February 5, 2024 - Focus Nutrition


As I've turned my attention to Bighorn 100 in June, I have wondered what to make the focus of my preparation. I had decided early in this project that I wanted to give each Hardrock qualifying race a very specific purpose, some area of weakness or lack of knowledge I could build on while training. I have not been quite sure what I wanted to make the focus of Bighorn 100 and had even kind of decided just to make it a kick off to the project without any real focus. Just do good training, plan well, and have a good day and night out on the course.

I think I'm going to scrap that plan. Of course, I'll still do all those things. But I have such a glaring area to begin working on that I think I'll make it not just the focus of Bighorn 100, but of 2024 in general. Nutrition. Both race day nutrition and general training nutrition. The Miami Marathon experience of a week ago really drove home how much I need to work on this. At marathons, I'm struggling with GI distress. At ultramarathons, especially those at elevation, I lose the ability to process food. So much so, that I spent the final 20 hours or so of Ouray 100 in 2022 operating on the scantest of calories. An occasional gummy bear, a sip of soup, Coca Cola; but nothing of any real substance, nothing truly calorie dense. 

Simply put, I have no idea how to fuel races well. Nothing I have tried has functioned. So, for 2024, I'll make that my big learning focus. Really trying to answer three questions: 1) How do I fuel well on race day in a manner that suits my body, 2) How should I eat in the days leading up to a race to have my GI system in a good place and my energy stores high, and 3) How should I eat to best support training throughout the rest of the year?

I have participated in so many races that have fallen apart because of nutrition. Rarely is my fitness not on point. Rarely have I not slept appropriately in the week before a race. Rarely have I brought too much fatigue to a race. But nutrition, that's failed me more often than not.

2024 will be my year of learning about and practicing good nutrition habits. Perhaps I'll even find I shouldn't be using any of that fancy, expensive, highly engineered stuff in the photo. Hey, I might even register for one more marathon near the end of the year to test my learning under that particularly pernicious nutritional crucible. 

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