The Eat for Endurance Podcast

Want to get in touch? Send Claire a message!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.And if you do, PLEASE show your support by subscribing to the show, sharing it with friends, and leaving a rating / review wherever you listen to your podcasts. I need your help to keep this show going!Announcements:Photo Credit: Will MatthewsMusic Credit: Joseph McDadeHave nutrition questions, a guest or topic request, or any other feedback? Email me - eatforendurance@gmail.com.Disclaimer – all information provided is for educational and entertainment purposes only and is in no way meant to replace individual medical and nutrition recommendationsSupport the showThanks for listening! Follow me on Instagram and Facebook (@eatforendurance).

Want to get in touch? Send Claire a message!Welcome to Episode 63 of the Eat for Endurance Podcast, featuring professional distance runner Stephanie Bruce. I’ve been a big fan of Steph’s for many years. I deeply admire how candid and open she is about her professional and personal experiences, whether it’s about race performances, her postpartum body, losing her mother to cancer, daily life with her husband and two young boys, navigating life with celiac disease and other food allergies, or her congenital heart condition. She puts it all out there and in doing so, she inspires so many others on their own journeys.For anyone not familiar with Steph, she lives with her family in Flagstaff, AZ and runs for the HOKA NAZ elite team. She has been running professionally for over 12 years, and has placed 10th at NYC Marathon, 10th at the London marathon, 6th at Chicago and 12th at Boston. And she’s not shy about telling you that she wants to win! She won her first national title at the 2018 Peachtree Road Race and her third title at age 38 in 2022. She’s currently pregnant with her third child, but she’s ready to get back at it afterwards. We cover so much in this episode, including:How her current pregnancy is goingThe evolution of her diet as she became a collegiate and pro runnerHer long history of GI and other fueling issuesHow she optimized her iron, B12 and folate statusWhat a typical day of eating looks like, and all her race nutrition favsCo-founding energy bar company, Picky BarsBody imageHer BAVD diagnosisProfessional goals post-pregnancyThank you Steph for spending time with me on the show and for sharing your nutrition story! Links & Resources:Steph’s Website: https://www.stephbruce.com/Follow Steph on Instagram, Facebook, and TwitterOther Announcements:Please show your support by leaving a rating and/or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcastsMusic Credit: Joseph McDadeHave nutrition questions, a guest or topic request, or any other feedback? Email me - eatforendurance@gmail.com.Disclaimer – all information provided is for educational and entertainment purposes only and is in no way meant to replace individual medical and nutrition recommendationsSupport the showThanks for listening! Follow me on Instagram and Facebook (@eatforendurance).

Want to get in touch? Send Claire a message!Welcome to Episode 62 of the Eat for Endurance Podcast, featuring recreational ultrarunner, Elise Mordos. Elise is a New Yorker, born and raised, who works in finance and moved to Boulder, CO during the pandemic for a change of lifestyle. She started running in 2013, and has since run dozens of road marathons and ultras, including the Western States 100. Trail ultras are her main focus these days, and it turns out she’ll be running the Canyons 100k at the end of April, the same race I’m doing (but double the distance)! Elise has had her share of nutrition struggles. We cover some of the challenges she has faced with her everyday nutrition, especially relating to her Ferritin and B12 levels and how she got them up with the help of a dietitian. We also dive into all the work she has done on her performance nutrition, and what types of nutrition strategies work well for her during long runs and races.  In case you’re wondering how I know Elise, I actually spoke to her for the first time in this episode! She reached out to me a couple years ago, suggesting that her good friend and pro-runner Hillary Allen come on the show - that’s episode 41 if you’d like to give it a listen - and we followed each other on Instagram ever since. When another podcast interview got rescheduled at the last minute, and I found out Elise was going to be at Canyons, I invited her to come on the show! I have been meaning to reinstate my recreational athlete nutrition profile series for ages, and I knew she'd be a great guest to get that going again. What resulted was an episode that is part interview, part chit chat. We ended up going on more than a few tangents - about NYC food, training for ultras while living in NYC, my fear of all the river crossings in our upcoming race, and so much more. Thanks Elise for stepping in at the last minute and helping me get an episode out this week! I had so much fun chatting with you.I’d love to keep this series going, so if you have an interesting nutrition story to share and you’d like to be on my show, send me an email or DM on Instagram about yourself! I’d love to hear from you. Lastly - please help me grow this show so I can keep it going! I'm really trying to stick to two episodes a month, but in order to do so, I eventually need to bring in some sponsors to offset some costs. So if you're enjoying all these episodes, be sure to subscribe if you haven’t already,  please share my show with your friends, and rate/review the show wherever you listen to your podcasts. I truly appreciate your support!Other Announcements:Music Credit: Joseph McDadeHave nutrition questions, a guest or topic request, or any other feedback? Email me - eatforendurance@gmail.com.Disclaimer – all information provided is for educational and entertainment purposes only and is in no way meant to replace individual medical and nutrition recommendationsSupport the showThanks for listening! Follow me on Instagram and Facebook (@eatforendurance).

Want to get in touch? Send Claire a message!Welcome to Episode 61 of the Eat for Endurance Podcast! My guest today is Sarah Currie (MS RD CDN), a Registered Dietitian, personal trainer, triathlon coach, and co-partner of Physical Equilibrium, a boutique gym based in Midtown Manhattan. She is passionate about helping clients get strong and lean through proper strength training and nutrition strategies, and that is our topic for this episode.Sarah began lifting weights in high school, and learned to power lift while competing as a short sprinter for her collegiate track and field team. Post-college she competed in numerous endurance events, but then shifted her sights from endurance training to body building. She is an avid weight lifter and has participated in local figure competitions on stage. (Fun fact - Sarah and I have known each other for 11 years, and I actually watched her on stage at her first figure competition back in 2016!)Before listening, a disclaimer: I discourage you from placing TOO much importance on weight and/or body comp for improved performance. Yes they are factors in performance, but so are many other things. The last thing we want is an under-fueled athlete, or one who ends up struggling with disordered eating or an eating disorder.  Thus, I usually do not recommend INTENTIONALLY trying to manipulate weight or body comp during a training cycle. Body changes may or may not occur as a result of training, but fueling adequately to match training volume should be the top priority to perform well and minimize risk of injury and illness. Please listen with that in mind.Second - obviously no one NEEDS to achieve a certain weight or body comp to be an athlete or do well in their sport. Sarah works with personal training clients who come to her specifically wanting to get strong and lean. There definitely is a place for this type of work, when it is deemed to be a safe and appropriate goal for an active individual (i.e. NOT in people with disordered eating or eating disorders). If you might be triggered by discussions surrounding weight and body comp, please protect yourself and skip this episode. Lastly, I acknowledge that some people are seeking these changes largely for aesthetic reasons. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with wanting to look and feel "fit," however you define that for yourself. The problem is that tricky, diet-culture related stuff often is swirling around in there too, which can lead to harmful thoughts or behaviors surrounding food, potentially impacting physical and/or mental health. Please look after yourself and question if these types of goals are appropriate for you.Thank you Sarah for chatting with me in what was a very long overdue podcast episode together! I hope you all enjoy our discussion, and I welcome your feedback.Learn more about Sarah currie and Physical Equilibrium:Physical Equilibrium’s Website: https://www.physeq.com/@Physeq on Instagram and Physical Equilibrium FacebookOther AnnouncementsAll information provided is for educational and entertainment purposes only and is in no way meant to replace individual medical and nutrition recommendations.Please show your support by leaving a rating and/or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcastsMusic Credit: Joseph McDadeHave nutrition questions, a guest or topic request, or anSupport the showThanks for listening! Follow me on Instagram and Facebook (@eatforendurance).

Want to get in touch? Send Claire a message!Welcome to Episode 60 of the Eat for Endurance podcast! Today, I’m joined by John Kelly, an elite ultrarunner, engineer, and father of four, who somehow finds time to push the limits of human endurance while balancing work and family life.John is perhaps best known as one of the few finishers of the infamous Barkley Marathons. In 2017, he became only the 15th person in history to complete all five loops of this brutal race. Fast forward to this week’s 2023 Barkley Marathons, where John made history once again by becoming the third athlete ever to finish the race twice. (And in case you’re wondering, we recorded this episode on February 23rd - pure coincidence that it’s dropping right after this year’s race!)But John’s achievements go far beyond Barkley. His endurance resume is staggering:Ironman & Road Racing: Two-time Ironman Age Group Champion, multiple Kona finishes, and a blazing-fast 2:26 marathon at CIM.UK Adventures: 2020 Spine Race winner, holder of a legendary Pennine Way FKT, and the first to complete The Grand Round (linking the UK’s three big fell running rounds, with biking in between).Mountain Ultras: 10th place at the 2022 Hardrock 100 and countless other grueling races.Oh, and did I mention he has a full-time job and four kids? So, you know... not busy at all!In this episode, we dive into all things nutrition, from how John fuels for insane endurance feats to his favorite go-to foods (spoiler: Little Debbie cakes may or may not make an appearance). Whether you’re a die-hard Barkley Marathons fan or just love hearing how top athletes eat, you won’t want to miss this conversation.Thanks, John, for sharing your story, and a huge congrats on your second Barkley finish! Now, time for some well-earned rest (or as much as you can get with four kids) and plenty of post-race treats. Links & Resources:John's Website: https://www.randomforestrunner.com/Follow on InstagramA documentary on John's completion of "The Grand Round"Announcements:Please subscribe to and rate/review the show if you have a minute!If you can afford to donate a few bucks to help support the show financially, please visit my Patreon pageYou can also support me by visiting my Amazon storefront  Have nutrition questions, a guest or topic request, or any other feedback? Email me - claire@eatforendurance.com.Music Credit: Joseph McDade; Photo credit: Howie SternDisclaimer – all information provided is for educational and entertainment purposes only and is in no way meant to replace individual medical and nutrition recommendations. If you'd like to work with me for individualized nutrition support, please reach out!Support the showThanks for listening! Follow me on Instagram and Facebook (@eatforendurance).

Want to get in touch? Send Claire a message!Welcome to episode 59 of the Eat for Endurance podcast! Today, I am welcoming fellow sports dietitian Jill Merkel, MS RD CSSD onto the show. Jill is an anti-diet, weight-inclusive Registered Dietitian, Certified Intuitive Eating Counselor, and a runner. Jill has worked in a variety of collegiate sport settings, and was the Team Sports Dietitian for the NFL Tennessee Titans for five seasons (2017-2021). She now has a private practice specializing in body image, chronic dieting, disordered eating, and sports nutrition.Jill is passionate about Intuitive Eating and anti-diet nutrition for athletes, which is the main topic of our discussion today. Within this framework, we cover a large number of key sports nutrition topics, including:What is intuitive eating and anti-diet nutrition, and how do these definitions differ when applied specifically to the athlete population?How do we handle the topics of weight and body composition in athletes and esp in sports like running, cycling, etc, from an intuitive eating standpoint?How do we guide athletes to eat adequately, and as a result, avoid chronic underfueling and eventually RED-S, using intuitive eating principles?Jill’s experience as an intuitive eating dietitian while also the Team Sports Dietitian for the NFL Tennessee TitansAssessing a hypothetical client and how we would address her nutrition, training and health challengesMaintaining a healthy iron status / FerritinGI issues especially as they relate to underfuelingThank you Jill for a great discussion on so many important topics! I hope you all enjoy our episode together.Links : Jill’s Website: https://jillmerkelrd.com/ Follow Jill on InstagramOther Announcements: Please show your support by leaving a rating and/or review on Apple Podcasts  Music Credit: Joseph McDadeHave nutrition questions, a guest or topic request, or any other feedback? Email me - eatforendurance@gmail.com.Disclaimer – all information provided is for educational and entertainment purposes only and is in no way meant to replace individual medical and nutrition recommendationsSupport the showThanks for listening! Follow me on Instagram and Facebook (@eatforendurance).

Want to get in touch? Send Claire a message!Welcome to Episode 58 of the Eat for Endurance Podcast! My guest today is Line Thams, a professional middle distance triathlete from Denmark who also holds a PhD in Sports Science. Line’s athletic journey has been far from straightforward. She is a self-proclaimed “nerd” who had an intense fear of water and little interest in sports throughout much of her young life. She eventually forced herself to learn to swim as a teenager, and subsequently became an elite swimmer and triathlete. In her first IRONMAN 70.3 race, she qualified for the IM 70.3 World Championships and finished 19th at the Worlds a month later. She is a 5 time Danish Triathlon champion as well as the 2022 World Duathlon Champs silver medalist, with many other podiums under her belt. Recently, Line has been recovering from a major knee injury, right after finishing her PhD and finally being ready to go all in on her professional athletic career. This isn’t her first set back with injury; she suffered a serious bike crash back in 2020 resulting in major facial injuries and not being able to eat solid foods for 8 weeks due to her jaw being wired. Additionally, her Mom suffered from a stroke and was in a coma for sixth months, and not long after that, her partner was diagnosed with cancer. Line has persisted through all of these incredibly difficult situations, and remains committed to discovering her athletic potential. She continues to rehab her running injury, is training hard on the bike and in the pool, and has an exciting career ahead of her. I loved getting to know her and hearing her nutrition story. She offered some great insights into how she fuels her training and competitions, as well as how she handles stress, recovery, and much more.Line - best of luck with your recovery, and thank you for inspiring us with your determination as well as your positive attitude! Links & Resources:Line’s Website: http://linethams.com/Follow on InstagramIf you’re interested in trying Precision Fuel & Hydration’s products, here’s a link for 15% off your order: https://visit.pfandh.com/eatforenduranceOther Announcements:Please show your support by leaving a rating and/or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you enjoy listening to podcastsMusic Credit: Joseph McDadeHave nutrition questions, a guest or topic request, or any other feedback? Email me - eatforendurance@gmail.com.Disclaimer – all information provided is for educational and entertainment purposes only and is in no way meant to replace individual medical and nutrition recommendationsSupport the showThanks for listening! Follow me on Instagram and Facebook (@eatforendurance).

Want to get in touch? Send Claire a message!Welcome to Episode 57 of the Eat for Endurance Podcast, featuring ultrarunner and world-record holder, Jacky Hunt-Broersma. If you’re not already familiar with Jacky’s inspiring story, I highly encourage you to check out some of the podcasts she did last Spring surrounding her world record accomplishment of 104 marathons in 104 days. She delves into great detail about her cancer diagnosis and subsequent leg amputation at age 26, and how 14 years later, she invested in a running blade and started her journey to becoming the badass ultramarathoner that she is today.  Jacky has only been running for about six years, but she has done so many incredible things in the running space! She was the first amputee to take on the TransRockies 6-day stage race in Colorado, the first amputee to run 100 miles on a treadmill, and she set a new World Record for the most consecutive marathons run by a female athlete. She’s run 100 miler’s and recently completed her longest race distance of 200 miles. It was great to chat with her and learn more about her nutrition story, including her struggles with an eating disorder when she was younger, and how her nutrition and body image have evolved since becoming an amputee and later on, a runner.Jacky, thank you so much for sharing your story so openly and for inspiring us all to do hard things!Links & Resources:Jacky's Website: https://www.ncrunnerjacky.com/Follow on Instagram and FacebookOther Announcements:Please show your support by leaving a rating and/or review on Apple Podcasts Music Credit: Joseph McDadeHave nutrition questions, a guest or topic request, or any other feedback? Email me - eatforendurance@gmail.com.Disclaimer – all information provided is for educational and entertainment purposes only and is in no way meant to replace individual medical and nutrition recommendations.Support the showThanks for listening! Follow me on Instagram and Facebook (@eatforendurance).

Want to get in touch? Send Claire a message!Happy New Year everyone and welcome to episode 56 of the Eat for Endurance Podcast. Today, we're tackling the topic of Winter Sports Nutrition, featuring Kylee Van Horn, RDN. Kylee is a sports dietitian based in the mountains of Colorado, regularly works with winter athletes in her private practice, FlyNutrition, and is a runner and winter athlete herself. Although I used to ski when I was young, I haven’t done much more than sled down a small city hill in recent memory, so I invited Kylee on the show to discuss the many unique nutrition challenges that winter athletes face, and to share her expertise on how to fuel smartly and adequately in these conditions. We had a great chat filled with tons of useful information and winter fueling tips, including:What happens to your body in  extreme cold or at high altitude, and how does this affect your nutrition and hydration needs?What types of strategies can you utilize in these environments, to stay well-fueled and hydrated?Logistical issues that make eating and drinking more difficult relating to winter sporting gear (e.g. trying to fuel while using poles)Differences that arise from one winter sport to the nextWhy remaining well-fueled and hydrated is so important to performance AND safety when in the mountainsAnd much more!If you engage in winter sports or want to in the future, get ready to take some notes! Thanks again Kylee for your time and for enlightening us with so many practical winter fueling ideas.Links & Resources:Kylee’s Website: https://www.flynutrition.org/Follow on InstagramAnnouncements:Please subscribe to and rate/review the show if you have a minute!If you can afford to donate a few bucks to help support the show financially, please visit my Patreon pageYou can also support me by visiting my Amazon storefront  Have nutrition questions, a guest or topic request, or any other feedback? Email me - claire@eatforendurance.com.Music Credit: Joseph McDadeDisclaimer – all information provided is for educational and entertainment purposes only and is in no way meant to replace individual medical and nutrition recommendations. If you'd like to work with me for individualized nutrition support, please reach out!Support the showThanks for listening! Follow me on Instagram and Facebook (@eatforendurance).

Want to get in touch? Send Claire a message!Welcome to Episode 55 of the Eat for Endurance Podcast! Today I have a short recap for you on my Mt Tam 50k trail race this past Saturday, November 12th. It was a gorgeous, challenging course that went through Mt. Tamalpais State Park, Muir Woods National Monument, and the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. We had absolutely perfect weather, and although it was a tough run, I had such a joyful experience (minus stubbing my toe so hard on a root I thought it was broken and nearly face planting countless times in the last ten miles, but that’s all part of the Type 2 fun, isn’t it?!). Inside Trail Racing put this event on (the same group that organized the Rodeo Valley 50k that I did in August), and they did a great job, once again. We had actually signed up for this one last year, but DNS because the timing ended up being bad with our move. Grateful we finally made it to the start (and finish) - I already want to do this event next year! My recap will give you ALLLLL the details, including my nutrition (what went really well, and what I’m still tweaking). In the meantime, here’s the short version.We left Santa Cruz around 4:30am for the long drive up North. The day before, my stomach was feeling super off and I’m frustrated to report that it also carried over into race morning. I’m still not sure what went wrong - I practiced various strategies in training and had switched things up since my last 50k, but my body was still not happy with what I was eating. My only guess is that I had been trying to increase my total carb intake to be closer to recommended guidelines and my body still wasn’t into it. So the 2+ hour ride was not a fun one for me, esp with that 30-min crazy, super windy road down to Stinson Beach!  I was convinced that my stomach would be a mess for this race but somehow, everything went away just before the race started. I had zero GI issues and felt super strong the rest of the day! So grateful. The course was really hard, which is exactly what I expected given the elevation profile and my sub-par training (I only got up to about 3.5 hours on the trails, and had taken some weeks off due to illness). But I paced myself well and chatted with some new trail buddies along the way to help the miles go by quickly. I ended up finishing the 50k with 6800 ft of climbing in 6:54 and won 3rd in my age group, and am feeling great about that all things considered. I didn't get lost and I didn't fall - so all in all, a successful day!Recovery has been going pretty well! Low appetite has been an issue (not helped by sick kiddos and lack of sleep) but I’ve managed to get consistent meals and snacks in. I was super sore for a couple days of course, but got some nice gentle walks in and a short run in on Wednesday. Planning to take it super easy the next couple of weeks and then we shall see what’s next. Give the episode a listen for all the other details! And stay tuned for more athlete and RD interviews. Announcements:Please show your support by leaving a rating and/or review on Apple Podcasts Music Credit: Joseph McDadePhoto Credit: Let’s Wander Photography Have nutrition questions, a guest or topic request, or any other feedback? Email me - eatforendurance@gmail.com.Disclaimer – all information provided Support the showThanks for listening! Follow me on Instagram and Facebook (@eatforendurance).