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Whole30 Compliant Fueling Success on Mountain Marathon


SparkInfused

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I have to say I was doubtful in the beginning that Whole30 compliant fueling would work for endurance events. It took me a few years to figure out what nutrition worked well for me while running ultras. I was scared to experiment again, especially having had good results with sports products like Hammer gels and drinks, Honey Stinger Waffles, Sports Beans, etc. The first couple weeks that I trained using Whole30 fueling, I had less energy and really struggled at the end of my runs. I adjusted my breakfast, pre and post workouts and carried more fuel on the runs, and added more starchy vegetables to my meals the a couple days prior to my long runs. This past Saturday, I ran a marathon with almost 7000 ft. of elevation gain and reaching over 12,000 ft in altitude. I ate only Whole30 compliant foods and felt great. I had a more even energy level throughout the race and didn't experience and intestinal issues. Although this race was not an ultra, I feel confident that fueling whole30 compliant will not only work, but be even better than with whole foods. I am now excited to experiment and figure out the best whole food, nutrient dense fueling plan for my future races.

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During the race, I used GoGo Squeeze Apple Berry Sauce and Zipping Zinging Pear pouch,  Ellas Kitchen Apples Sweet Potato Pumpkin & Blueberries squeeze pouches, Artisana Raw Almond Butter packet with salted raisins, V-8, Key Lime Larabar, and some homemade salty potato chips (not as crunchy as I would have liked). I think that's about it. Hope this helps :)

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Thanks so much for those snack ideas. I'm an endurance cyclist and just started the Whole30 and face a 64 mile ride on Saturday. I live off of Cliff Shot blocks when I am riding and generally the snacks at the stops consist of peanut butter sandwiches, bagels, cookies and fruit (which is fine). i also didn't realize that I cn eat Almond butter or Larabars.  That helps tremendously!

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Just to add that the first couple of weeks of a Whole30 is always going to result in a decrease in performance as your body adapts to burning fat instead of sugar for fuel. So I'm sure making the adjustments to food helped but some of that energy change is probably just your stage in the program too.

 

Larabars are for emergencies and make sure they are compliant. 

 

Check out ultrarunnergirl's blog for lots of great tips on Whole30 and endurance events. I never did more than a half marathon since going Whole30/Paleo but I did all of them without any fuel during the race except a little coconut water.

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