Friday Ramble 09/16/22

This week: The countdown to next weekend’s Vermont 50 continues with a comprehensive fueling plan, plus gratitude for everyone who helped get me to the starting line. 

After my stomach blew up at the Pineland Trail Festival 50K in late May, Coach Avery noted that subsisting on nothing but gels and hydration mix maybe wasn’t the best idea for longer events. It was time to introduce “real food” to the equation. 

Rather than completely overhaul my fueling plan, for which I had neither the time nor the resources, Avery suggested adding peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to the mix. 

Long a staple of NBA locker rooms and kid lunches across generations, the PB+J has also been a mainstay of endurance athlete’s diets. Along with salty snacks, flat soda, and sugary yummies, the classic sandwich is a first-ballot Hall of Famer in the Aid Station Hall of Fame. 

Take two slices of bread, cover one side with peanut butter, the other with jelly, and you have a nutritious wonder loaded with righteous carbs, a bit of fat, and a touch of protein, all with a total prep time of less than a minute. Plus, they taste great.

During long training runs lasting several hours, the plan was to eat as much of a PB+J around Mile 12 as my stomach would tolerate. By cutting it into quarters, I started transitioning to real food by eating half, and then three quarters, before finally getting the whole thing down without too much difficulty. What a difference. 

Given that two slices of bread contain about 160 calories, while a layer of peanut butter and jelly adds another 160, a full PB+J equates to roughly 320 calories. That’s more than enough to fuel a full hour of running where the goal is to take in 2-300 calories per hour. 

To put it another way, that’s 2-3 gels I don’t have to tear open with my teeth and force down my throat. All while stuffing the sticky wrappers into the pocket of my shorts. Instead of that gross, bloated feeling that comes from ingesting too much sugar, my stomach stayed strong throughout 5-hour training runs. I even began looking forward to my PB+J, relishing the hour when gels wouldn’t be necessary. 

To be absolutely clear, gels still have their place in my fueling plan for the Vermont 50, which presents us with a math equation. Assuming the race lasts 10 hours (I hope less, but better to be prepared), I need to take in anywhere from 2-3,000 calories during the event. 

Those calories will come from three sources: 

Infinit hydration mix: Two scoops equaling 200 calories in a 20 ounce water bottle. Counting the start of the race, along with three crew stations at Miles 12, 31, and 47, I’ll have four opportunities to load my handheld with Infinit. 

4 x 200 = 800 Calories. 

PB+Js: At each crew station, Lena will have a sandwich ready for me. Whether I choose to wolf it down all at once, or take it with me, my goal is to eat a full PB+J after Miles 12 and 31. What happens at the final aid station is up to the fates and my digestive tract. 

2 x 320 = 640 calories, or 960 if I eat another PB+J at Mile 47. 

We’re up to 1,440-1,760 calories total. The end is in sight. 

Muir gels: My gut-training had me ingesting one gel for every hour of running during long runs, except for the hour when I ate a PB+J. That leaves about seven hours of gels on race day, give or take.

Muirs come in two varieties: Slow burn and fast burn. After experimenting with fruit-based fast burning options, my stomach clearly showed a preference for nuts over berries. Each slow burning gel, with flavors like cashew vanilla and cocoa almond, contains 145 calories per serving. 

7 x 145 = 1,015 calories for a grand total of roughly 2,500 calories. Right in the sweet spot. 

Note one of those gels also contains 90 mg of caffeine.

While this all looks good on paper, things can and probably will go awry. That’s all part of the ultra experience. Hopefully, this one will be slightly better than my last race. 

A few more notes on PB+J prep

There’s no wrong way to make a PB+J, but here’s my preferred method for making the most of a day on the trails: 

• Choose soft, squishy sandwich bread rather than anything that could remotely be called “artisanal.” This is an endurance event, not an epicurean contest.

• Many people would suggest choosing white bread rather than whole wheat because processed grains are easier to digest than whole grain. My stomach prefers multi-grain bread for some reason, so that’s what it gets. 

• In almost every instance of peanut butter usage in my household, we use a locally made “natural” product. (Shoutout to Teddie’s.) For trail purposes, I used Jif because it’s cheaper and easier to digest. 

• A thin layer of peanut butter does just fine. Remember: You want to be able to get the sandwich down in as few bites as possible. The same goes for jelly. A little goes a long way. 

• Cutting the PB+J into quarters makes it psychologically easier to take reasonable bites. Wash it down with plain water, rather than a hydration mix.   

Confession: I am bit of a jelly snob.

With gratitude

No one does something like this on their own. 

My wife, Lena, has put up with the whims of my running schedule for years. Quite honestly, this summer tested her resolve in multiple ways. While she may have resented it at times (ed. note: she did), Lena never failed to take care of whatever needed to be done so I could go off in the morning and do my thing. 

When training became especially long and difficult, I asked for her unconditional support. She never wavered. Once again, Lena is the only person I trust to handle crew duties on race day. 

Only this time, she’ll have help from our 9-year-old. He missed out on the festivities last year due to Covid restrictions, but he plans to be right there by her side with his trusty cowbell, offering endless encouragement and high-fives for all the runners. (When he’s not sneaking treats at aid stations, that is.) 

Some runners go to Flagstaff or Colorado Springs for training camp. I go to New Jersey. Being able to run the trails where I grew up and connect with old friends I see along the way is always a rejuvenating experience. Seeing my parents is just a bonus. (That’s a joke. Thanks, guys.) 

There were times during training when Avery pushed me harder than anyone has ever pushed me in an athletic context. He did so because he has more confidence in my abilities than I have in myself. No matter what he put on the schedule, I knew it was coming from a place of knowledge and trust. My wish is that every runner can experience someone like Avery guiding their journey.  

My massage therapist Ammon is like a member of the family at this point. Every few weeks I go in and tell him what’s bothering me, from my neck and shoulder muscles, all the way down to the tendons in my feet. For an hour and a half, I lie on his table and marvel at his technique. I seriously doubt I’d be able to handle ultra training without him. 

Throughout the summer, I went on exactly one run with another human being: my best friend, Brad. Of all the people I’ve known in my life, he’s the one who most relates to this drive to remain physically active into our late 40s and beyond. We consider this our art, because it shapes our life and gives it meaning. As he said during our run, “We can’t stop now. We have so much more to do.” 

For all my friends and family who indulge my running texts, thank you. And for everyone who reads this newsletter and supports this work financially, you have my undying gratitude. Appreciate you all.  

Have a great weekend, everyone.