When All Is Said And Done, Just Eat Food!

Ah… what a way to spend the morning. I’ve just gotten back from a lovely, aerobic ride along PCH.  

Two and a half hours was the extent of it today as I’m in full taper mode for next week’s LA Marathon.

I opted not to do the ride fasted, for no other reason than I didn’t ride first thing and I wanted to enjoy a nice breakfast with my husband before he headed out on his training ride for Ultraman (just a slightly different fueling protocol during his ride!).

About two hours after eating my breakfast of baked yam, shredded left over turkey, 1/2 an avocado and some finely torn raw kale (along with two cups of green tea), I was ready to go and enjoyed a steady state, aerobic 40 miler on water.

That’s it.

Then, when I got home, I hydrated first (water…again) followed by a ripe banana mashed with two soft boiled eggs, and soon, it’ll be time for lunch which will be whichever veggies and proteins and fat I’ve prepared and have waiting for me in the fridge.

Would I have used or needed some fuel during the ride if I’d been going for a longer ride?  Absolutely.

But here’s the main gist of the theme of the whole last week in which I’ve been posting about some common myths and misconceptions in the world of fueling for endurance:

Mostly, eat food.   And, if you’re training or racing for endurance events, you may need to rely on some form of ‘sports nutrition product’, perhaps a carbohydrate gel or some salts for some of your long sessions, but do your best to minimize consumption by training your body to become fat-adapted and using real, whole food as much as possible.

And, if you’re not one of the small percentage of humans who opt to go long (yes, many may view those of us who are as a strange breed), you probably don’t need any of it at all.   

I don’t use any of it in my off season when there are no workouts exceeding 2 1/2 hours.  Food, water, rest and  sleep are the perfectly Paleo way to approach fueling for endurance!