Nutrition chat with Sally

As a coach we often get asked nutritional questions. I can speak from my experience and what I have seen or being advised. However, being a physiotherapist, I know that I'm not qualified to provide specific advice. I reached out to a very experienced Advanced Sports Dietition and Exercise Physiologist who I have experienced first hand her advice whilst I was on a scholarship many years ago with the Australian Sports Commission, Sally Anderson. Keep reading to see what advice she has about some of those common questions.

Hi Sal, can you tell me a little about yourself?

I’m an Advanced Sports Dietitian & Exercise Physiologist. I’m also a Credentialed Eating Disorder Clinician - this means I’ve done additional training in this space, and regularly receive supervision with colleagues, to make sure I’m providing the best care possible. All these qualifications are part of why Lee reached out to me, however I’m also a mum (to humans and animals!), a gym enthusiast, cyclist, an ex-triathlete and lightweight rower. I do not love drinking water, so my fluid needs are pretty much solely fulfilled by coffee, tea, vegetables + salad. If I’m in a period of heavier endurance training, okay I drink water, but geez I find it a punish!

Do you eat before a training session? If so, what should you eat and how long before?

Yes, pretty much this is the rule. It would be the exception that I wouldn’t. Most mornings start with a thick slice of chunky fruit sourdough toast (this the door-stopper type you get from the markets) and a strong coffee.

Asor how long before, if we are talking a pre-training snack, then the window is 15-60mins before hand. The window is there for 3 reasons… gut tolerance while running, preferred food, and sleep desires! Let’s address these in reverse.

(i) SLEEP! if you value your sleep, you’ll want as much as possible, and not wake up early just to get a bowl of oats in. This means you’ll likely need something really easy to digest - think bananas, grapes or pikelets w jam. If you’re an early bird, then you can afford to have something a more complex, such as my preferred chunky fruit sourdough. You’ll note these foods are all carbohydrate-dominant foods... this is because it’s what your muscles need to fuel a training session. Protein is doing nothing for you before a training session (protein’s job is more in repair), and protein is more difficult to digest…increasing the likelihood of gut troubles in your run.

(ii) PREFERRED FOOD - in the carb-dominant realm, you can choose from simple or complex carb foods. The easiest way to think which is which, is that sweet foods are your simple carbs - fruits, honey, jam. The ones that are more bland are your complex carbs - think oats, muesli bar, toast. 

(iii) GUT TOLERANCE - if you aren’t in the habit of eating before a training session - it’s a good idea to start with the simple, and progress to more complex carbs (if time and preference permits). Think of it as training your gut. Start small (simple carbs), and work up to the harder stuff (complex carbs). If you can’t tolerate solid food, then juice is also a simple carb, and I’d best describe it as a virtually-nothing-to-digest option

What is the optimal window to refuel post a session? And what would be best to have if you don't have time to eat a proper meal. 

I use my next meal as my recovery nutrition - as a well-designed meal can tick the box of recovery nutrition. I like this to be a combo of protein (repair) and carbohydrate (refuel). IRL this looks like muesli, high-protein yoghurt & blueberries OR eggs on a dense grainy toast. If I know I’m going to be tight for time, I make overnight oats, or Tiramisu overnight Weet-bix (let me know if you want the recipe… it’s an Apple to Zucchini original, and will be served to our Aussie Olympians in Paris). In terms of timing - if you need to back up in the day (i.e. train again at night after a session in the morning) or you trained late and need to back up the next day, I like athletes to get their recovery meal in, within 1hr of finishing training. If you have 24hrs to recover though (i.e. your life routine sees you being an early AM or a PM trainer) then I’m much less worried about a “window” and so long as a decent meal can be had within 2hrs, then that’s perfectly fine. If not, then sure, put in a recovery snack. High-protein flavoured milks work well here - like a Rokeby Farms Smoothie, or Oak Plus. Yes, you could also do a protein shake, but I like that in the milks, you get a really decent dose of calcium along with it, and it’s also essentially more of a “whole” food. Protein powder is better than nothing though, so it’s not as though I’m against them.

During long runs, how often should I eat something? What kind of things should I consume? 

Wow, okay, let me break this down

Q: During your long runs, should you eat: A: yes, if you care about getting the most out of your performance. 

Q: During long runs, how much do I need? A: It depends. For the sake of simplicity, and covering most of your readers, let’s stick with half-marathon type distance. So for runs up to 2-3hrs, the suggestion is to consume 30-60g/hr. Note this is VERY general advice, and if you are working with an Accredited Sports Dietitian that knows their stuff in the endurance space, and they also know you and your goals - please listen to them! The beauty about sticks in this 30-60g space, is that guts are generally pretty okay with it, so long as you start low (can be as low as 15g/hr) and then work up to the higher amount. 

Q: How often should I eat? A: Guts do better when you start early in the run. Muscles will have the fuel available to them, if you start earlier also. Above I”ve referred to “per hour” recommendations, but you can split this up over the hour if it’s feasible to do so. Splitting up a gel can get messy, so if you are shooting for a lower amount of carb per hour, and you feel better having it split up, then using jelly lollies can make this easier (and IMO… more enjoyable!) If you are shooting for higher g/hr of carbs, and you don’t love chewing while running, then using gels as your carb hits, can make this easy.

Q: Gels… do I HAVE to use them?? A: Absolutely not. They are expensive, HOWEVER, they are a “sports food” for a reason… minimal chewing for maximal carbohydrate delivery. If you can chew and run at the same time though… lollies will do just fine. Any lollies (think pineapples, killer pythons, jellybeans you get from the pharmacy…) just check the label to see how many of them you need to get the amount of carb you want. On the whole food front - you could use dates, or other dried fruit, but if your gut doesn’t love fibre while running, this might not be the best idea. Always test before a race! Plus, it is REALLY important if you want to shoot for the higher g/carb per hour, that you train your gut up to this amount, in training. 

Everyone talks about carb loading before a race. What do you suggest to eat the night before?

The idea in carb-loading, is to get more glycogen stored in your muscles, for use on the big day. This can be achieved by:

a) tapering training, or

b) eating more carbs, or

c) a combination of a & b

Downloading a “carbo loading plan” off the inter web often sees athletes deviating HUGELY from their usual intake, and I wouldn’t recommend it. The stories I hear from athletes doing this say they feel sluggish, heavy etc etc.. and that’s likely because it was MORE carb than what they needed. Instead I like to think of adding in “bakery stops” so - on the few days before your race, pull into a bakery, and grab something carb dense (e.g. scone, fruit scroll) and have it alongside your normal food. Combine this with a carb-dominant dinner (e.g. risotto, pasta) the nigh before the race, and you’re going to have achieved a carb-load of sorts. Trial that one race, and then if you feel you can go harder next race, then trial that. I’m a fan of starting gradual with these things, and not deviating too far from your usual preferred foods.

Sal, thanks again for your time and sharing your expertise.

If you want to find out more information or would like to make an appointment to get some indivudalised advice, get in touch with Sal and her team. All practitioners are able to do telehealth sessions and regularly do this for athlete's interstate and overseas.

Oh, and don't worry we did ask for the recipe for the delicious sounding Tiramisu Overnight Weet-bix, get in touch with Running Evolution if you would like the recipe!

Website: https://www.appletozucchini.com.au

Phone: 07 3891 2000