Nutrition is the key to ultramarathon race day success. Gastrointestinal distress accounts for 35% of DNFs and up to 50% of all runners experience it during prolonged exercise. Therefore it is important to place a high emphasis on getting it right. As part of my training for my 100 mile race I have been focusing on nutrition because I think it is key to me succeeding in the race. I have developed a spreadsheet so I can review my runs and set targets to try to achieve. This post will outline how to use the spreadsheet and what to target.
Nutrition Spreadsheet
The human body is an energy hungry machine. Just existing takes a significant amount of energy. When we start running that rate of energy expenditure skyrockets. Just looking at my Garmin data I can see I burn between 600-900 kCal per hour. It’s not physically possible for me to eat that much to replace what I am losing. It becomes a task of trying to reduce the energy deficit as much as possible.
I have been quite casual with nutrition in the past and often found myself hitting the wall. I usually start a run with the best intentions then inadvertently fall behind. To better track my performance I made a spreadsheet where I can enter what I consumed on the run and see how I compare to my goals. This process also helped me get a better understanding of the nutritional information of the foods I eat while running.
Here is a copy of the spreadsheet if you would like to have a try, just save copy and you can edit it yourself.
How to use?
There are two tabs to the spreadsheet. One contains the nutritional information of the foods that you eat while running. The other tab is the nutrition scorecard that draws information from the nutritional information tab to calculate the amounts consumed during each run.
1. Fill in the nutrition information
Gather up all of the foods and products that you regularly consume while running. Then check the nutritional information and add it to the Nutritional Data tab of the spreadsheet. See screenshot below. Some items might require some googling. I often eat vegemite and cheese sandwiches on long runs, I was able to find nutritional information online for a typical vegemite and cheese sandwich. The template spreadsheet includes all of the food I typically eat while running to get you started.
2. Go for a run and keep track of what you eat and drink
This step can seem overwhelming. The easiest way for me to track what I eat is to keep all of the gel and bar wrappers and count them up at the end. It also helps to know what you started out with then you can do a process of elimination to work out what you must have eaten.
Tracking of fluids can be more difficult. I use 500ml flasks and only refill them when they are completely empty. This means I only need to remember how many times I stopped for a refill. For a 4-5 hour run I will probably stop 3 or 4 times. Each stop is usually a memorable enough for me to be able to tally up the refills.
3. Enter the data into the nutrition scorecard
If you have goals around what you would like to consume then add these to the summary table at the bottom of the page. Add the duration of the run in hours and the amount of fluid consumed in millilitres in the run information section. Then move down to the next table and select the items consumed from the dropdown menu and input the quantities consumed.
Once all of the information is added you can review the run in the summary table and see how you compared with your goals. I like to save a copy of the table along with some notes about the run. It can be a good resource to look back on how you felt on the run compared with the nutrition strategy. I find that there is a strong correlation between high energy intake and feeling good during the run and recovering well afterwards.
Setting Goals
The goals will vary for you depending on how long you are running and the intensity of the run. In my preparation for the 100 mile event I have been focusing on increasing overall energy intake and carb intake. There is a direct correlation with carb intake and race performance. There is also evidence that consuming small amounts of protein during long efforts can aid in recovery during the event. To set a sodium target you need to know your numbers for your sweat sodium concentration. This involves getting a sweat test done, I am yet to have done one but plan on getting one done in the near future.
My goals at the moment are:
- Energy intake = 300kCal/hr
- Carb intake = 90g/hr
- Protein intake = 3g/hr
- Sodium = TBC
Other uses
Run Preparation
The sheet can be used to prepare for a long run, mission or a race. I enter the length of time I am expecting to be running and my goals number of calories. I can then use this to help decide how much to carry. I lay out the foods I am planning to take and add them to the sheet and keep adding items till I reach my goal numbers. I generally carry a few extras in case of emergency.
If you have a really good idea of the length of the run you can work it out perfectly and aim to eat everything you have carried by the end.
Race Preparation
In a race where you will be using multiple drop bags you can use the sheet to prepare the contents of each bag. Just copy the scorecard sheet and label it for each stage of the race. Fill in the expected duration of each leg and then keep adding items to the drop bag till you reach the desired goals.
Joseph Nunn: An avid trail runner based in Hobart, Tasmania. He loves getting out for big days on the trails with mates or racing against them.
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amazing find! so happy I found your spreadsheet. I’m a lover of spreadsheets and also very pedantic on planning my nutrition based on the carbs of everything I take, across a variety of food and drinks. But never have I actually plotted all on a s/sheet for more than just carbs. This will change life for me, thank you!
Hello Ira, glad you found it useful. I am an advocate of “what’s measured is managed” so tracking nutrition is a great way to get on top of the carb intake. I still use this sheet regularly for planning and after events to see how well I fuelled. Thanks for reading and leaving such a nice comment.