Nutritional Revolution Podcast

Eat. Ride. Endure. Kelsey Urban's Nutrition Playbook

• Season 6 • Episode 186

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In episode #186 we chat with pro mountain biker and US National Team member, Kelsey Urban about her journey into mountain biking as a kid, to competing at the highest levels globally. We delve into her training, race strategies, and her nuanced approach to nutrition and recovery that balances performance with life enjoyment.

KEY TOPICS

  • Cross-country mountain biking events and race strategies, nutrition and fueling tactics
  • Managing recovery and sleep post-race
  • Practical tips for weather adaptation and travel between time zones
  • Insights into the mental health advocacy and growth of women in cycling
  • The evolution of sports supplements and common trends

Please note that this podcast is created strictly for educational purposes and should never be used for medical diagnosis or treatment.

ABOUT KELSEY URBAN:

Riding her mountain bike since she was a kid, Kelsey Urban has grown into one of the best cross country mountain bike riders in the country, breaking into the top 10 of the UCI World Series in 2025 and riding for the US National team in 2025 and 2026. Riding professionally since 2017, Kelsey also attended Stanford and is an advocate for mental health, athlete development and the growth of women’s cycling. 

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TIMESTAMPS:


00:00 - Introduction to Kelsey Urban’s background and career highlights

01:41 - How Kelsey got into mountain biking & her childhood influences

03:43 - Explanation of Olympic cross-country mountain biking disciplines

04:56 - Race durations and strategies for short track vs. cross-country events

06:26 - Transition from childhood biking to professional racing & team experiences

07:50 - Rise of women in cycling and team growth over years

10:07 - Kelsey’s journey through high school sports and early competitions

13:32 - Pre-race fueling strategies for short track and cross-country races

14:45 - The importance of carbohydrate loading and digestion considerations

16:41 - Balancing fats, proteins, and carbs for season-long performance

18:09 - Adjusting nutrition for hot weather and multi-day events

20:25 - Pre-race meal examples and mental preparation techniques

22:28 - Post-race recovery nutrition and hydration practices

23:28 - Managing sleep and relaxation after intense competition

26:57 - Supplements like tart cherry, magnesium—do they make a difference?

29:21 - Strategies for adapting to jet lag and time zone transitions

31:06 - Nutritional planning for race day, hydration, and race gear

42:38 - Race-day in-race nutrition and hydration routines

47:32 - Final revelations on her two truths and lie & future race plans

50:02 - How professional athletes view trends and the importance of trusting oneself

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Hello everybody and welcome back to the Nutritional Revolution podcast. Today we have for you guys Kelsey Urban and she's been riding her mountain bike since she was a kid. Kelsey Urban has grown into one of the best cross-country mountain bike riders in the country, breaking into the top 10 of the UCI World Series in 2025 and riding for the US national team in 2025 and this year, 2026. Riding professionally since 2017, almost 10 years. Kelsey has also attended Stanford as an advocate for mental health athlete development and the growth of women's cycling. So this is an awesome episode. Love learning new nuggets from Kelsey. I learned some stuff as well. So I hope you guys enjoy. Welcome back everybody. We have for you guys Kelsey Urban. Thank you so much for joining us. Yeah, thanks for having me. She's just a mere 15 minutes away from me right now, which is, I think that might be the record of like our closest guest, just over the hill. Okay, well, before we start to learn even more about you, Kelsey, I'm gonna have you break down your two truths and a lie for me in no particular order. Okay, um let's see. Let's see what I have here. I recently went on a 10K run by accident. I loved biking since I was a kid and I hate all fruit except berries. Okay. All right. the recently went on a 10k run. I kind of, I saw something on your Instagram posts that was that might be telling me that might be true. which I want to hear the story behind that too. I feel like I don't, yeah, I was going to ask you if you grew up in Marin, but you can tell us that later. Cause if you did, maybe that's Maybe you would have loved biking as a kid because there's lots of good biking here. Oh, it's all fruit. Hmm. I kind of think it's one of the last two. Maybe you change sports at some point. I'm going to go with did not love biking as a kid. Like I don't I think that's a lie. You did. You said you loved biking since a kid. I think it's a lie. We're going to find out at the end if you hit on fruit too. OK. Awesome. So for our listeners, Kelsey, why don't you tell us a little bit about your sport? What type of sport you're competing in and also around that, like what are the durations of your sport? Like how long are your races? I think it's helpful for our listeners. Okay, yeah, I'm a cross country mountain bike athlete. ah It's actually, I think the two cycling disciplines in the Olympics are cross country and road, so it's an Olympic discipline. And we have two events. One is, and the focus is kind of on the cross country. ah That's our kind of key event. And that's an hour and a half race. And how they design is it's usually about 12 minutes laps that we do over and over again. And it's designed to be um the most challenging terrain, both climbing and descending. So on a mountain bike, right? um So not only are the climbs super steep, and demanding, you go straight into also really challenging descending. ah And it's time oriented, so we just do a bunch of laps on that, and then we see where we're at. And then our other event is the short track, which is... uh when I'm racing the World Cups, which is my primary focus, that's the race that kind of determines our start position for the cross country. So the top 24 finishers are the first three rows of the cross country start. But yeah, that's a 20 minute race. But if you're familiar with road cycling, it's more kind of crit style and the laps are even shorter. They're like two minutes or so. um And we do... And it's much more positioning and group based because it's slightly less technical. So ah the group stays together a lot. So yeah, it's kind of like a positioning tactics game usually. And yeah, those are my two events. in is the at a curiosity is the short track on a completely different course than the okay is. Usually, I mean, like the ending will be, I mean, just from venue planning logistics, like the ending will be the same, know, start finish is the same as the World Cup, you know, short track or cross country, but yeah, it is a different course. cool. and for our listeners too. you do the short track to get placement and that is on is it oftentimes like a friday and then the when is the is it saturday or sunday for the yeah downhill is Saturday. yeah, that's the, watch it all on Max eh So yeah, that's our deal. Awesome, amazing. and you're coming, you were on the US national team last year and this year? Yeah, since I was a kid, since I think, I don't know, since I was like 16 or something. yeah. You're cruising, cruising along. okay. So then you kind of since you were a kid, so did we just give up one of our two truths and a lie? No, no. Okay. Okay. Cool. that's true. That's true. I, yeah, I would love to, I mean, it might, rule out one of our two truths in life, but I would love to know how, like, how did you get into cycling? Did you grow up in Marin? Grew up in Marin. um My parents were huge fans of cycling and from a I mean, now I say super early age and some people are like, I've been racing since I was three years old and that's definitely not me. ah But I was at least on the bike from a pretty early age. We had, I think. ah Four seat tandem, that was a big hit with my family. We'd go like motivation being like, you get on the tandem, you know, we can bike to ice cream. So I was like, okay, acceptable. ah Which is pretty crazy to think about. Yeah, like my whole, I have a brother, I have a brother and then both my parents obviously and all of us cruising on, cruising on the same bike, same tandem. um Yeah, and we did a few too many, just like, we'd go camping in Downeyville or something with the bikes and we did a few too many camping trips or camping rides that turned into like, you know, four hour plus days. I'm like hiking somewhere, you know, with my bike, like, you know, we don't have enough snacks. no. And man, maybe that gives it away a little bit, I was like, oh man, this is, yeah, this is this is not fun. And kudos to my parents. Like they kind of knew they overdid it. You know, it was just like a year or two period where it was like, yeah, that was a little too much. And they were like super respectful about like. We're not forcing her to ride. Like she does not need to be on the bike. And then eventually I think when I was like, know, 13 or so, and all my friends started running. I was like, I do not like running. I was like, you know, like I could do this thing I used to do. And then I started waking up early, you know, before school and going on like a little ride. And I was like, oh, this is kind of nice. Yeah, that's kind of the story. then, then I was still, still a little hesitant when I got to, when I got to high school, my parents were like, really think you should join the mountain bike team. And I was like, I don't want to join the mountain bike team, you know, everyone there is, everyone there. It's just all nerdy boys. Like, mountain biking is so uncool. And then I got there and it was like the first time. um there was a really cool group of girls on that team, like older girls who I thought were like super cool. And no, that was a really transformative experience for me because it was the first time I had friends and specifically women to ride with that really, I think made a big difference for me and feeling like, you know, I could kind of belong or see a spot for me in the sport. ah So yeah, yeah, I had a great, then that was doing the NICA program, you which is the high school racing program. And yeah, and I had great experience there. So that's kind of the, it's kind of the tale. yeah. Where did you, where'd you go to high school? Which high school? Redwood. I went to Redwood for three years and then I transferred. I did independent study my last year because then racing was starting to pick up and yeah, was focused there. That's amazing. I went to Drake now Archie and we, I'm a little bit older, but the like mountain bike team was like not, it didn't exist. Like when I, it was like just starting, I think like my senior year or something. I know. year NICA started. I don't know. But I don't think it had been around like, can't have been around like that long by the time I got there. How much, how old are you? Can I ask? look it up. Don't look it up. Amanda, edit this part out. No, I'm kidding. I'm 37. So I graduated in 2007. And I think it was like just happening the senior my senior year ish. And at least there, I don't know if it was happening at other schools sooner. But yeah, I remember. I think there's only one girl on the team. And so it was like so intimidating. yeah, I think there are like five five girls, but that felt like a lot. I mean, I'll take what I take what I can get. Yeah. seeing like there's yeah, such a like, it seems like there's definitely more like girls and women like on the team and then and just the teams have grown in size like so much too, I think. Yeah, I mean, I actually, it was really cool. Like a local guy hosted this, you know, celebration ride for me uh at the end of last season. And a bunch of, or not a bunch, but a couple girls from Nike came and it was really interesting to talk to them about their experience. Cause they were kind of saying like, yeah, you know, I was hoping like, now you're going to have like 20 girls on the team. and the growth must just be so exponential. And I was like, yeah, there's still only a couple of us. I'm still the only, one girl from Marin Academy was like, I'm still the only girl, or there's one other girl, but she doesn't come to practice that much. And it's like, okay. It's good to have an honest figure. That's not what I wanted to hear, but it's honest. yeah, shoot. Shoot, we'll get there, we'll get there. Yeah. I think I still have hope for us. for sure, for sure. Yeah, I think I hope it will grow and expand. uh think it is. absolutely think it is. It's just, think also a slow process. So. Yes, certainly. uh OK, well, let's start jumping to like XCO versus XCC. And for our listeners, uh XCO was what Kelsey was talking about, is the kind of like 90 minute duration event. XCC is the short track placement, correct? Got it. Thumbs up. I got a thumbs up from Kelsey. uh Go watch it on YouTube, people. So. Why don't you walk us through like, how do you, with the way those are lined up, short track first, XCO second, and a day or two later, basically, like, how do you think about your fueling, either like leading up to and or like during, do you fuel during short track? Like talk, walk us through that. Busy breathing. Yeah, hanging on. um Well, you know, I think kind of the common uh wisdom in cross country and especially now is like, you know, more and more carbs, you know, really this like, carbo loading phase. ah especially before Sunday, but also starting already on the key day for the car loading being Saturday for the Sunday race. And then also it being short track is a shorter effort, uh significantly shorter, but still making sure because you're probably not going to fuel at all. It's like you really want glycogen stores topped off and everything. ah And you don't want to be in a spot where you're getting depleted then for Saturday. and then behind already on Sunday. um But that being said, I've done it many times where I follow the carb count to a T. um And then at a certain point, I think I'm just getting pretty, the digestion kind of goes out the window because it's like you have no fiber. Everyone says, and I think people tolerate fiber very differently. And I think I have. probably a high tolerance. I understand that that doesn't work for everyone. But also I think something that we're kind of missing in like sports conversation at the moment is uh like, you're not, this is like popular in Ayurveda, right? It's like, it's not just that you are what you eat. You're actually like what you are able to digest. which I think is, and I think that really goes missing right now in. uh Sports prep whereas I think for me at least it's like if I'm just pounding like, you know, just rice and boiled chicken And you know, what I hate my life ah I absolutely hate my life eating becomes like the ultimate chore and to My digestion also like really stops and I stop feeling good Yeah. now I think I have more of a, you know, know the goal. The goal is to eat a lot of carbs. I'm not counting that anymore. I'm going, you know, there's definitely, it's a little bit of like, okay, I get full and then I force, force a little bit, a little bit. Light on the force. also I try and, you um like I'm not, I'm not just, I can't just eat rice and chicken, can't do it. A little sprinkle of something else, maybe some salad, maybe some veggies, some spices, uh anything with flavor, that's great. uh Yeah, that's kind of how I'm doing things. I think a lot more lax. Yeah. I think, I mean, like you said, you've been doing this for a long time, right? And I think there's something to be said for that too, with the athletes that we have on our podcasts that are, have had experience and been able to kind of, they know their body so well and have been able to test and trial so many different ways of their nutrition and eating that, yeah, you just have this kind of like innate natural feel of like, you know, what makes you feel best and perform best. Does that mean you're kind of eating like, quote unquote, like regular day meals, but you're layering in like a little bit more carbs to those. Yeah, kind of. mean, it's definitely, it's definitely, yeah, I would say yes. That's like what I'm happiest is like, you know, when I'm with a team or something, it's like, then it's like, okay, everybody wants, you know, these super, super simplified meals, except for a couple of cool people. And those people are my favorite. Not that you're not cool if you eat only low fiber really plan, I think your product can still be cool, but less cool. No, they're every Yeah, everyday meals, but yeah, not a ton of veggies, probably like a quarter size of vegetables. And um then I think everything else is... And emphasis on carbs that are really easy to break down, like potatoes, or rice, I guess. Things like that. So it's pretty, yeah, sauce. not... Some people are also really worried about fat. um I think fat is obviously a set, the other thing, the other part of this conversation, right? Is like, we're not prepping for one race a year, we're prepping for a whole season. Like I'm about to head to Europe and I'm gonna be there for seven weeks. And it's like back to back racing the whole time. I get home, I have one week off, I'm gone in three more weeks. And so it's like, think also, we have to think about the longevity of performance. Maybe you can say that you'd be better off for one weekend doing this really intense carboloading and cutting out most protein and fat. But when you think about the long-terms, even the adaptation your body is able to make after a big effort, if you've been feeling like that, I think it's greatly reduced. ah know, is an essential building block of the body, right? ah And so yeah, have, one, I enjoy my life more. And two, think there's, you know, I get the feedback over and over again. Every year, I think my takeaway is the same, which is like, the more I listen to the body, the happier my body is, the better I perform. Mm-hmm. And yeah, think that also obviously, what I'm saying now is that contributes a lot for me in terms of like eating because it's like, yeah, if I eat kind of this balanced, ah well-rounded meals, things are going better for me. Amazing. And so what would be an example of something you would eat, like the last full meal before your short track? pre-race. Well, that's yeah, I mean, that gets pretty basic. I mean, that's like pancakes with maybe some nice little toppings to keep it going. Maybe like a tiny bit of yogurt, know, maybe some Nutella. Got to mix it up, you know, um because you're eating a whole lot. And I think for me, like the anxiety, you know, I'm pretty anxious and nervous at that point. ah I have a four hour window where can eat anywhere from two to four hours. As soon as I get hungry, it's like, I just eat then because it's nothing worse than forcing when you're like, I'm not hungry at all. ah I really try and listen to the hunger cue in that window and mix it up a little bit. Rice pudding sometimes, something like that. Do you make that or do you buy that, the rice pudding? Um, sometimes someone makes it for me. That's my life. It's a beautiful thing. Yes, that is even better. So in the short track, what time of day are those at? Could they be any time of day on Friday? Oh, man. Yeah. Shoot. yeah, dude, is what it is. I usually have a nap. know, I wake up, go on a little spin, of like tell the body, like, hey, like, don't fall asleep completely today. Sometimes I watch a U23 race. You know, that's the younger category. You know, it's 20 minutes, so it's easy to watch. Do that. uh probably have a nap, eat, go back to my room and do nothing for a couple hours, eat again. At this point, I'm pretty, pretty anxious. And then finally it's like, now I can start to get ready. And I take extra long getting ready so I can get ready sooner. There's tricks to the waiting. Sometimes it goes by super fast and sometimes it's like, uh super painful. Mm-hmm. Oh man. uh And then what are you doing immediately after from a nutrition or hydration lens after that short track? getting stuff in. ah That's what we're doing. yeah, definitely shooting for like a 60 gram carbs, like almost immediately and staying really hydrated. And then dinner, that's kind of the other hard thing is you have to wind down. Your system is so amped, but you got to sleep. So you got to get in the fuel, hopefully as soon as possible. When you can eat, it's like 60 gram recovery, shower, and yeah, more. If it's hot, I'll do another electrolyte drink right away. And then, yeah, dinner and try and go to sleep. yeah. any tricks or tips for listeners who like can't sleep either after an event or the night before? Don't stress about it. Yeah, mean, I mean, I have a couple, you know, I try and have a consistent bedtime routine. That's like, yeah, no, no phone in the room. Basically, I have a watch I look at instead. You know, maybe, yeah, read a bit before bed, know, shout a nice shower. If I know I'm gonna have a hard time falling asleep, know, sometimes I'll meditate before bed and just like, you know, then it's like, okay, you know, I Maybe I'll even meditate in bed like set a timer kind of it's like, okay, you know that first 20 20 minutes like well, I was just meditating, know, I wasn't even trying to sleep like now I'm going to bed But yeah really ah I have a little device that plays like vibrations that are like soothing to the nervous system. No, what's a touch point thing? I have it. I just have it on my desk. We got sent this thing. like, it's supposed to, it's kind of supposed to be like, this is not an ad by the way. It's supposed to be like, oh gosh, there's that like therapy technique where you like hold things in your hand that are like vibrating. And then they do this like eye thing. I've totally, I'm going to mess. Do you have you heard of this? No. Let me know what you think. yeah, I actually had them on me when I was filing my taxes and I feel like it helped a lot. I did, I did. I was way less stressed when I did my taxes. But yeah, I'm totally blanking out the like clinical term of the therapy approach, but it'll come to me. It'll come to me. No, this is like, this is supposed to communicate with the vagus nerve, you know, because it's like, touches like the number one way the body is under state or is like, is communicating with the nervous system, you know, so they have different like vibrations that they say they've studied with science. They say it's scientific. It's just soothing. Yeah, it's on my wrist. ah It's just it's just like something I think, am I going to say, oh, I sleep so much better? No, but it's soothing. It's soothing and it's a part of my bedtime routine and it makes me feel good at night. So I take it. Yeah. I mean, honestly, even if something is like a placebo effect, I think there's like. Yeah. And I try and think like, okay, if I am a pretty good sleeper, but it's like, if I'm having a really hard time, it's like, yeah, it's just one night I'm getting rest. You know, I'm not gonna, not gonna get anxious about being anxious, like about not sleeping, you know, have to roll with it. I think that's so much of our job is like, you know, being adaptable to shitty, you know, it's almost never going, it's almost never like, Wow, things have just gone really well and here I am like ready to do it. It's usually like, man, I kind of feel like I've been hit by like a semi the past couple of days. Like I don't even know what's been happening. Like God, yeah, yeah. And now we're gonna, you know, do the thing. And yeah, that's our job is to figure out how to do it even despite the circumstances rather than leave. So yeah. Do you utilize tools like tart cherry or magnesium or LVN or stuff like that for sleep or? Yeah. mean, yeah, I think all that stuff is like, uh, I try to really plan ahead. You know, I usually bring like two bags, like two full grocery bags, you know, to Europe, full of food and different things and you know, like supplements and everything. by a certain point I run out. I was saying, you know, I also have to really plan ahead and like check through all the boxes. Yeah. So yeah, like if I have Tartar it's like awesome. Yeah, I'm taking magnesium. I think most days I kind of alternate my supplements and it's kind of on like some sort of long rotation that someone else manages for me, which is nice. That's not my job. Well, yeah, it's so hard to know I think. So that kind of takes the guesswork and yeah, and I guess work out. Yeah, I try to have variety. and also not stress. Like, yeah, there's some things I really like, but to be consistent, you know, there's, there's, I don't think there's very few things other than like basic lifestyle practices that are with me, you know, throughout a whole season or even like, I mean, maybe some things are a whole season, but like, you know, from season to season, like, you know, staples, it's like, that's pretty uncommon. And I think so much more of like, you know, the consistency and success comes from, comes from like, yeah, lifestyle practices and adaptability and, you know, mindfulness and things like that. So. If you've ever tried to buy creatine or electrolytes online and wondered, is this actually legit? We got a quick fix. We built a Fullscript dispensary for Nutritional Revolution listeners so you can shop trusted professional grade supplements that ship direct from the manufacturer, no random third party sellers, no sketchy storage. You'll find brands we use with our athletes all the time like Thorne Klean Athlete, Nordic Naturals, Pure Encapsulations, Designs for Health, Designs for Sport, et cetera, and a ton of NSF certified for sport options. Everyone gets 20 % off always, and during promos you can get up to as much as 35 % off, and it's free to create an account. If you set up AutoShip, you'll get an additional 5 % off. Just open up the show notes and tap the full script link to get started. Yeah, certainly. Talking about the sleep piece, how do you, do you have like, you're talking about going to Europe, right? Like how do you adapt to the time zone? Do you try and get there so many days ahead of your first event? I now try and get there like a full week before I'm racing. Which, you know, I've done it a bunch of times. And again, it's like, yeah, I can I race jet lag, like, absolutely. I think it's pretty stressful on my body. So I really like to have like, you know, like a week. And yeah, when I'm when I'm home, you know, so if I'm going to Europe, it's like the week or so before I leave, you know, it's like, definitely am mindful about being on like a pretty early schedule. I do like kind of circadian rhythm style walks where it's like first thing, you know, eat a little snack and go out and it's nice. have a dog, I take the dog out walking. And we're out there, yeah, for sunrise or something. It's like, oh, okay, like this is nice. And I notice a big difference specifically with that light exposure when I go to Europe. And that's the other thing, when I get to Europe, it's like. Yeah, first thing in the morning, you know, I'm, when it's like first thing in the morning, go like sit, sit outside, bring a jacket if it's cold, like get, get like straight morning light and not through a window. If I'm really, if I'm really on my stuff, I'll go barefoot for a little bit. put my feet on the dirt. and know that the first three nights are, I'm going to be not sleeping the way I like to sleep. I mean, sometimes it's different every time, but Mm-hmm. think after three full nights, I'm usually completely good, but I kind of need those first three nights to like, that's kind of my rule of thumb. Yeah, I like that. think that's, that is super helpful. So then, okay. So we talked a little bit about sleep. We finished up our short track kind of like recovery into the next day, the Saturday, the higher kind of carb day. are you doing anything differently? Like the night before, are you still trying to kind of like eat early, get to bed early on Saturday and prep for Sunday or. yeah, usually. mean, I mean, yeah, yeah, I like to be on an early schedule. I feel best when I'm on an early schedule. Is there anything else I'm doing that day? Nope. just getting the carbs in and eating some real food. Do you, on the short track and kind of, do you utilize bicarb or anything like that for those efforts? for cross country, not twice in one weekend usually. Yeah, yeah, I think, You get a lot of water retention. It's kind of brutal on the system. Have I messed around with it a bunch? No, I think everyone's water retention is different. But that's okay for me, only to hit the bike cart once a weekend. That's acceptable. I'm not pushing. Also, I I like the... I race with bicarb on Sunday. ah But it's also, like that feeling of the bicarb is useful, but it also is kind of like numbing. ah mean, that's what it's supposed to do, right? And so it's like, don't mind racing actually. Like I kind of go back and forth on whether I like it, ah or at least I like doing the short track without it because it's like, feels like the system is like really clear. Like I really have. ah direct sensation feedback, whereas sometimes with the bicarb, it's like harder to tell. It's like, was I feeling good or was I just not really feeling like as much, you know? It's, yeah, so. And what form of bicarb are you using? I am using the Martin by Carp. That's pretty easy. Yeah. Yeah, that's as easy as it gets, I think. Someone told me did they come out with a bike or bar? Martin? I think they're coming out with certain, I they're doing some bicarb stuff. Yeah, yeah, I think they have some other bicarb, bicarb drink? Yeah, maybe, I don't know. Yeah. Interesting. Cool. ah And what have you found for you is like the best timing for your bicarb? Because I know in the literature it is vast of like when it peaks in your system. I'm usually doing that like on the way to my, you if I'm driving, it's like usually I'm eating it in the car on the way to the warmup. So I think that would be like, I think I'm usually like hour and a half hour out. I had some puking last year. Well, that was because I was taking it because, you I was taking it with, I don't know if you're familiar with like Plasmaide If anyone takes uh Plasmaide, don't. No, it's like pine tar. It's like for blood plasma. Also, I really like it. But if you take it together, I almost never puke. And I puked. think I had to really, I had to really get the timing down because like before two World Cups last year, I was puking and I was like, man, this is not. I think that's also a testament like, you know, rice went fine. It's you know, it's fine. Just do the thing. Don't stress. Just move on. But it's definitely not a good feeling to be like, well, I just puked my guts out and five minutes later I am on the start line. God, I feel really weird. Yeah. So now I take the Plasmaide earlier, earlier in the morning, like with my pre-race meal. Yeah. And I mean, that's kind of, you know, to earlier conversation, it's like... The first time that happened, I was kind of looking, had to lay it out on my supplements. That's like Plasme, the bicarb, run gum for caffeine for my warm up. What else would I had? Like a gel, yeah, gel also for my warm up. Probably my normal morning supplement. I'm kind of looking at the pile and I'm like, it's kind of a lot to be dumping in the body. Yeah. And yeah, yeah. And then it's like, oh yeah, now I'm puking. Like, you know, the system is already so sensitive. And yeah, and in that case, it's like, I'm actually not taking anything out. just, I'm just playing with the timing a bit. But it's so easy, I think, to have all these things stack up. And at a certain point, it's like, there's no way, I mean, I don't, I don't, I don't think that's actually, you know, the difference in your performance, I think. I mean, maybe it makes you feel good. like you're checking all the boxes and that's also valuable, I'm all for like simplicity, through and through like simplicity, minimalism, like repeatability. Yeah, so. Yeah, it is, it is a tricky spot. I would imagine like in your space because there's all these other competitors doing these things that might be that like, you know, 1 % advantage or the, you know, sprint finish enhancer or It's trickier maybe to be an amateur because then you think like all these people are doing. Maybe a lot of my competitors would disagree with me. I mean, think we have to have so much trust in what we're doing. And as you said, we also have the experience and the feeling. I think at this point, it's like I've been around in sport long enough to see a lot of trends come and go. For example, pre-Bicarb I think we were using I don't know if you remember, it's like this amp lotion. It was like called like AMP. Yeah, and we're like, like you can absorb bicarb right like through your skin. And it was like disgusting and thick and like literally like the worst texture like on the planet. And it's like, yeah, we were doing all that. And I was like, yeah, I really feel this. Which I mean, maybe I did. I'm not saying I didn't. But I mean, now I think the research, I'm pretty sure the research would say like, there's no way you could absorb. that enough of that through your skin to make a difference. And so it's like, think we've seen enough trends come and go. And I think, yeah, the lasting things are very consistent, which is like, yeah, do what makes you feel good. Don't, you know, if you have the feeling you're really forcing something, you're probably doing something wrong. Like, I mean, I really try not to force. mean, I'm learning that again, I've learned that lesson all the time. Like stop forcing. Like usually I know when something's off and there's a lot of times I do it anyways. And then later I'm like, yep. That was off. ah But I think for an amateur or someone at a slightly ah not the professional level, I think that would be really overwhelming because you have this inundation of marketing and also pros advertising a certain thing. And I think the market would feel kind of oversaturated and never ending. For me, it's like these hacks, all these hacks or tips and tricks, it's like... Again, not saying no, I'm not saying they don't work. I'm just saying there's only so many of them that you can actually implement. And I think you should trust the feedback, like the feedback and you know, these, example, like there's so many recovery tools and it's like all awesome. Like I'm not saying like, oh, they suck, but also like what's like the number one thing like for your recovery. It's like sleep. It's probably like chilling out. I'm not cussing there. The more time I spend in sport, the more I'm like, would it be better if I spend my one hour of chill time rolling and massage gun and doing all these things and doing the special recovery yoga and da-da-da? Or would it be better to sit on the couch and relax? And it's probably like, sit on the couch. you know, for my nervous system, you know, for everything just to have that decompression time. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. I think you're spot on. It's a there's there people aren't nailing the basics first and they're trying to layer in. go anywhere into all these like tiny little things, it's better make sure your basics are really good. And a lot of times I look at my basics, I'm like, they still have room for improvement. You know, no matter how mindful I am, my job is definitely the basics, but it's like, there's a lot. Basics aren't that basic it turns out. Yes. Well, I think that's I mean, I think that's important for myself and listeners to hear that like a professional cyclist is like you're even saying like, why check myself in my basics sometimes aren't even and then you think of someone who's trying to do this, like, you know, maybe they're starting out, maybe they're more competitive, but then they're, you know, working a full time job and they got a couple of kids and it's like, how are you going to nail? for sure. Well, even like eating like it's like a lot of times. Yeah, it's like, what am I even eating my meals at consistent times? Am I eating when I'm hungry? or am I you know, usually it's like, if I'm really busy, it's pretty easy. But I was hungry like two hours ago, like I was starving. I felt like I was and then I just got busy and I kind of forgot. It's like, you know, you know, just like, life happened. Like, you know, I didn't bring a snack. I should have brought a snack. A big snack packer love. Love a packed snack. ah Yeah, yeah, no, I know for sure that's like one of the main things for me. It's like, yeah, thinking through, you know, if I'm going to leave the house for a couple hours, it's like, yeah, do I have my electrolyte mix, you know, something to drink, something to sip on and like uh at least one good snack, like maybe two. Depends how long I'm gone for. Maybe a meal. I'm a big meal packer on the go. You know, and that I think is like. I mean, that's a really good example of the basics. It's like, yeah, can I eat at consistent times? Can I nourish my body when it asks for fuel uh and honor those hunger cues? that is really important for me. Yeah, I mean, prepared. think that's a hard thing for a lot of people to like prep and be prepared and have stuff on hand and kind of like think ahead like that. But it does take away a lot of the stress and like missing those opportunities, right? If you have things available that you know you can like grab and go that give you what you need or you have leftovers from dinner. And that's something I really work on too. It's like, as opposed to like the supplements and like all these, you know, like, it's like, yeah, I really try to have like whole foods, like not packaged, you know, and then obviously that's not all the time, but it's like, yeah, you know, for, yeah, something, something homemade, whole foods, uh, all that stuff. And it's like, I think that's probably better than, you know, if I'm eating a protein bar with like, you know, a bunch of added supplements. It's like, okay, yeah, we're taking these supplements, but it's like, yeah, you know, nothing, nothing, nothing. The basics of Whole Foods, you know, hard to beat. Yeah, yeah, there is. Yeah. Yeah. all put together and there's a purpose like how the nutrients are being delivered and everything. thinking ahead. uh Okay, really quickly, what are you consuming during em Sunday's race? Like or in hydration, what do you like to consume? Well, theoretically, you should be topped off going into cross country. People say you could race that whole race without any nutrition. I don't think anyone would recommend that. but that also takes, I think, a lot of pressure off because it's like, OK, I didn't carb a load for nothing like. um Because it's only an hour and a half, right? think these longer endurance races, it becomes so much more essential. ah But yeah, for an hour and a half, it's like, yeah, you should. I think that's kind of, I don't know, but I'm pretty sure that's about the longest duration you could do without, before you tap, before you need to be refilling those glycogen stores, right? But for me, it's like, okay, I have the bicarb. you know, right before the race, that's also an hour, hour and a half out. You know, that's another additional 40 grams, right? the way Maurten delivering that. And then usually I have, you know, and then I'm sipping like 20, you know, all my warmup, I'm sipping like a bottle, like 20 grams of carbs. I'm not getting through all of that unless it's like really hot. Uh, and then I start with another bottle. I have a gel on the start line normally, you know, that's something that's a small detail that like, uh, I've worked on with my coach. It's like, you just need to swish, swish something high carb in your mouth. Hopefully swallow. If you don't swallow, it's okay. yeah, I'm usually not finishing a whole gel. That's usually like about half because I'm just like, like, and yeah, that again, like I'm pretty topped off at that point. and then I have, you know, in my bottles, I'm basically, I think, you know, uh, 130 divided by six. is that? Yeah, I have about six bottles and five to seven bottles depending on the race and they probably have, yeah, anywhere from 20 to 30 grams in them. And those bottles are, again, depends a lot on the weather. And that's a mix of like, yeah, I mean, that's high carb drink mix with electrolytes basically. And then two laps ago, I get my Coke. And that's always like a... That's not for nutritional benefit. I mean, that's because it's like, I'm almost at the end of my race. Yay. And then I also uh know the lap count by then because I'm bad at counting. it's also like a little signal. I can be sure two laps to go. ah That's my treat. That's my treat for getting that far. So yeah. bottles, you said five to six bottles, but those aren't full bottles, right? Like they're handing them to me to just like get some. no. are quarter, quarter, know, usually, usually I would say a third, but you anywhere from a quarter to half to three quarters if it's really hot. And I'm not, I'm not finishing. The thing is, is that, you know, it's like, I'm shooting for like, I think around 130 grams, like usually not including the Coke, right. Uh, which is another, and you know, that's a little hot, you know, my, my target now for, know, high intensity interval training. or actually, just any training mostly is really that 90 to 100 grams. But in the race, it's like, okay, I'm shooting for 130. I mixed 130 and then also with the Coke, is another 20 or something. I know I'm not finishing off that, right? So it's kind of this hard calculation because it's like, am I going to feed some every lap? No, I finishing what's in the, you know, or yeah, am I finishing what's in the bottle? Even if I go in the feed zone, I'm not finishing what's in the bottle for sure not, right? So it's kind of this, yeah, balance of like, let me overestimate a little bit knowing that I won't get through all of it. And sometimes it's like, yeah, man, really didn't. I I was thinking about the World Cup this past weekend and I was like, I think I went to the feed zone twice. Like I think I drank two, like, which is, I'm not recommending. Yeah. just saying sometimes shit happens and yeah, and it's like, okay. I missed that target and I ah a little empty by the end of that race. was like, yeah, yeah. That's just how it goes. I want to be mindful of your time. So I'm going to jump back to your two truths and a lie Let's see. You said you recently went on a 10K run by accident. You loved biking since a kid and that you hate all fruit except berries. I thought the love biking since a kid was a lie. Is that right? Yep, you're right. I have to be better at lying. That's my takeaway. I thought it was that one or the fruit. So you do like all fruit it sounds like. Wait, no, that's true. I said I hate all fruit. Yeah, and I was like, no, I messed up. Okay, not all fruit, but it's a texture thing. I'm not a big, like berries, yeah. The texture really gets me, you know? Like it can be blended up, it can be distorted and then it can work for me, but yeah. uh Okay. Well, what's coming down? What's next for you on the race calendar? What's coming up? Oh, big one, big block. Yeah. We just got back from the South Korea on Monday. That's the first World Cup opener of the season. And now I'm home, you know, kind of a hard calculation. Do I come home? Do I go straight to Europe? Came home. Two weekends off and and then Novo Mesto World Cup and then yeah, another two weekends off. And then I think we're racing, you know, almost like five World Cups in the next couple of weeks. It's really the season they took off. The season started a little later and ends a little earlier, but we do the same amount of racing. So it means it's like pretty full throttle starting now. ah Like almost no, think I'll be like, four weeks at home pretty much like till September. So yeah, it's really busy. that is packed. Goodness, is this the first year they're doing it that compact? Well, last year they added, I think, two World Cups. But then it was a longer, it was just longer. was actually, last year I thought it was crazy because it was like the same amount of, I think it was like the same dates, but with two more in it. And then this year, same amount of racing, but they took away, I think like two or three weeks. ah So yeah, it's definitely, this is definitely like a new ah season style kind of for us. Wow. yeah, it's interesting. It's a new and some ways it's working better, I think, for the North Americans. I will see. Ask me how I feel at end of the season. But a lot of times, you know, what's really awkward for us as North Americans is we go over there and then it's like, yeah, kind of like the worst is like, you know, two weeks off or three weeks off. You you do a World Cup, you have three weekends off and you have another like three World Cups and you have another two weeks off. And it's like, Do I go home? Do I stay here? It's kind of too short to go home because you're acclimated and everything. But it's also like ends up being like, you know, you're gone. I'm gone, you know, 10 weeks, 10 weeks and then another, you know, four or five and you're up, you know, and it's like that gets to feel really long. And all the Europeans are at home living their best lives. That's like, man. But yeah, so I think I think it can work better to have it be condensed because there's less of those blocks, basically. ah Yeah. Cool. Well, where can our listeners find you, follow you? um I'm not super active on the socials, but I'm on Instagram @kelseyurban yeah, cool. this has been super informative and fun. Thank you so much, Kelsey, for joining us. Yay.

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Kyla Channell, MS

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