The Eat for Endurance Podcast

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).

Want to get in touch? Send Claire a message!Welcome to Episode 54 of the Eat for Endurance Podcast, featuring Dr. Kelly Pritchett PhD, RDN, CSSD and Keely Henninger. Kelly is a Sports Dietitian, Professor in nutrition and exercise science at Central Washington University, and an endurance runner. In Episode 36, she came on my show to discuss current research on a variety of nutrition topics, and she returns today to speak about two of her own studies, one that was published this year, and another that is in the works, in collaboration with Keely. Both studies examine the link between underfueling, exercise dependence, body dissatisfaction and performance among endurance runners. Keely Henninger is an elite runner with Altra, a scientist, and one of the podcasts hosts of Trail Society. Keely has been on the trail and ultra racing scene for may years, and holds a number of race wins and other accomplishments, including being a member of Team USA, holding the USA 50-mile national champion title, two wins at Lake Sonoma 50, and a top 10 finish at Western States. Keely joins us for this episode to discuss a research study that she has been conducting with Kelly, and she also shares some of her own nutrition journey as a high-performing athlete. I had a great discussion with these two amazing women on changing the narrative around fueling in endurance sport. We covered the importance of weight and body composition to performance, the appropriateness of weight periodization in recreational runners, the prevalence of underfueling in endurance athletes, and so much more. Thank you Kelly and Keely for your time and for the important work you are both doing to improve our sport!Without further ado, please enjoy my discussion with Kelly Pritchett and Keely Henninger on their recent research on fueling in the endurance athlete population.Links & Resources:Here is the link to the first research study that we discuss (aka “The Olympic Trial Study”)Follow Keely on Instagram and Twitter (@runwidkeel)Follow Kelly on Instagram and Twitter (@KPritchettRD)Other Announcements:Please show your support by leaving a rating and/or review on iTunes 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!Welcome to Episode 53 of the Eat for Endurance Podcast! I am so excited to have Mike Wardian back on the show to chat about his transcon run, which he completed this past July.I did an Athlete Nutrition Profile on Mike in April 2020, right after he won the Quarantine Backyard Ultra with 262 miles in 63 hours. If you would like to learn more about Mike’s nutrition story as a plant-based athlete (he eats eggs and honey, but otherwise follows a vegan diet), check out Episode 26.  Mike always is a joy to talk to, so full of passion and positivity, and of course he is an unbelievable athlete too. He wears so many hats it’s hard to keep track of it all - he is a professional runner, mostly focusing on ultra endurance events but you can find him doing pretty much every distance, and he also does CrossFit, plays pickle ball, cycles, rows, keeps a beehive (or at least tries!), and goes after all kinds of fun, random world records, all while working and spending time with his wife and two teenage sons. He only sleeps four hours a night, but it’s still mind-boggling how he is able to accomplish everything that he does! If you’re not familiar with his Running Home project, Mike ran 3,234 miles over 61 days, from May 1st to July 1st, across 13 states, from San Francisco City Hall to Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, while raising over 100,000 dollars for World Vision’s global clean water initiatives. I wanted to dig into all the details of how he fueled himself across the country, and of course, discuss some of the fun and crazy things that happened along the way.Thank you Mike for spending time with me on the podcast once again, and for continuing to inspire us all with your running accomplishments as well as your wonderful attitude towards life. Also - the audio was a bit choppy for some reason at certain points in the show. My apologies - working to fix that for next time, and hopefully doesn't take away too much from the show!Links & Resources:Website: http://mikewardian.comFollow on Instagram, Facebook, and TwitterMike is still raising money for World Vision USA - link to donate here. Other Announcements:Please show your support by leaving a rating and/or review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen 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 recommendations.Support the showThanks for listening! Follow me on Instagram and Facebook (@eatforendurance).

Want to get in touch? Send Claire a message!Welcome to Episode 52 of the Eat for Endurance Podcast! I am really excited about my guest today - sports scientist Andy Blow. In his younger days, Andy was an elite-level triathlete, finishing in the top-10 of Ironman and 70.3 races, as well as winning an Xterra World title. He also previously worked as the Team Sports Scientist for the Benetton and Renault Formula 1 teams, and remains an adviser to the Porsche Human Performance Center at Silverstone, home of the British Grand Prix.Andy’s struggles with sports nutrition in his own race experiences ultimately led him to set up his company, Precision Fuel and Hydration, which specializes in helping athletes discover their unique hydration needs and create individualized fueling and hydration strategies for training and competitions. I absolutely loved the discussion that we had today. It’s a long one, because I got Andy to indulge my endless curiosity about the world of Formula 1, so if you’re at all interested in that, you’re in for a treat. He also is an expert in hydration, and we spent a lot of time delving into this huge, important topic. Andy has been on many other shows going through these concepts in detail, but hydration is such a key topic that so many athletes find confusing that I thought it would be worth sharing once again on my platform as well.In full disclosure, I received free sports nutrition samples from Andy’s team in advance of this recording, and I will be receiving a free sweat sodium test (as part of my client work, I always like to test out products/services), but I have not received any payment from his company. I hope you get some good takeaways from our chat, and if you are hungry for more on this topic, I strongly encourage you to check out Precision Fuel & Hydration’s website and especially their knowledge hub, which is packed with great info.Without further ado, please enjoy my conversation with Andy Blow about all things hydration as well as Formula 1 sports nutrition.  Links & Resources:Follow Precision Fuel and Hydration on Instagram and FacebookWhy sodium is crucial to athletes performing at their bestHow to START hydrated and why that's so important.How to tell if you're a salty sweaterDifferent types of sports drink and when to use themThe different types of Sweat Test and why you should have oneFuel & Hydration PlannerOther Announcements:Please subscribe to and rate/review the show if you have a minute!Music Credit: Joseph McDadeSupport the showThanks for listening! Follow me on Instagram and Facebook (@eatforendurance).

Want to get in touch? Send Claire a message!Welcome to Episode 51 of the Eat for Endurance Podcast! Today I have a short recap for you  on my recent Rodeo Valley 50k race, a beautiful and challenging course in the Marin Headlands that I ran on August 6th. It was my first ultra in over 7 years, as well as my first ultra running all by myself (instead of with my husband). It felt so good to run my own race and prove to myself that I can still do long trail stuff after having kids!Inside Trail Racing put this event on, and they did a fantastic job. I’ve already signed up for another one of their races - Mt. Tam 50k on November 12th! Super excited, especially since this course is even harder (6800 ft of gain for Mt Tam vs 5800 ft at Rodeo Valley). Listen to the episode for the full run down, but I’ll give you the short version here. We left Santa Cruz around 3:45am for the long drive up north. Unfortunately my stomach was feeling a bit off in the morning (which carried over into the race) - not sure why, but will investigate and tweak a few things during this next training cycle!I ran super strong through 30k, which ends at the start/finish and then you have to run the first loop all over again to close out the 50k. Had to stop for the bathroom at most of the aid stations which was a bummer, but felt good enough that I could stick to my nutrition/hydration plan and run at a good pace. The climbs and descents were pretty brutal but it made for a great challenge, and once the fog finally cleared later in the race, the views were breathtaking.The last 20k is when the fatigue started to set in, and my stomach started to bother me again. I tried to jump over a small hole in the middle of the trail (which I do all the time) and  went down hard on my knees, scraping and bruising them badly on dirt and rocks. I immediately threw myself a pity party but I was also all alone with miles to go until the next aid station. So with blood all over my legs, I brushed myself off and kept going. The pain eventually faded (temporarily, of course), I got my pace back, and pushed myself those last ten miles to a strong finish!Seeing Eric waiting for me as I ran down the final hill was amazing. I even placed second in my age group! I was pretty stoked about that part, well, until I found out there were only two people in my age group. That’s okay though, I still won an awesome coaster award!Recovery has been going pretty well, and I’m easing back into low-key training after taking it super easy for a week. It’s nice to have another big goal, and I’m excited to experiment with my nutrition strategy to see if I can avoid the pitfalls of this past event! Links & Resources:Trail runs by Inside Trail Racing (including Rodeo Valley and Mt Tam) Follow Inside Trail Racing on Instagram and FacebookOther 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 inSupport the showThanks for listening! Follow me on Instagram and Facebook (@eatforendurance).

Want to get in touch? Send Claire a message!Welcome to Episode 50 of the  Eat for Endurance Podcast! Today we have a real legend in the endurance world - Dr. David Horton. You may already know of “Horty” if you are well versed in your ultra running history, or if you happen to have run one of the many many races he has directed. Or maybe you’ve heard of something called “Horton miles,” one his signature quotes, like “It never always gets worse,” or read about him in Scott Jurek’s book, “North.” If not, David is a Professor of Health Sciences at Liberty University, the Race Director of Hellgate 100k and Promiseland 50k, and an accomplished ultra runner (now ultra endurance cyclist after knee replacement surgery). He started ultra running in the late 1970s, and since then has competed in over 160 ultras with 40 wins, including in the iconic JFK 50 and Hardrock 100 mile runs. David also is one of 15 finishers of the infamous Barkleys Marathon. He set speed records on the Appalachian Trail and Pacific Coast Trail, and ran one of the fastest times across America. He has spread his passion for running and endurance sports to so many of his students and other athletes over his 43 years of teaching, and I give him credit for inspiring me to enter my first 50 miler (JFK 50) right after we met back in 2015.We had a very impromptu but great conversation that spanned a variety of topics - nutrition of course being first and foremost but we got into plenty of other stuff that I think you’ll enjoy. He has a wonderful sense of humor, is known for speaking his mind, and was really fun to have on the show. So without further ado, please enjoy my conversation with ultrarunner, professor, and Race Director, Dr. David Horton.Links & Resources:David Horton, Liberty University   Follow on FacebookOther Announcements: Please show your support by leaving a rating and/or review on Apple Podcasts (or wherever you listen)  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).