My Nutritional Plan for running a 100 miles

Leading up to race day, I lost count of the number of articles that I read and videos that I watched on YouTube. They all provided a lot of nutritional info but nothing that really help me feel confident about my own race day nutritional plan.

I guess this is what happens when one decides to run twice their longest distance ever.

Thinking back on it now, I can see why most people don’t give an exact plan or even an approximate plan. Running an Ultra is much different than running a marathon or shorter distance race. Typically in shorter races, runners have an aid station every two to three miles. Distances between aid stations can vary widely from Ultra to Ultra. Add in the fact, what runner's can eat varies just as widely. By and large, Ultra races seem to put more onus on the runner to take care of their own nutritional needs. If this means carrying those items, then so be it.

Furthermore, whether a runner is “crewed” or not impacts their nutritional plan. “Crewed” runners can have more of their “comfort” foods on hand at each aid station. While non-“crewed” runners can carry what they need, use drop bags for extra food, or just munch off the race buffet offered at each aid station. Still, while there is plenty of food to eat, the options are still limited. I was lucky in this regard because my daughter “crewed” for me. Knowing what I had coming at the next aid station was a huge benefit. I felt like that this made a huge difference in my race.

Another factor is race day weather conditions. In an Ultra race, the temperature swing can be any number of degrees, and hotter races challenge runners in my opinion more than colder races. That’s where having “comfort” foods really help. On a hot day a finicky stomach can send a runner’s race downhill quickly. I caught a huge break for my race. The weather conditions could not have been more prefect for me.

Let’s get to my plan. So for my race I wanted eat at least 100 more calories per hour. I would eat more when I could. I wanted to err on the side of caution because I have “bonked” a few times during training runs. “Bonking” is no fun, and it took me several hours to recover during the race.

I also want to add that I tried all of my foods during my training runs except for the “chocolate chip cookie”. At no point during the race did I have any stomach issues. My daughter told me several stories of other runners struggling with their stomach woes. I had actually plan for this if it happened by having ginger chews on hand to eat. And, yes, I even tried these during my training runs. I do my best to leave nothing to chance on race day.

The Tunnel Hill course is laid in two directions. The first out and back section is roughly 26 miles and includes 3 aid stations. The second out and back section is roughly 24 miles and includes 4 aid station.

In the first section I had my daughter meet me at the Karnack aid station which was about 10 miles in to the race. Since this was an out and back course, I would see her at 10 miles, and then 16, and then again at 26 as she leap frogged from Vienna to Karnak back to Vienna (over the second half of the course) to Tunnel Hill and back over last 24 miles making 1 x 50 loop.

Throughout the race, I used only Orange-Mango TailWind in my Camel Baks. Because the temperature was not a major factor for me, I carried roughly 1 liter of TailWind during the 10 mile segments and ½ liter during the 6 and 4 mile segments. The only exception to this was during the last 10 miles of the race when I asked my daughter to only put in ½ liter of Tailwind. There were two aid stations in the last 10 miles, and I felt carrying less weight was better. If I got in to trouble, I had two locations where I could get more fluids.

Through the first 50 miles, I ate 1 Sportsbeans and 1 Chocolate GU during each of the 4 x 10 mile, 6 mile, 4 mile segments. After 50 miles, I had my daughter drop the Sportsbeans in favor of Goldfish Crackers and GU. Like I said, I wanted my “comfort” foods.

During the first 50 miles starting at the Tunnel Hill which is 40 miles in to the race, I was drinking about 8 oz. of Sprite at each of the aid stations, and I ate one of my tortilla and mash potato wraps at each of the aid stations. I have found that as the race wears on, my brain needs sugar energy. Taking on some Sprite gives me that mental surge that I need to carry on. I used this during all of my 50 milers. I don't know why but neither the Sportsbeans or the GUs have this same affect on me. 

Oh, I did eat the “Chocolate Chip” cookie at the 29 miles. It was store bought, and it didn’t taste all that great but I suffered no ill effects from it.

At 60 miles, I switched to the hard soda – lots of caffeine and sugar at each aid station and continued with the tortilla and mash potato wraps at the aid stations. I drank TailWind and ate Chocolate Gu and Gold fish during segments.

Calories wise, I was probably eating more than 100 calories hour, but I was able to tolerate it and keep running.

That’s it during the race.

After the race, my daughter handed me a bottle of water. Funny how great a little water can taste.

Postrace thoughts here, if another runner were to ask me for advice, my recommendation is above all else stay on top of your food and water intake. Better to use a few extra seconds in an aid station refueling than leaving too fast. “Bonking” can cost minutes even hours of race time to recover. As for what to eat, if “comfort” food are available, use them. If not, then try to stick to foods that are at least a “known”.

I would also recommend going with roughly 100 calories or so per hour. How this breaks down in to what a runner has to carry depends on the distance between the aid stations and the time required to run between aid stations. Utilizing Tailwind supplemented some sports beans and GUs I easily pushed over 100 calories per hour. This plus my aid station snacks kept me moving all day and in to the evening even after my legs were so tired that I had to "will" them to run.  

Kickin’ up trail dust

The Cool Down Runner