Comrades Nutrition

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We’re now four days away from Comrades. You should very much be on a strong taper at the moment with the aim of being as fresh as you possibly can once you step on the start line. It typically takes about three weeks for a training system to become incorporated in your physiology, so make it as easy a week as you possibly can (within work and family commitments).

My focus point will be on nutrition because there is a lot of confusion about what to do - should we be following the traditional methods of carb-loading that emanated from the 70’s or should we be listening to the professor in the Cape and training ourselves to be fat adapted?

Let’s start by considering the Comrades as an event - it is very different from a marathon simply due to the distance covered and therefore the amount of time that you’re out on the road - so marathon strategies you normally follow only have partial relevance here.

Because of the duration of the race, you cannot hope to run it on carbs alone - a well carb-loaded runner, with sport drink top-ups during the race might get through a marathon (42km) on a carb-dominant strategy. But, now we have to double the distance and then add some, which of course means that you will be running much slower than in a marathon situation. So, is the eminent professor correct with the low-carb strategy? I would say that some people are actually well suited to burning fats for fuel, but not many that will actually thrive on a really low-carb approach. BUT, and this is a big but, if you haven’t already adapted well to this approach, DO NOT try to now - it’s too late….. The most important thing to do four days before a big event is to stay as normal as possible.

Another question to ask is how fast are you likely to be going? Are you shooting for a sub-6 hours, or is it going to be a >10 hour effort? If the former, I would opt for a mild carb-loading strategy - not really carb ‘loading’, but just making sure you get enough carbs in the diet during these few days. If the later period of time, please just eat normally - whatever day-to-day eating that works well for you. Don’t be tempted by pasta parties and the likes…..

If we consider the rate of fat metabolism in our bodies, the average person can manage a +/- 65% VO₂max intensity just by burning fats - this is what you might term ‘easy’ and for slower runners, might be the intensity that you run Comrades at - that is why I don’t suggest pushing yourself to take more carbs than normal.

However, carbs are certainly the preferred fuel during exercise and when you run up a hill or try to up your pace, or later in the race when you may be really struggling, the body is going to use any fuel it can get it’s hands on. Taking carbs during the race is therefore important. My good friend tried a carb limiting strategy in the early stages of Comrades last year and paid the price later on.

Pre-Comrades eating

Having said that you should eat the way you are accustomed to before the race, a lot of you will be running around getting organised and then travelling, without sufficient consideration of your diet. Here are a couple of middle of the road dietary options just so you can keep your eye on your health and physical preparation. Obviously I can’t predict the needs of each and every reader, so use them as examples only and adjust according to your own needs - either more food or less, more carbs or less, more fat or less etc. Aim to eat evenly through the day and not a small breakfast and lunch plus a large dinner as many people do. These examples are moderate in carbs, but with consistent levels of protein and fats throughout the day.

	Option 1	Option 2
B-fast	0.5-1 cup oats; milk or water; nuts, seeds and fruit (add 10g whey powder for extra protein)	2 slices rye/wholegrain bread; thin smear butter; 2 boiled eggs; mixed salad with avocado
Snack	1 piece fruit plus palmful nuts	Smoothie: 20g protein powder, 1-2 pieces fruit, 50-100g plain yoghurt, red antioxidant powder
Lunch	1-2 slices rye/wholegrain bread; thin smear butter; 50-100g chicken/fish/meat/cheese; tomato, red bell pepper; red onion; hummus	80-120g salmon; 1/2-3/4 cup (dry) brown rice; portabella mushroom; red bell pepper; broccoli; lettuce; spinach; 50-100g sw. potato; lemon juice/balsamic/olive oil to taste
Snack	2-4 oat cakes plus thick spread of hummus or nut butter	10 small sun-dried apricots plus palmful mixed nuts
Exercise	500ml sports drink or fruit juice (diluted 50% with water)	500ml sports drink or fruit juice (diluted 50% with water)
Dinner	80-150g chicken/fish/meat - grilled or lightly fried in coconut oil; 50-100g butternut squash - can be mashed; steamed greens (broccoli, green beans, spinach etc)	50-100g brown rice; 80-150g chicken/fish/meat; tbsp olive oil; 1 clove garlic; I cup onion; 2 sticks celery; 0.25l stock. This sort of dish could be made into a curry with ginger and turmeric for anti-inflammation; steamed greens on the side

Hydration is extremely important for such a long event. There are a number of ways to top up your body’s water levels, but my preferred method is the simplest - salt.

Drink evenly throughout each day right up until the event. I suggest 1.5 to 2 litres for most people, but some of you may need more and some of you may need less. In addition, add around 1/4 to 1/2 tsp of sea or Himalayan salt to your water - you should just be able to taste the salt, but it shouldn’t overpower you. Even better is a purpose made electrolyte solution called ‘Elete’ which I use in my clinic all the time. Using this is especially important if you are prone to cramps and I would even add to that - take an Epsom Salt bath every night this week to get more magnesium into your body - 3 cups of Epsom Salts in the bath and soak for around 30mins.

The Morning of the Race – the Last Meal

The race is long and you will start steadily, so your breakfast should be decent enough to keep you going, but since it is a running event, not so much that it is jostling in your stomach for the first hour or two.

This is not the time for changes - any new breakfast should have been tried and tested prior to long runs weeks before. Respect individual needs – some people will be best with a semi-heavy breakfast and light snacks during the run, whereas others will need the opposite.

A tough question is whether you should have protein in your breakfast before a running race - my preference is ‘yes’, but it is generally harder to digest than simply carbs, so easy does it and only foods you’ve tried before. For example, if you normally put milk or yoghurt on your oats before a long run, continue with that - there is protein in dairy. If you eat a good 2-3 hours before your race, then you can obviously cope with digesting more than if you only eat 1-2 hours beforehand.

Here are a few example B-fasts – if you have a personal race favourite, please share it with us.

Muesli with milk (cows/goats/almond/coconut) and sliced banana and 1-3 tbsp natural yoghurt or kefir

Oats (cooked or raw) in water or milk with sprinkle of nuts and seeds and some fruit (honey to taste)

(In both cases, you could choose to put a little plain whey protein in to increase protein content, if tolerated)

Eggs (1-3) with 2-3 slices of bread (spread with butter) and a tomato or some berries

Light option – 2 slices toast with a good spread of hummus, tahini or PN butter

Race Nutrition

How much fluid? - depending on the heat and humidity on the day, how fast you are running, and how much you personally sweat, you may lose anywhere from ½l to 2l per hour. So, you probably can’t keep up with fluid loses – it may be realistic to take in around 0.5 to 1l of fluid per hour, but certainly not towards 2. If you are running slowly though and taking your time at fuel stops, please don’t drink excessively (over 1-2l per hour) because diluting your body fluids too much can in rare cases need medical treatment (if intrigued, Google ‘hyponatremia’).

Which Sports Drinks and Gels?

Should you be drinking plain water or a sports drink during the race? For reasons of faster absorption, plus provision of electrolytes and sugars (the carbs you need to top up fuel stores), I would always opt for a sports drink. A standard sports drink is 6-8% sugar in concentration, which will be just right for some people a bit too concentrated for others - you should have a good idea of your own preference from your training.

With running, you have the choice of a) consuming the race sponsor drinks at the water stops, b) carrying your own and c) going with gels and water. I never recommend option b simply because it will affect your biomechanics having to carry a load of fluid with you. I believe that you will get Energade or Coke at water stations, so if you have trained with either of those and know they’ll be fine for several hours, then fine. If you take coke, have one cup of water to every one cup of coke (because it is double concentration compared to a sports drink).

Gels are a good option because you can choose the brand that you like and they are relatively light to carry. Make sure you only use the gels that you have practiced with in training and know that your stomach can tolerate. You must consume enough water with the gel and this is the bit that most people get wrong - it is like a super-concentrated sports drink, so has to be diluted accordingly. Look at the label to find out how many grams of carbs are in the gel - the average is 20g, which actually needs 330ml water to dilute appropriately - that’s too much to drink in one go, so I suggest taking in 1/2 a gel at a time with about 150ml water (100ml minimum, which is approximately a water sachet).

Solid food

With such a long race, it is best to include some solid food. This will also reduce your reliance on sports drinks and/or gels, so when you’re taking some solid food, water might be your fluid of choice. Here are some ideas - there are lots of options on the tables on race day, plus people on the streets hand out food snacks:

½ Bananas

Baby Potatoes

Fruit Loaf

Nougat

Rusks

Protein bars

Energy bars

If you are good at digesting solid foods during a long event, you can perhaps aim for one small snack per hour.

Rachel’s ginger biscuits and protein power balls are also fabulous examples of solid snacks.

Ergogenic Aids

These are supplements that have been shown to improve performance. For the Comrades marathon, there are only really two that I would rave about:

Caffeine can increase fat breakdown and decrease carb use and may reduce perceived pain in leg muscles during endurance activity. The usual scientific dose is 5-10mg/kg body weight 1-hour before a race, but this is a lot of caffeine. Genetically some people can metabolise caffeine quickly and might manage with this amount, whereas others should have much lower quantities. The average cup of coffee contains 60-150mg, average tea 20-50mg and soft drinks about 50mg. I suggest starting with a single strong cup of coffee 1 hour before a race, but only if you have practiced in training.

Beetroot juice has been well researched now and it has been shown that the daily intake of 500ml of pure beetroot juice for 6 days can increase time to exhaustion by a large chunk during endurance activities. You now only have 4 days to play with, but it’s certainly worth a shot - try starting with 200ml today and build up to 500ml by Friday. If it makes your bowels loose, either cut down the quantity or spread it through the day. Adding ginger is excellent for decreasing inflammation on the day.

Post-race Recovery

Basically, sugar plus protein makes up a recovery drink, but if you can get to a juice bar (eg. Kauai), get a smoothie on-board - colour is important for anti-oxidants - for recovery.

To relax your muscles after the event, soak in an Epsom Salt bath – 3 cups of Epsom Salts in a bath of warm water for around 30mins. They are magnesium sulphate crystals – magnesium relaxes muscles and sulphur is a building block for repair.

Good luck on the day – plan ahead and be prepared to enjoy the run. If you would like any more information, send me an email – ian@thenutritionalinstitute.com.