Ru and ultrarunner Tony Portera (@irunultras) talk about nutrition, fueling, Badwater, snow, and coffee. What are top tips for fueling during long runs and ultra-distance races?
Runner nutrition is a very individualized. Some of Tony Portera’s tips for fueling during long runs and ultra-distance races.
Experiment with different fuels to find what works. Sometime what works in the begin is not what works in the end and vice vera. Tony does high fat, low carb in beginning, then sugar trickles at the end of the race. It depends on the situation. Has evolved that way by experimentation.
Follow what successful runners do for fueling and take bits and pieces and refine to work for you. Tony mentions having gained fueling knowledge from others like Meredith Teranova and Zach Bitter.
Take a look what others do but don’t take it as gospel. Fueling for Badwater. Engineered fuels vs real foods. Craziest thing consumed in a race. What did Jen Vogel feed Tony during an ultra?
You need to get yourself through an event.
“Don’t stand in ceremony.” – Vinnie Tortorich, when it comes to fueling in a race.
Tony Portera is many things. If you remember from listening to previous episodes #53 and #55 was in preparation for racing Badwater 135 also known as “The World’s Toughest Foot Race”. He’s back on the podcast to run through his 2015 race and finish through Death Valley to Whitney Portal.
Tony Portera and Serena Scott Thomas. Image courtesy: Tony Portera
Quotes:
“If you can keep moving, keep moving.”
“Every step forward is one less step that you’re gonna have to take to finish the race.” – Tony Portera
“Every running experience you have, you should learn something about yourself. The course, the event, the environment and something about the other runners out there. If you can learn something in each of those categories you’d have a successful event.” – Tony Portera
Tony Facts:
Running out of White Plains, New York
Husband and father of two.
Lawyer in commercial real estate
A veteran ultrarunner and has ran and continues to run prestigious events such like the Badwater 135, Jackpot 100, and Umstead 100.
Never planned a movie review episode, it just turned out that way. Thoroughly worth watching. Lace up and enjoy!
Running America
Description: “Running America is a documentary film that will follow elite adventurer Charlie Engle (Running The Sahara) and the only person in the world to complete the Triple Crown of Extreme Sports, Marshall Ulrich, on their record breaking run from San Francisco to New York.”
Running on the Sun – 1999 Badwater 135
Description: “Forty runners compete in the most grueling race on earth, the Badwater. The film documents the trials and tribulations of these athletes as they run 135 miles through Death Valley in July and explores the motivations behind this seemingly masochistic contest. A celebration of the perseverance of the human will beyond the limits of the human body. – Written by Forrest Wright”
YouTube URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dl3laLhbCsw
Quote:
“Fear is excitement without the breath.” – Gay Hendricks, So just breath and turn fear to excitement.
Health:
Sore shoulder. What does Ru have in common with Mel Gibson in the movie Lethal Weapon?
Abdominal ultrasound. A different kind of ultra event.
Family:
Getting kids moving as much as possible is a good thing.
Part 1 with Tony Portera was fun. In part 2 the fun continues and we get to learn much more. We learn about Tony’s nutrition, fueling strategy, the wonderful people he’s worked and trained with, and in the end a rapid fire question round. Be sure to listen. Thanks!
Nutrition outside running
Follow NSNG (No Sugars, No Grains) lifestyle.
Eat when hungry.
Typical day:
Wake up, have a coffee with HWC (heavy whipping cream)
Might have BPC (Bulletproof Coffee) if have a 20 mile run.
Had a Fat Shake before the call consisting of kale, spinach, broccoli, cauliflower, celery, chia seeds, and a scoop of coconut oil.
Sometimes an afternoon snack of cheese and salami. Maybe a salad.
Dinner would consist of steak, fish, or chicken and salad. Maybe some berries.
Almonds or sunflower seeds.
During running:
Still a struggle. On a fat-adapted lifestyle and fueling strategy, Tony can run 20 miles without eating anything, so unless 20+ mile training runs are a regular thing, there isn’t a lot of opportunity to practice fueling on the run.
Typically things to fuel with:
Vespa
PocketFuel
Justin’s Nut butters
Salami
Cheese
Pickles
Olives
Coconut oil
In his most recent Jackpot 100 performance, while employing a High Fat, Low Carbohydrate fueling strategy:
For 80 miles:
PocketFuel
Salami
Nuun for electrolytes
No bonk. No rush of sugar.
For miles 80 through 90s infused more carbs into system:
A few gels on limited bases
Pizza later in the race.
Result: It went well and Tony finished 3rd place overall. His personal best for a 100 mile race, and just under 19 hrs (18:58).
“Everybody is different. Experimenting is good.”
Some recommended fuels to try include:
Justins Nut Butters
PocketFuel
Generation UCAN Superstarch
Vespa
BRL Sport Nutrition Trifuel and Invigor8
“Adapting in ultra running is very important. Running an ultramarathon is all about goal adaptation.”
Fear the chair. Fear the van…Don’t get in the f*cken van!
“There’s nothing wrong with not finishing. Some of the greatest runners have DNF’d one point or another. Absolutely nothing wrong.”
Tony’s wrap up and special thanks:
The whole ultra community
Lisa Smith-Batchen
Ray Zahab
Zach Bitter
Vinnie Tortorich
Jamie Donaldson
All the people he trains with regularly including:
The newsletter is under development. The back-end for subscribing for it has improved. It’s a beautiful thing. Tons of content is in the works and can’t wait to get it all polished and ready to share. If you haven’t subscribed to the newsletter yet, you can do that here: http://www.ruelsrunning.com/subscribe/
Run Update:
Not much running lately. Am getting antsy and have missed a few days planned for runs. Time has been spent strength training and on a periodized plan towards a possible 50-mile run in October.
Running News:
Why a 91-year-old veteran is running across America.
Ernie Andrus, a 91-year-old World War II veteran, has been making progress in his mission to become the oldest American to run across America. As Steve Hartman explains, he hopes to bring attention to one of the war’s unsung heroes.
As mentioned in a previous podcast and post, I’ve been working on building strength. So a couple of days a week I’m working some key exercises that interest me at the moment:
Front Squats
Goblet Squats
Jump Rope
Dead Hang starting position
Hollow Pull-Up
The front squats I’m new to and only get to practice this movement on days I get to visit the office gym. Otherwise I practice the goblet squats using a dumb bell at home. The jump rope is my indulgence exercise. I LOVE JUMP ROPE! Lastly, when I’m not sitting around or jumping around, I’m literally hanging around building up time holding the starting position of a pull-up or a dead hang and while in hollow position.
Family & Play:
Ironically while in between building strength, I’m getting hurt. I have a history of back injury. A couple of times in the past week I’ve done improper lifting either of a child or some free weight, which cause some back twinge resulting in 2-3 days of a tight back. It could be worse and has been worse before. Fortunately I’ve been able to function and take care of the family despite the discomfort.
This is a well done and entertaining podcast coming from a "relatively normal" guy. lol I found this podcast through Vinnie Tortorich and was drawn in by Ru's take on running and the NSNG lifestyle. While I am not a runner, I walk fairly fast so that counts, right? I love that he talks about the ups and downs of balancing his family life with his running and working, like all of us. His recommendations and interviews are relaxed, informative and fun. Take a listen and learn something people! Sorry it took me so long to post a review :(
dlconcidine
Ru El's Running Podcast
5
2016-06-14T13:23:04-07:00
dlconcidine
This is a well done and entertaining podcast coming from a "relatively normal" guy. lol I found this podcast through Vinnie Tortorich and was drawn in by Ru's take on running and the NSNG lifestyle.
