Welcome to episode #2 of The Endurance Athlete Journey Podcast! In this podcast we talk about race day fueling and how to start thinking about a race day fueling plan. We talk about our own experience with fueling and some mistakes we have made along the way. We also discuss what to consider when planning out your own strategy and why it is such an individualized thing.

Here are a few other things we discuss during the podcast:

• What is the goal of fueling? Why is it important to consider a race day nutrition strategy?
• Fads and current hot topics in fueling- maximizing fuel intake during races and “train your gut” vs minimal fueling or fueling just to get by.
• When to start forming your race day nutrition strategy. Why it is important to view your nutrition strategy and planning this as similar to training and planning a race.
• How to figure out your nutrition needs during training/racing. There are a few ways to calculate needs. This is a starting point. This might be around .25-.3 grams per pound or about .5-.7 g/kg per hour. So for a 150 pound runner this is around 34-47 grams. Now this is a good starting point. Many athletes find they need to consume more than this amount. In fact, I argue it might be helpful to figure out a sort of upper limit. According to this calculation my needs are around 30-40 grams/hour, but I feel good at around 50-60 grams/hour. In fact, for longer events I might even benefit from more than this. Although I may be able to train my gut to tolerate more, I may not need more than 60 grams per hour during a marathon lasting only 3 hours. This is why figuring out an individual plan based on your race is so critical.
• What is “training the gut” and what are the barriers in terms of absorption of carbs and sugar.
• What products or fueling options to consider- there are so many! Slower digesting options vs quick sugar/carbs. Spoiler- we do not provide any specific brands or products, just some things to consider.
• Practice makes perfect- when to practice nutrition during training

We hope you enjoy the podcast. Feel free to send us feedback or questions via facebook at The Endurance Athlete Podcast Facebook group or email us at theenduranceathletejourney@gmail.com

If you want to follow us for more content you can follow the podcast @enduranceathletejourney or you can follow Katie @the.running.dietitian or Justin @tabularasaracing.

If you prefer to watch the episode you can also find us on You Tube @theenduranceathletejourney