Welcome to Episode 64 of the Eat for Endurance Podcast! As many of you know, I was at the Canyons Endurance Runs by UTMB on April 29th to run the 50k. Canyons is a large international event, as it is a qualifier for both the UTMB World Series Finale in Chamonix, France as well as of the Western States 100, so Auburn was buzzing ALL weekend long with amazing athletes.
Not long after I finished my own race, I decided to make the most of the fact that I was surrounded by so many big names in trail and ultra running and see if anyone would be up for a mini race nutrition interview! Turns out, quite a few athletes were happy to chat with me.
I interviewed 11 finishers - 6 pros and 5 recreational - including Cole Watson (1st male in the 100k), Priscilla Forgie (2nd female in the 100k), Hayden Hawks (1st male in the 50k), Eric Lipuma (3rd male in the 50k), Heather Jackson (1st female in the 50k), Abby Levene (7th female in the 50k), Michel Poletti (Co-founder of UTMB), Elise Mordos (100k), Shannon Hataway (50k), Josh Downey (50k), and my husband, Eric Fullenbaum (50k). I also chatted briefly with Sage Canaday and Corrine Malcolm - they didn’t race but were spectating / commenting on all the action of the weekend.
I go over a few themes that I observed - the big one being related to the insane heat of the day and how it affected everyone’s nutrition strategies. The main takeaway, as always, is that there is no one best way to fuel. Not surprisingly, everyone used different products and approaches. Shoutout to all the companies these athletes mentioned, including Precision Fuel Fuel & Hydration, Spring Energy, Skratch, Naak, Never Second, GU, Maurten, and Herbalife CR7.
For the second half of the show, I go into great detail about my own race, including what the scene was like in Auburn, live clips from the trails and my finish, and of course, my nutrition before, during and after my race.
It was a fantastic weekend, and overall, I’m really pleased with how it all went. Thank you to all the athletes who let me shove my phone in their faces right after they ran to chat about performance nutrition! I hope you enjoy the episode.
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