Fueling Endurance - Nutrition for Runners, Cyclists & Triathletes

Water. Carbs. Salt. Flavour. Colour. Food Acid. That’s it. Glucose:fructose ratios, high or low molecular weight polymers, hypotonic or isotonic solutions, scientifically formulated electrolyte blends, hydrogels, pH neutral, the list goes on. But with only a few ingredients and some basic levers to pull, how different are drink mixes really? Is there really a “optimal” formulation? And could you just buy the raw ingredients and make it yourself for a fraction of the cost?

 

Timestamps:

01:42 - Intro and podcast update

03:33 - The basic ingredients of sports drink mixes

05:07 - What are we trying to achieve with a drink mix?

08:04 - The water in sports drinks

12:34 - Fueling Endurance Practitioner Membership, T-12 course for athletes, eBook

14:44 - The carbohydrate in drink mixes - amount and type

24:07 - Drink osmolality - hypotonic, isotonic, hypertonic

27:57 - The electrolytes in drink mixes - does it matter?

32:28 - The flavours, colours, sweeteners, and food acids in drink mixes

34:19 - Is there a risk of drink mix contamination with banned substances?

36:24 - Are special drink mixes really that special?

38:32 - The environmental impact of drink mixes

38:48 - Making your own drink mix from basic ingredients

43:12 - Wrap up

 

Fueling Endurance eBook | T -12 Race Nutrition Course | Practitioner Resources

The Fueling Endurance eBook contains answers to 84 of the most common nutrition questions that runners, cyclists and triathletes ask, and contains insights, tips, and quotes from experts and athletes.  The T -12 self-guided course will help prepare you for your next event, with online tools, guides, information and instructions to take you through the 12 weeks leading up to race day. And the Fueling Endurance Practitioner Membership provides access to online tools and calculators I use all the time when working with endurance and ultraendurance athletes. This includes working out the carbohydrate needs for runners (road and trail) and cyclists for different types of training sessions. For more into on each of these, check out fuelingendurance.com.

Anyone who’s ever done an interval session, or a hard effort in a race, knows that feeling of fatigue setting in as you hold on for dear life. But is this really all the result of lactic acid, or is something else going on? Can the nutrition strategies used in shorter, more intense events like track cycling or rowing now be applied in longer endurance sports to get more out of ourselves during those hard efforts in training or race day? And why, at this years’ Tour de France, are we hearing stories emerge of cyclists consuming lactate, the very thing we’re told is the root cause of all that suffering?

 

Timestamps:

05:14 - Intro and Bryan's change in workplace

10:42 - Lactate vs lactic acid, and its role in the body

17:08 - Lactate testing, thresholds and what it means for physiology

25:36 - The roles of lactate in body

30:12 - Fueling Endurance Practitioner Membership, T-12 course for athletes, eBook

32:38 - What are buffering supplements and why are they now being used in endurance sports?

40:33 - What is sodium bicarbonate and how does it work?

42:50 - Does the form of sodium bicarb matter (drink vs tablets vs capsules vs mini-tablets/hydrogel)?

49:07 - Sodium bicarb and gastrointestinal issues - how to avoid

54:22 - Dose of sodium bicarb for a performance effect

57:51 - Timing of bicarb for performance - why are cyclists taking it during exercise (rather than before)?

1:03:06 - Is there evidence that bicarb can work for performance in endurance training or competition?

1:05:24 - What is beta-alanine and how does it work?

1:06:50 - Dose and form of beta-alanine and potential side effects

1:09:33 - Need for prolonged supplementation with beta-alanine

1:12:58 - Evidence for beta-alanine or bicarb + beta-alanine combined for endurance performance

1:18:16 - Exogenous lactate supplements/gels

1:20:37 - Is the concept of exogenous lactate supplements new?

1:23:07 - Are the ways exogenous lactate is being used new in professional sport, and is there evidence it works?

1:26:44 - What's likely to happen next with exogenous lactate?

1:28:59 - Bryan's other current research

1:31:45 - Follow up re. exogenous lactate products

1:41:34 - Wrap up

 

Guest - Dr Bryan Saunders - University of São Paulo

ResearchGate: researchgate.net/profile/Bryan-Saunders-2

X: @Bicycle_Bryan 

 

Studies mentioned in this episode:

Farias de Oliveira L et al. (2022). Extracellular Buffering Supplements to Improve Exercise Capacity and Performance: A Comprehensive Systematic Review and Meta‐analysis. Sports Medicine. 52:505-526. DOI: 10.1007/s40279-021-01575-x.

Ewell TR. et al. (2024). The Influence of Acute Oral Lactate Supplementation on Responses to Cycle Ergometer Exercise: A Randomized, Crossover Pilot Clinical Trial. Nutrients. 16(16):2624. DOI: 10.3390/nu16162624

 

Fueling Endurance eBook | T -12 Race Nutrition Course | Practitioner Resources

The Fueling Endurance eBook contains answers to 84 of the most common nutrition questions that runners, cyclists and triathletes ask, and contains insights, tips, and quotes from experts and athletes.  The T -12 self-guided course will help prepare you for your next event, with online tools, guides, information and instructions to take you through the 12 weeks leading up to race day. And the Fueling Endurance Practitioner Membership provides access to online tools and calculators I use all the time when working with endurance and ultraendurance athletes. This includes working out the carbohydrate needs for runners (road and trail) and cyclists for different types of training sessions. For more into on each of these, check out fuelingendurance.com.

Starchy foods like pasta, rice and potatoes are an important part of the diet for most runners, cyclists, and triathletes. But in an era of pre-packaged meals and reheated leftovers, are we really getting in the carbs we think we are? Starch retrogradation is the process when cooked starchy foods cool down again. Does this reduce the availability of those carbs? And can it be reversed by reheating the food? 

 

Timestamps:

01:44 - Listener question and background

04:41 - Understanding carbohydrates - sugars and starches

09:00 - Resistant starch

10:04 - What cooking does to starch

14:32 - What happens when starchy foods are cooked then cooled

15:55 - How big is the effect of cooling on digestible carbs?

19:34 - What happens when starchy foods are reheated?

21:07 - Summary

22:03 - Wrap up

 

Fueling Endurance eBook | T -12 Race Nutrition Course | Practitioner Resources

The Fueling Endurance eBook contains answers to 49 of the most common nutrition questions that runners, cyclists and triathletes ask, and contains insights, tips, and quotes from experts and athletes.  The T -12 self-guided course will help prepare you for your next event, with online tools, guides, information and instructions to take you through the 12 weeks leading up to race day. And the Fueling Endurance Practitioner Membership provides access to online tools and calculators I use all the time when working with endurance and ultraendurance athletes. This includes working out the carbohydrate needs for runners (road and trail) and cyclists for different types of training sessions. For more into on each of these, check out fuelingendurance.com.

It's been one of the most popular supplements of the last few years. A lot of endurance athletes take collagen regularly, but what is it for, how should it be taken, and is there evidence it lives up to the claims? We’re joined by Assistant Prof. Jorn Trommelen, a protein researcher whose lab has done some of the most recent work in this area, to answer our questions. 

Timestamps:

04:00 - Intro and revisiting Jorn's previous episode (Ep. 73)

12:17 - What is collagen (in the body and as a supplement)?

16:53 - The different types of collagen - does it matter?

22:20 - How did collagen become so popular as a supplement?

30:10 - Why are the supplements always hydrolysed collagen or "collagen peptides"?

31:35 - Fueling Endurance Practitioner Membership, T-12 course for athletes, eBook

33:51 - What are the theoretical reasons for taking collagen supplements?

35:28 - Do you actually need collagen or would any source of these amino acids work?

40:56 - Do you need to take Vitamin C along with collagen?

44:53 - State of scientific evidence for collagen - muscle, tendon, bone tissue.

1:01:57 - Jorn's summary and practical recommendations

1:10:11 - Wrap up

 

Guest - Assistant Prof. Jorn Trommelen - Maastricht University

Lab Website: m3-research.nl 

Research Profile: maastrichtuniversity.nl/j-trommelen 

Instagram: @nutritiontactics

 

Studies mentioned in this episode:

Aussieker T et al.  10.1249/MSS.0000000000003596.

Aussieker T et al. The Effects of Ingesting a Single Bolus of Hydrolyzed Collagen versus Free Amino Acids on Muscle Connective Protein Synthesis Rates10.1249/MSS.0000000000003788.

Buchalski A et al. Collagen Supplementation on Tendon-Related Structural and Performance Outcomes: A Systematic Review. J Funct Morphol Kinesiol. 2026. 11(1):130. DOI: 10.3390/jfmk11010130 

 

Fueling Endurance eBook | T -12 Race Nutrition Course | Practitioner Resources

The Fueling Endurance eBook contains answers to 84 of the most common nutrition questions that runners, cyclists and triathletes ask, and contains insights, tips, and quotes from experts and athletes.  The T -12 self-guided course will help prepare you for your next event, with online tools, guides, information and instructions to take you through the 12 weeks leading up to race day. And the Fueling Endurance Practitioner Membership provides access to online tools and calculators I use all the time when working with endurance and ultraendurance athletes. This includes working out the carbohydrate needs for runners (road and trail) and cyclists for different types of training sessions. For more into on each of these, check out fuelingendurance.com.

If you’re planning an ultra-distance running or cycling event, there’s a good chance you’ll be relying on support crew to help get you through it. But what makes a great support crew when it comes to nutrition? How do you best prepare them to support you? And what does success look like? To find out, we're joined by ultrarunner, sport nutritionist, and experienced support crew member, Rachel White.

Timestamps:

04:11 - Rachel's experience as an athlete, crew member, and dietitian

13:20 - The main roles of support crew

21:08 - Preparing support crew before an event

39:46 - Fueling Endurance Practitioner Membership, T-12 course for athletes, eBook

42:02 - Challenges support crew may face during the event (theoretical and practical)

54:48 - Communication between athlete and crew during an event

1:02:09 - What does the optimal crewing experience look like to the athlete?

1:03:52 - Collecting athlete data during an event for post-event analysis

1:10:58 - Final thoughts from Rachel

1:13:26 - Bonus Round

1:19:34 - Wrap up

 

Guest - Rachel White:

Website: rachelwhitenutrition.com

Instagram: @rachelwhitenutrition

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/rachel-white-96102896

 

Fueling Endurance eBook | T -12 Race Nutrition Course | Practitioner Resources

The Fueling Endurance eBook contains answers to 84 of the most common nutrition questions that runners, cyclists and triathletes ask, and contains insights, tips, and quotes from experts and athletes.  The T -12 self-guided course will help prepare you for your next event, with online tools, guides, information and instructions to take you through the 12 weeks leading up to race day. And the Fueling Endurance Practitioner Membership provides access to online tools and calculators I use all the time when working with endurance and ultraendurance athletes. This includes working out the carbohydrate needs for runners (road and trail) and cyclists for different types of training sessions. For more into on each of these, check out fuelingendurance.com.