Day 4, long run nutrition
Day 4 and the energy rollercoaster from the first three days is gone! No wave of tiredness midmorning and afternoon, an no headaches. I didn't feel extremely energized yet, but it was nice to be on a more even keel and headache free. Today's challenge was to come up with a nutrition strategy for a long run. The run was only 1 hour and 40 minutes, which I can make it through without taking any extra energy source with me, but practicing race nutrition more often during training last year made a big difference in how my stomach acted on race day. Plus, I have been enjoying experimenting in the kitchen, it's like having a lab at home!
Breakfast was a simple skillet meal that consisted of:
-sweet potato shreds
-collard greens
-mushrooms
All sauteed together with olive oil in a skillet over medium heat until all vegetables are cooked and the sweet potato and rutabaga shreds begin to brown. I also had half an avocado and a cup of black coffee.
After a lazy Sunday morning of R & R it was long run time. We put the long run off a bit because a cold front came through last night and it was below 30 degrees when we woke up. I know this isn't nearly as cold as upstate NY where I grew up, but after a 65 degree day yesterday 30 was a shock to the system! To make matters worse, there was a 25 mph wind all day that made the windchill around 15 degrees. For nutrition during the run, I took another stab at making an energy gel, which I liked much better than the gel I made yesterday. This time the gel was smooth and a lot closer to the consistency of processed gels.
1 banana
~1/2 cup water (start with 1/2 cup and add more to desired consistency)
1/2 avocado
1/2 c raisins
2 tsp cinnamon
1 T cocoa powder (this was used more to counteract the instant coffee flavor than to make it chocolaty)
1 T instant coffee
1 tsp Elete electrolytes
Instructions
1) Combine all ingredients in a food processor or blender and blend until smooth
2) If desired, add more water to adjust consistency
3) Place into gel flasks for use during your workout. This recipe filled 2 10oz gel flasks.
The gel workout out nicely for the run. It was easy to stomach and was easy to get out of the gel flasks while still running. I also carried a small bottle of water with me to help was it down and stay hydrated. I can definitely tell that I'm in the process of adapting back to burning fat for fuel over carbohydrate. In general, as an endurance athlete and female I utilize fat fairly well, but I could tell during today's run that my body had become used to the simple sugar processed gels for fuel. The combination of this with the cold wind made the run a bit more of a challenge than normal, but I got it done!
Post-run lunch:
After the run, I needed a good warm meal as soon as possible. Since didn't start the run until after noon, I was pretty hungry at the end. I heated up some chicken that we had already grilled, and microwave cooked a couple of sweet potatoes. To change things up, instead of the usual coconut oil and hot sauce, I made a pecan and date topping for the sweet potatoes.
Ingredients
6 dates with pits removed
~2 T extra light olive oil
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp nutmeg
1/4 cup pecans
Instructions
1) Add the olive oil, dates, and spices to a food processor and blend until the dates are finely chopped
2) Add the pecans and pulse until they are coarsely chopped in the mixture
3) Place on top of a baked sweet potato and serve
Bake in oven at 375 degrees for ~1 hour, or until the shell softens. If you poke a few good holes in the squash, you can bake it whole, rather than cutting it in half while it is raw, which is sometimes a challenge. After it is cooked, cut in half, scoop out the seeds, and use a fork to pull the squash "noodles" apart and into a bowl.
Ingredients
1 package of ground turkey (1.25 lbs)
1/2 red pepper, diced
1/2 yellow pepper, diced
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1 jar garlic basil pasta sauce (Safeway brand has a version that is Whole30 compliant, with no sugar added)
1 can diced tomatoes with garlic and olive oil
2 tsp sea salt
Instructions
1) Brown the ground turkey in a large skillet
2) Saute the peppers and onions in a separate pan with olive oil
3) Add the peppers and onions to the turkey
4) Add the pasta sauce, diced tomatoes, and salt to the skillet (If the skillet isn't large enough, combine in a separate saucepan)
5) Scoop some spaghetti squash into a bowl and spoon sauce on top as desired.
Summary of day 4: Energy levels are feeling much better and I enjoyed playing around with sports nutrition again. While I think I still have a bit more time to go before my ability to utilize fat catches up with my diet changes, I'm happy with how the homemade gel worked out for the run (even if I wasn't happy with the cold wind that attempted to stop me in my tracks!). I'm looking forward to a full week of work and training without the energy rollercoaster of last week.
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