during the run; but not enough to trip the insulin response (important).  I took on these carbs because my brain runs on the fuel created from them.  I also think my body needs carbs to burn the fats.  I needed the carbs, even if I was keto-adapted.  The result?  My energy level was steady throughout.

But the best part about this diet was the recovery.  Oh my goodness.  I felt like I could run the following day.  In fact I did go on a 3-miler two days following the race, and my legs felt no more fatigued than during usual training.  After a week, I was training as hard as I did leading up to the race.  After running 63 miles, this was truly mind-blowing for me.

I attribute this fantastic recovery to the diet.  My theory goes something like this: because I was burning primarily fats, I did not run out of fuel, ergo, vis-a-vis my muscles were not called on to provide the alternate fuel source; i.e. protein; or the muscles themselves.  Ouch.

One interesting result of this diet, which relates to the lack of central fatigue (zombification), is that I can feel leg fatigue more acutely.  I am completely aware of the pain in my body now.  Believe me, I'm not complaining, having tired legs is preferable to central fatigue.  I can push through tired legs, so much so that cramping has become an issue.  I am pushing harder now later in races then I ever have.  Hopefully, good training will alleviate this, and I'll become one of the fast zombies.

I’ll be running the Afton Trail Run 50k in a few weeks, which is a much shorter race distance than the 63 miles I ran at Kettle.  During a recent 4.5 hr run at Afton State Park, I was able to hammer the hills at end of the run.  I am mildly optimistic to see what my new legs can accomplish!

In finishing this post, I want to tell a story that gives me a lot of inspiration.  Ultra god and two-time Western States winner, Hal Koerner, ran one of the greatest races I have ever known in France at the Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc.  In 2011, he took 38 hrs to round that mountain (the winner, Killian Jornet,  took 20 hrs).  He was passed by most everyone.  He got lost.  He was chafing in all the wrong places (the worst!).  But he did not quit.  After he finished, he was asked 'why he did not DNF.'  His answer was, that he 'dropped out of the race the last time he attempted it (in 2007).'  He waited 4 years for some retribution.  Read his blog post on the subject, it is amazing.

This is what I will be taking into the Kettle 100 next year.  No mountains, no crazy elevation, just some serious baggage to release.

The Adventures of Keto-Man

The end of 2012 found me contemplating my previous racing season.  It was a great year of ultra-marathons, with multiple PR’s, an AG win and almost a top-10.  I was left with the feeling though, that “this was it”, I just can’t get much faster or better and it will be all downhill from here.  I am 48, so that day is looming I’m sure.

But.  I still have one card yet to play.  My diet.  I've always just eaten anything and everything.  Why not when you run 70 mi/wk, right?  Well, after reading ZachBitter’s blog on low-carb performance, I thought that was well worth investigation.  My long race performance (> 50 mi) sure could use some improvement.  Too many bonks with too much central fatigue.

I went out and bought The Art & Science of Low-Carb Performance by Stephen Phinney and Jeff Volek.  I have now been officially keto-adapted for 8 weeks and I’m no longer looking back to my old diet.  I eat <50 g low-glycemic carbs/day, a set amount of protein, and enough healthy fat to manage my body weight.  Here are some of the results I've found in my short experiment:

Energy Level – I considered the spikes and lows of carb-based nutrition as just normal every-day life experience.  Not so as keto-man!  I feel awesome!  My energy levels are even all day long, with no afternoon slumps.  During long runs, I experience about an hour of slight soreness in my legs, and then no significant discomfort after.  Without fueling.  My longest run so far has been 4 hrs, so what happens beyond, we’ll see.

Recovery – Wow. This is the area where I am seeing the greatest improvement.  I used to really feel a 4 hr run for at least 48 hrs.  Now it is just a dull ache for about 12 hrs, and I am ready to go the next day.  This is good, because I want to be doing closer to 100 miles/week max in training for a 100 miler.

Explosive Power – I find that I might have a little less explosive power available.  I am still in my base training phase, and have not started speed-work yet, so this may not be the case.  But.  I do stair training every Tuesday morning, at the 250 ft Willow River falls stairs.  Last year, as a carb-fueled person, I would lunge every-other step for the first 125 ft, and then run each step of the remainder.  This year, the lunges seem to me a bit more difficult to maintain, and I’m dying more at the end.  We’ll see though.  It may be too early to tell.

Body Weight – I can’t keep it on!  My racing weight used to be around 150 lb at about 14% fat.  Training weight was about 155-160 lb.  Today, I am running about 50 mi/wk at 142 lb and 12% while dropping about 2 lb per week.  The real bummer is that I don’t seem to be adding lean muscle mass yet.  I’m not sure what is going on.  I do think that, for being in a training phase, I weigh too little and need to pack on a bit more to my 6 foot frame.  More fat I guess.

The Role of Carbs in Racing – I am convinced that I can run a race while maintaining the keto diet.  Supposedly the Vespa supplement could help me, but it is so dang expensive.  Others speak of using super-starch, like U-CAN, which slow-drips the carbs into your system.  Zach Bitter mixes his carb gels and Vespa while racing for optimal performance.

I am convinced that carbs will play a role in my races.  I will start experimenting with U-CAN after my long runs reach about 5 hours or so.  I’ll try some gels too, to gauge their effect.  From what I read, I’ll want to avoid the insulin response.  Hmmm.  At mile 90 I’m thinking the Expresso Express gel might be what the doctor ordered.  Or, I might drop from a coronary.  We’ll see.

Favorite Food – Steak, duh.  My second favorite is a shake though.  Add the following to a blender, in this order:

                1/4 cup blueberries

                1/2 cup Greek yogurt

                1/2 cup cream or half-and-half

                1/4 cup whey protein (peanut butter works too)

Blend to consistency.  Pour into glass.  Add the following to the glass (this will gunk up your blender, so add it here):

                Olive oil, or fish oil to taste

                1 TBSP chia seeds

There is a wonderful blog written by three (now four!) keto-adapted athletes called runketo.com, where I have found some great info to aid in my diet adventure.  There are many links to other keto-friendly blogs there as well.

I know I am an experiment of one, but the results look promising!