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.
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:
Badwater Tony Portera to me is the “real deal.” While I fantasize doing big runs, Tony is out there making it happen. You’ll hear him say he’s not anybody special, but I beg to differ. He’s fun to talk to, has a great story about his journey into running, has great things to say about running ultramarathons, someone I see as a wonderful ambassador of the ultra community, he’s super encouraging, and even offers some advice to help improve on the next ultra.
Tony Facts:
Running out of White Plains, New York
Husband and father of two.
Lawyer in commercial real estate
Dabbler of ultra running and has ran and continues to run prestigious events such like the Badwater 135, Jackpot 100, and Umstead 100.
He has participated in the Badwater 135 six times. 2015 will be seventh.
Running Background:
Tony got into ultras by stumbling on it and deciding to try it.
Started out soccer in high school, college, and after in law school with local club teams.
After graduating from law school, life happened, and at one point weighed 210 pounds. Out of shape, drinking a lot of beer, and watching football and other sports.
Got together with some guys who convinced him to do a local 4 miler or 5k. He said “Running is stupid!”
He did more of these types of runs and was eventually persuaded to do a marathon. He said “This is stupid. If running 4 miles is stupid, this is even dumber!”
His first marathon was the 2004 Twin Cities Marathon. Completed it in over 4 hours and told himself he’d never do another one again. But 25 marathons later, he kept trying to convince himself to stop running.
His biggest mistake, was after reading Dean Karnazes’ book Ultramarathon Man where he learned about ultra marathons. He was blown away and said “If 4 miles is stupid, and running a marathon is even more stupid. Then ultra runners gotta be idiots!” And Tony convinced himself to do a 60k.
Loving the Sport & Better Health
In ultras marathon, Tony loved that he was able to show up to the start late, finished up on the same day, and head back to your car without a hassle. This plus getting in better shape made it more appealing.
Eventually dropped 50-60 lbs lighter from his former weight in 2001.
He enjoys the runs and loves the community, but still sometimes tells himself that “He’ll never do it again.”
He uses these events as a way to learn more about himself. To find out what he can and can’t do.
“You’ll never run the same race twice. You’ll experience different things and thoughts each time.”
Tony’s Preparation:
Work on nutrition on a regular basis.
Prepare nutritionally, mentally, put in the work in training runs. Roughly 80-90 miles a week including the speed training and long runs.
Typical Training Week (To build miles and speed. Doing about 74 miles of training).
Monday a.m. – 25 miles. Tuesday – 8 miles. Wednesday – 10 mile tempo, 3 mile warm up. 4 miles at 6:55 pace. Thursday – 8 miles easy recovery. Friday – 12 miles interval: 3 mile warm up. 2 miles at 7:10 pace. recover 1 mile, six 400 mile repeats, and recover jog. Saturday – Off. Sunday – 12 miles.
Long run may increase over time. This is a week typically to Tony and should not be used as a template for everybody else. Everybody is different.
On Getting Coached:
Tony is currently working with Zach Bitter on training and nutrition and has also worked with Ray Zahab. Recommends getting a coach for endurance events.
Mentions:
Film: Running on the Sun
More Tony:
Tony loves to help see folks enter into the ultra community for the first time.
The Vermont 50 mile race was his first 50.
Loves seeing people go out there.
Thinks 50 miles is a great distance to get done in one day and it is very challenging
Believer in drawing from others, especially folks who have experienced what you are trying to do.
Fueling and hydration advice:
Drinking to thirst.
Keep trying different things. Learn something is always a success.
Quote:
“People may go out there and try and have a negative impression in their mind, but there are so many positives to take whether perceived negative or not. It’s often times the 2nd or 3rd try that you start to understand what you’re doing and love it more.” ~ Tony Portera
Advice:
Ray Zahab, founder of impossible 2 Possible (aka i2P) tells Tony “Ultra running is 90% mental. The other 10% is all in your head.”
Quote:
“Our best moments are found when we are at our weakest.”
In episode #51 we continue the marathon conversation with special guest Rick Bentley from the Simply Human Podcast. It’s a lot of fun and you’ll want to catch it and the first half as well. Thanks for listening!
Quote: “If you’re going through hell. Keep going.” ~Winston Churchill
“I look up to to anybody that is able to continue to put one foot in front of the other and use that not just as a way to athletically improve themselves but mentally improve themselves. Just overall self improvement.” ~ Rick Bentley
Episode 38’s special guest is a friend, a family man, an ultrarunner, and is in his own journey with the NSNG lifestyle. This is part 2 of the conversation with Daniel Weston. Daniel runs for North Wales and recently completed his second Anglo Celtic Plate 100k International Inc British Athletics Championships where he finished a strong 5th position. A couple months prior to that performance, Daniel won the Wrexham Marathon. On the show, we chat about his 100k race, fueling, living an NSNG (No Sugar No Grains) lifestyle, and on the final lap of the chat we cap off with rapid fire question round. Tune in and stay tuned! Thanks for listening.
Ru El has pre-50 mile run thoughts. He covers planning is fueling schedule. Unfortunately is dealing with a bit of gas.
Ru El’s Running is thinking of developing a newsletter. What would you like to see in it? Leave your feedback in the comment section below. Thanks.
On separate topics:
If you were a knight working at Medieval Times, how much would you be making?
Did you bring lunch?
Do you like contests?
Would you like a chance to win something?
Did you catch the News about the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (formerly the American Dietetic Association) and their recent recommendations for the 2015 Dietary Guidelines? Did you? See article EARTH SHATTERING, PIGS FLYING, HELL FREEZING NUTRITION NEWS.
“We don’t get fat because we overeat; we overeat because we’re getting fat.” – Gary Taubes, Why We Get Fat And What To Do About It
“Sugar appears to be addictive in the brain in the same way in which cocaine, nicotine, and heroin are.” – Gary Taubes, Why We Get Fat And What To Do About It
Ru El is not only a funny and interesting dude, but he knows a lot about running and ultra stuff. He talks a lot about setting goals and how to achieve what you want...great stuff no matter if you want to run a 5k or a 50k. I COMMAND YOU TO LISTEN TO THIS SHOW
