Nutrition for a 100 miler
One of the main reasons for a DNF in an ultra is nausea and vomiting (23% of DNFs at the 2009 WSER were for this reason). Even among those that finished, up to 40% of the Western States field experienced nausea and or vomiting that affected race performance. Stomach problems can sabotage all the hard training you have done so it’s critical you have a strategy that works for you going into a big race.
Nutrition is a complicated topic but I’d like to break it down to 4 main questions:
- How much should I eat?
- What should I eat?
- When should I eat?
- What to do if something goes wrong?
The health section of the Sunday paper is something I normally skip as the articles tend to be based on the latest fads rather than anything scientific. Last sunday however I happened to flick through it and was struck by two stories on nutrition which gave completely conflicting advice. I can understand why some people are confused about what they should be eating when magazines and newspapers are churning out a new diet almost every week.