Fueling Endurance - Nutrition for Runners, Cyclists & Triathletes

We're joined by Accredited Sports Dietitian Gaye Rutherford (Tasmanian Institute of Sport) from chilly Hobart, to discuss the concept of "outrunning a bad diet". We'll unpack this question, the mentality behind it, why it's probably not a healthy way to view exercise and food, and discuss how to reframe this question in a more positive manner.

It‘s the 2nd birthday of the podcast, and to celebrate we‘re summarising all of the previous year's topics in one jam-packed episode! From ”How do I balance eating for training quality and body fat loss?”, to ”How much carbs should I have during training and races?”, and ”How do I stop cramping?”, we‘ll provide 3-5 minute summaries of each of them to bring you up to speed on any you‘ve missed. Oh, and some announcements about the future of The Long Munch.

A legend in ultrarunning coaching in the US, author, podcaster and running coach Jason Koop joins us for our special Episode 50. We discuss the evolution of nutrition in trail and ultrarunning, and what’s transferred over from cycling and triathlon. Jason also gives us a sneak peak of what the elite guys are doing in terms of their approach to race day fuelling and hydration, what we can or can't learn from that, plus his recent work with Mina Guli and her Run Blue project. Plus plenty of great practical tips along the way.  

Dentist and ultrarunner Julie Savage joins us to discuss a topic that many of us may prefer not to think about. Julie explains whether sports drinks and gels themselves have a unique role in dental erosion and decay, whether exercise itself is the problem, and most importantly, what runners, cyclists and triathletes can do to protect their smiles.

We're joined this week by elite trail and mountain runner Blake Hose. Blake shares his experience with blood testing, what he's tested for and the feedback and value he's got from having bloods, and his thoughts on regular versus ad hoc testing.

Medical doctor and Sports Medicine Registrar Alice McNamara is back on the podcast. We discuss what blood tests can tell an athlete and their support team, what tests are related to nutrition for runners, cyclists & triathletes, and if athletes should get regular bloods for screening, or only when there’s a suspected issue.

Ultrarunner Martijn Doekes joins us to discuss his recent experience completing Alan's 5 hour sodium replacement study. We go through the results and how to interpret these, to determine the amount of sodium that needs replacing during exercise. 

Alan discusses his recently published research that uses existing equations to estimate the sodium replacement needs of athletes during exercise. We cover why sodium might be important to replace during exercise, what we're trying to achieve with sodium replacement, the factors that determine if deliberate sodium replacement is important or not, and how much we then need.

Aussie cyclist Neil van der Ploeg joins us again to share his experience with metabolic flexibility. We discuss the changes he made to improve his metabolic flexibility, why he did it, and how it worked out. 

Jeff Rothschild (Auckland University of Technology) joins us to discuss what metabolic flexibility means, when is it important, and his research which looked at what actually influences how our bodies use fat or carbs during exercise. A fascinating conversation with some common myths busted!