Training Overview #41 – A Good Time to Work on Metabolic Flexibility - Week of March 23 thru 29, 2020

Great roads to ride on here in South-Central Ky

Training Thoughts:  
In thinking about what to write about I thought I would touch on diet - or specifically why it is a good time to try being fat adapted, I did write on this, LCHF, some in Training Overview #24 and here  Now when I say “diet” I use the word as it was originally used in that it refers to how we, or a group, eat and not as it is used today to refer to some eating plan or protocol.  I bring up this subject realizing there are many that will greatly disagree with me and in the cycling community even more disagree with it but that is fine as I now it has worked for me.  The subject I will touch on is working to be “fat adapted” or maybe a better term is working to have “metabolic flexibility”.  I say “metabolic flexibility” as the goal is not simply to be able to use fat as fuel efficiently, that is part of it, but also to use carbs when needed and then be able to move back to fat, thus the flexibility.

One reason to bring this up now is that one of the usual arguments against working to be fat adapted is that people do not want to take the time (it does take time), effort and possible drop in performance while transitioning.  That said, with pretty much no racing for the next few months, or more, for most people that argument becomes less of an issue. Now is a great opportunity to give it a try.  As I talk about being fat adapted I am not going to get into all the nuances and things you can do but give you an overview, benefits and resources you can look into.  The bottom line is that now is a good time to give it a try and if it does not work for you at least you will know from experience rather than an assumption and if it works you are at a good place to move forward to fine tune how you eat to enhance being fat adapted.

First, some may wonder why does one even need to be fat adapted when for years we all have relied on carbs.  Actually that is a pretty easy answer and that is we have far more fat storage than we have carb storage – which is why when you rely on carbs you have to replenish so often - and while carbs may burn easier they are limited.  If your body seeks to use carbs it will in general have a tough time moving to use fats when carbs are used up - again forcing the carb burner to continually seek to replenish the carbs by downing gels, chews and other carb sources.  However, if you can move to being a fat burner and gain metabolic flexibility you can rely on an almost endless supply of energy in fat and then in times when carbs are needed do so and then move back to fats.  This leads to needing far fewer calories to be ingested and that not only makes things easier it can also greatly help with what many endurance athletes suffer from – gastric distress.

Another reason to move to working to gain metabolic flexibility is that you can use the fuel source that best aligns with your effort.  For running ultras fat adaption is great as for most running ultras largely entails steady state running with very few surges.  Now there are those that race and may need a surge and at those times, or maybe if you have a particularly hard section of a race, you can ingest carbs as required and after that section, or effort, is completed go back to fat burning.  This, as already stated, leads to far less caloric intake than when one relies solely on carbs.  I know from experience that this is so having run for many years and starting running in a carb centric world.  I want to interject that for cycling there may be some nuances that require more carbs than say an ultra runner but still metabolic flexibility is very helpful.  In cycling if you do triathlons or ride fondos or centuries but do them at a constant steady pace you may not need as many carbs.  However, if you race you will find that if you are metabolically flexible your carb intake will be higher but I would say much less than if all you rely on are carbs alone.  In cycling races there are often surges and then back to constant steady pace so there may  be a need to intake more carbs than you would on a steady ride but again much less than if are not metabolically flexible since when you go back to the steady state ride after a surge you can go back to fat burning.  I will admit this change in pace can make figuring out the quantity and form of carbs to intake a little more difficult it can be done and now is the time to do it.

One last reason, am sure there are more for the sake of this post this is the last one, to work for this change is that a lower carb diet can be great to reduce inflammation and control weight as well as often dealing with ones health especially if there is any possibility of being pre-diabetic.  When I speak here of Lower Carb I try make sure to use the word “Lower” on purpose as I am not speaking of Keto or a very low carb diet.  Often many confuse LCHF (Lower Carb. High Fat) with Keto but while LCHF may include Keto it is not restricted to Keto.  Speaking from experience we all have to find what level of carbs work best for each individual to supply the needed energy for how we train and race as well as maintaining our health.  Also, in this is to realize not all carbs are created equally so we need to not only work to eat the right foods – which we should do even on a carb centric diet – but also figure out at what level of carbs we function the best.  This level may change during the year with one’s training, racing and rest but will still be lower than before being fat adapted.

All of the above are simply things to think about and I can tell you from experience it works.  In my training overviews I share my fueling for long rides and runs to simply show what can be done.  I think I have my fueling figured out for running ultras but am still tweaking my fueling on rides.  For longer steady rides I am pretty well set as they are not much different than running Ultras but for racing I am still figuring it out but am getting there.  The other aspect I am working on is for longer rides of up to 200 miles as I know I am good for the first 100 and even if I finish a little depleted but strong I am good but when needing to go farther I have to make sure I do not get depleted.  As with many things this is all a work in progress but one that is well worth it.

So back to where I started, take this time we are in and give being metabolically flexible a try - if it is not for you at least you will know after trying.  The change can take time to work to its fullest so use what is probably a long break in racing to see what works for you.  Below are some good resources on the subject:
- SFuels Quick Start Guide
- Zach Bitter on What is Low Carb?
- Zach Bitter's Periodized Low Carb YouTube Play list
- Jeff Browning on The Road to Fat Adpation
- My friend Tim Barnes website M360 Clinical Fitness and his book M360 Clinical Fitness
- What is OFM
- Success with OFM
- Metabolic Efficiency Training (MET) by Bob Seebohar
- Metabolic Efficiency – Becoming a “Better-Butter-Burner” by Sunny Blende, Sports Nutritionist
- Bob Seebohar and Dina Griffin: Metabolic Efficiency (Not Just ‘Low Carb’) for Optimal Sports

- Performance, What the Research Really Says, and More
- Tim Noakes and the Case for Low Carb
- Dr. Peter Brukner and LCHF
- The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Performance by Volek and Phinney

Overview of Weeks Runs and Rides:
Plan early in the week was to ride about 200 miles this week with a mix of Zwift rides early in the week and a long ride outside Saturday Saturday  The Zwift part worked out as planned with the Saturday ride outside with the guys being short of the planned 100 but was a hardish 60 miles with 4300 feet of climbing.  When it came to running ran twice and about 5.2 miles for each at an easy pace as that was what worked the best for my foot.

The rides this week were an easy low HR ride on Tuesday and then for Monday and Thursday rode the Tour of Watopia Rides, well they call them rides but they are fast as if they were races.  As usual I did some miles first to warmup then did both rides and a good pace.  For the first ride finished in the first third or so and the second one in the first quarter.  For Saturdays ride got together with a few other guys to ride a good 60 miler.  I had done this ride once before and it is a good ride as it has plenty of hills of all kinds from short rises as well as up to a 2 mile climb.  Add to the terrain a stiff headwind coming back and it made for a hard ride that we still did at a good pace.

As I stated above I got in 2 runs this week of about 5.2 miles each.  Ran them easy and had soreness in my ankle but not too bad.  Need to work at getting is all better but for the moment it seems to be heading in the correct direction.  On Sunday’s run I for sure felt Saturday ride but just ran an easy perceived effort (PE) run as forgot to put on my HRM but like to do these runs by feel as they work to get me to better really on know how I feel.  For at least the next month the goal is to keep the runs as they were this week – at or about 5 miles and easy.  This seems to be the distance where I. an get in a run with minimal discomfort.

Monday: Ride – 3.4 Miles Warmup  & 31.18 Miles TofW W/Cool Down - (Ttl – 34.58)
Tuesday: Ride – 35.21 Miles
Wednesday: Run –  5.21 Miles
Thursday: Ride – 6.84 Miles Warmup & 28.31 Miles for TofW W/Cool Down - (Ttl-  35.15)
Friday: Rest
Saturday: Ride – 60.18 Miles
Sunday:  Run – 5.24 Miles

Totals:
- Running Miles – 10. 4 Miles.
- Riding Miles – 165.1 Miles.
- Total Miles –  175.5 Miles
- Total Time –  9:31 Hours

Saturday’s Ride Fueling
Pre-Ride Fueling:

- Coffee with Coconut Oil and Butter, Collagen, Heavy Cream, Chocolate Primal Fuel (1 Scoop) & 1 Scoop SFuels-Life

- Vespa
- ½ Cup of Oatmeal and Raisins
- 1 Altred (Beetroot Extract)


- Also use the AMPHuman PR Lotion
- Total:  810.9 Cals & 48.6 gr Carbs

Ride Fueling;

- 1 24oz bottle with 2 scoops of SFuels Train and 1 24oz bottle of SFuels Race+
- 1 Altred at 1.5 hours
- 2  S!Caps at 2 hours
- 1 NutButter
- Totals: 410 Calories - Carbs- 21 g

The Week Ahead:
For the coming week will ride Monday and Tuesday indoors and look for about 35 miles each.  I may do a couple of the makeup Tour of Watopia rides but sort of depends how I feel.  The plan right now if for an afternoon gravel ride Thursday and hope the weather and work play along as will be good to get outside on some dirt as has been a while since I have ridden any gravel.  Then for the weekend I want a long ride in, from 60 – 100 miles, but where that will take place depends on the weather as right now, a week out, it is showing rain but that can change.

As far as running I will be running as I did this week with about 10 miles total in 2 days.  Will probably run Wednesday and then depending on how I feel will run Friday or Sunday.  The goal for running this month is simply to keep the legs moving so they are ready to run in May/June when I start working more towards Boston and some summer and fall races.

Last Week's Overview #40

Training Overview #24 – LCHF and My Training - Week of Nov 18 thru 24, 2019

Fog Over Lake Coeur d'Alene

Running Thoughts:
For this week’s thoughts I want to talk about diet, my diet specifically.  Truth is I hate the word diet as it has been co-opted from its original meaning of “how one eats” to be more equated with some eating, or not eating, plan or program.  I want to use the word, “diet,” in it’s original sense and talk about my change over from a more carb-centric way of easting to a Lower Carb-Higher Fat (LCHF) diet.  In doing this I also want to share some misconceptions and misinformation on being LCHF.

To being with when I talk about LCHF and my thought’s on it I am speaking from the perspective of one that is not insulin resistant or has any other medical condition like TY2 diabetes or being Pre-diabetic that necessitates a change in how I eat.  The reason I preface things this way is that if you have one of the conditions I mentioned I would be more firm in saying LCHF is the way you should go as I am convinced that it can deal with, and even reverse, things like TY2 diabetes and other medical conditions.  When it comes to sports, athletics and performance there may be some room for modifications and direction even though I am also personally convinced an LCHF diet of some form is ideal for endurance sports.  I also believe as you get older ones physiology is better dealt with by eating a more LCHF diet.

First let me deal with some misconceptions I often seen put out either as a consequence of what is put forth or is just stated incorrectly.  I often hear people speak of Keto and LCHF synonymously but in truth while for some LCHF may indeed be Keto – Keto is not necessary LCHF.  Keto is generally 50 grams of carbs a day or less while LCHF had a range that may be as low as Keto but often is higher, for me it is in the 100-150 range on average.  Also, for those that hold to a LCHF diet that number may change based on training and what sort of cycle of training I may be in.  Thus, if I am in a period of training where a majority of my training is at MAF, see previous post, my carb intake will be lower as my training is such that I use mostly fat for my training.  However, when I filter in harder training days I may up my carb intake some to replenish what may have been used on harder training session.  Also, when racing the type of race I will be running or riding may also influence my carb intake up to a race and after.   From this I hope you see that the idea of a LCHF way of eating has a fairly large range and is not so easily put in a box as many that put forth a more carb-centric diet tend to portray it as.

This leads me to my next thought and that is many times I hear people speak about eating carbs in such a way as to give the idea that those who are LCHF have no stores of carbs to use.  But this cannot be further from the truth.  Since the body can only store a certain amount of carbs if training, as mine is, uses mostly fat for energy then the use of those stores is minimal and take less to replenish.  Thus, on a LCHF diet where you are fat adapted the need to consume large amounts of carbs is not required and while you may need a larger than normal intake, based on races or training, it is still much lower than most put forth.  This is one reason I also do most of my morning workouts fasted as it further trains my body to burn fat for energy and thus also for me the flexibility to use carbs as required but keep them in reserve.  After a longer fasted ride or run I may need to eat a few more carbs during the day to top up the quantity again is less than my very carb-centric eating days.  I realize running fasted in the morning can be controversial but so far all the evidence I have read that is put forth to deny the benefits of fasted running or riding is put forth by those that see no benefit to being fat adapted and using a LCHF approach to begin with so their presuppositions are such as to lead to their conclusions in see running fasted as being detrimental.

Another aspect that is also often not dealt with much is the idea of training low and racing high.  This speaks to training with less carbs and when racing using carbs strategically as required by ones event.  When I say race high it might be better put as race “higher” as those who train and race LCHF still use less carbs, in general, than most athletes who are on a HCLF diet.   This lower than normal use of carbs in racing works great to also lower gut issues by taking in less carbs.  The ability to train-low and race-high, check out this resource from SFuels, depends on fine tuning your fat adaption so you have what is referred to as metabolic flexibility.  By flexibility this refers to the ability to train and race at a level that relies mostly on fat but when a hard effort is required you can switchover to carbs and if need be take in some carbs to aid this harder effort then as you settle back into a fat burning zone so goes your ability to burn fat kicks back in.  What this also does is reserve the limited carbs you can store while relying on the almost unlimited fat stores.

I do need to add here that the process of becoming fat adapted does not happen overnight,  It can take time to become metabolically flexible so that you can train at a higher level using more fat for fuel.  I think it is this time to transition that is different for everyone that gets in the way for many to move over to being fat adapted.  Many of the studies I see refer to people transition to LCHF over the course of 3 – 6 weeks and maybe as high as 3 months when even 6 months for some may not be enough.  I think this is also a large part of the reason many elite athletes have not taken this course as in the time it takes to get fat adapted one may have a drop in performance and when you make a living in your sport based on performance this is hard to sustain or justify.  Then there is the fact that many athletes, especially in endurance sports, have sponsors from sports fueling companies that rely greatly on carbs and to turn from that while ones performance may drop is also hard to justify.

For me I really try to stay at about 100-150 grans of carbs a day and do morning workouts, when I can do them, fasted all to work on my fat adaptation.  While I mention how many carbs I eat I do not really count them too often any more as I just sort of have an idea where I need to be.  I also know the carbs to avoid, for me pasta is a no-no as it does a number on me internally but things like potatoes do not appear to trouble me.  As far as total calories I never count them but have found over the years as I watch my carbs the total intake is less of an issue and in doing it tis way I rarely seem y weight vary too much.  I also admit, often due to travel, that I do not eat as I should but U do not stress about it and work to get back on track as soon as I can.

Lastly, while I have not done any testing to see what my fat burning efficiency is I can tell based on a number of longer rides and runs that I am relying largely on fat for fuel.  For example if you look at my fuel intake in my R2R2R report at the Grand Canyon you will see that for a 50 mile 16+ hour run I took in very little fuel but never bonked.  Sure I did not run fast and if I had I may have taken in a few more carbs but then again that is the joy of being fat adapted.  By the way I have seen this same fueling scenario work on my longer rides as well.

That was simply a smattering of thoughts on how I fuel and eat and hope it gives you some “food” for thought – pun intended.  While everyone is different, hence why my carb intake is higher than many on a LCHF diet, the principles are there and if you are in an endurance sport it is definitely something that you need to look into.  In doing so the goal is not simply "lower carb intake" as that is a means to the end but metabolic flexibility and being able to best utilize fats and carbs to get your best performance as well as leading a healthy lifestyle.  As an aside when you read how "elite" athletes train and eat make sure you realize they are "elite" and by that fact lead different lifestyles and train differently than most of us do and often can get by on a diet that may be less than optimal.  For the general public who simply wants to be their best but also be healthy make sure to do your due diligence to investigate both sides understand everyones biases and presuppositions - we all have them - Enjoy the journey to find out how your body works best.

Relive 'Nice Road Run W/ a Little Trail Section'

Weekly Running Overview:
This week went pretty much as planned in that I got 30 miles in over 4 days of running.  It was a pretty cool, OK cold, week here in Coeur d’Alene ID where I am for another week.  At least for this week it was nice i that while it was cold it was not wet so made running more pleasurable.  The runs this week for the most part were easy but each had a section I ran a little harder just to work on moving faster.

My right ankle is still sore but does seem to be getting better slowly.  I do find that 9-10miles is my limit as the closer I get to that distance more often it is sore.  I do find that when my ankle gets sore if I focus on form more it does begin to feel better – which tells me that that is what I need to work on – form and the strength to keep that form

Overview of Weeks Runs and Rides:
- Monday: Run – 9.5 Miles
- Tuesday:  Run –  5.7 Miles
- Wednesday: Rest Day
- Thursday:  Run  -  9.8  Miles
- Friday: Run -  5.75 Miles
- Saturday:  Rest Day
- Sunday:  Rest Day

Totals:
- Running Miles –  30.7 Miles
- Riding Miles – 0 Miles
- Total Time –  4:17 Hours

Weekly Diet Notes;
Nothing in particular but then again the main part of today’s post was about how I eat.

Conclusions and the Week Ahead:
The plan for the coming week is to pretty much a duplicate of this week’s running in looking to get about 30 miles in 4 days.  I will be in Coeur d’Alene ID one more week then I will back to So. Cal and be able to get in some good rides – hopefully.


As always if you have questions let me know in the comments below.


Last Week's Overview #23

Interview Tuesday: Meet Ultra Runner Leighton Phillips from North Carolina, Via Australia, and One of the Founder of SFuels

This week I talk to Leighton Phillips, an ultra runner and one of the founders of SFuels.  I met Leighton via a Facebook group and am now an Ambassador for SFuels.  It has been great working with the SFuels team and look forward to all that is coming in the future from SFuels.  Enjoy the interview as lots of good info on LCHF and training to use fat as fuel.


Tell us a little about yourself not necessarily related to running: age, where born, education, area you live in, etc…..
I was born in Brisbane, Australia in the 70s. 

What is your profession?
I studied software programming (suggestion of Dad ) out of school, and worked in the Tech-industry.  But I always had a passion for nutrition and health bio-sciences.  I began my naturopathic sciences under-grad studies in the late 80s, and then held clinical practice for two years. I loved that study. I was admitted to Chiropractic school, however at the same time - I was offered an intriguing role with Intel Corporation out of Sydney – that I decided to take. This role has taken my family and I to live and work out of Australia, Bangkok, Singapore, Hong Kong and now the US.

How did you start running and what prompted you to do so?
As a young boy, I still recall my Dad taking us down to the school oval before breakfast and timing us. Dad was a high-jumper, originally from New Zealand, and was always interested in Olympic athletic performances.

I swam competitively through my primary schooling, and went on to run state and national cross-country through my secondary schooling – this is where I really got my taste for endurance sports. In my later years of schooling, I competed in short-course triathlons and loved the multi-sport competitiveness.

I began running ultras in 2005, while in Singapore.  Some 50k races, and the game-changer for me was being accepted to run the RacingthePlanet 250k 6day race – that year in the northern Vietnam, area of Sapa. The training and completion of this race, really gave me a taste of the issues and challenges of current sugar-carbohydrate fueling approaches and option in the market.

How long have you been running?
Since 1983, secondary school cross-country.

Did you participate in any other sports over the years?
I swam competitively in primary school and secondary school. I competed in Triathlons from 1985-1989.

Did you run in grade school, High School or College? If so where?
All through high school. All in Australia, state of Queensland.

So we get an idea of where you have been with running can you share your PR's.
10k - 34.20.

What is your most memorable race or races and share a little about at least one of them?
UTMB in 2016 was more than a race, was an emotional reset for me, as much as it was a physical challenge to complete 100miles. The UTMB course is just indescribable with relentless horizon to horizon mountain vista landscapes. The concept of running through France, Italy Switzerland in one race was intriguing, but was so palpable with the encouragement coming in the local languages, from the villages throughout the course.  It's no surprise this race has become the pinnacle, the Wimbledon of trail running.

Do you have a favorite workout you do?
I was based in Hong Kong for 9 years. The international airport is located on Lantau Island. Lantau has two major peaks, Sunset and Lantau peak. There is a magic trail route, where I would go from just above sea-level, over Sunset Peak (2400ft), down the other side, then over Lantau Peak (2900ft), down the other side – refuel, then back up and over Lantau peak – to finish down in the local town-village. It was 24Km, and over 6000ft of climbing. The views were spectacular over the Hong Kong isles, and well cut trail, through tropical green mountains.

How about a favorite route you like to run?
In Chamonix France, there is a trail that starts in the village valley floor, and heads up 3000ft of ascent towards Augille Di Midi. The route finishes at just over 6000ft of elevation. Its an aggressive ascent in the beginning then softens a little in its switch backs with therapeutic views across the Mont Blanc massif, glaciers and valley.

What is your favorite distance to run and race?
Time-training permitting, I love 100km races – it’s not ½ day like a 50k, it’s a whole day challenge, yet not so draining as a 100miler. It includes both day and the night, experiences.   But if I cant get the training in – I love 50k races…a very real ultra distance, but something you can really run strongly the whole way.

What shoes do you run in and what do you like about them?
I’ve been a Salomon runner for about 9years. Love their sturdiness. I ran in a Mission XR for several years, and I think my ankle got used to the width, so I struggled to move out of that model to the thinner S-LAB products from Salomon.  But they released the SLAB shoe in 2017, that Francois De’Hane won UTMB in, and I tried that and think it’s the best shoe I have ever owned. Very solid fit, flexible yet sturdy on technical terrain. I raced 50km Matigny to Chamonix 40km/2600m A-D, this August, and it was an absolute pleasure to race in.  I tried Hoka’s – but I ran like twice in them and never used them again – just didn’t like the height of the stack, made me feel very unstable.

Do you have any long-range plans?
I would like to run the CCC 100km at UTMB, Mont Blanc one year.  I love the look of the Lavaredo race, Tranvulcania race, Tarawera in New Zealand and the Hardrock or Western States in the US.   My eldest boy is about to get into triathlon and 70.3 Ironman – and he wants me to join him – will see.

Will just have to see how work and training come together, now we are moving to the US.  I suspect I’ll run some 50km races through the year as I settle into the US in 2019.

What is the best place you have run in your travels?
Chamonix, Mont Blanc France.  Sapa, or the Switzerland of Asia as they call it – it’s in the northern part of Vietnam, very close to the Chinese border.

Anywhere else you would like to visit to run?
Italian Dolomites look fantastic. They terrain of Transvulcania, in La Pampa Spain looks totally amazing and unique – almost Jurassic like

Do you have any bucket list races?
Yeah probably CCC, and Lavaredo.

What do you struggle with most with regards to running?
Im not a large built person – increasingly I need to add strengthening work in the gym to keep my joint-strength and gait in check, otherwise I'm prone to some achilles weakness, calf and glute pain-tightness. I ripped the proximal head of my right calf in two places, at 230km in the Vietnam race, as they tightened up so much. so I need to be a little careful of that.

What do you see as a trend in running?
I see the broader public looking for escapes – from their job, their moods, their routine, and endurance running is an avenue that helps in many ways (I wont go into the science here ). But I think as runners move from 5k to 10k to marathons they are wanting to experience more. The trail, the mountains and even adventure racing like Spartan races seem to be fulfilling that void they are looking for. I anticipate ultra trail racing and sky-running, will go through a massive growth wave over the next decade, as the commercial side of it grows up (like it did in marathons) – some of it will be great, some of the commercialization we probably wont like.

How long have you been LCHF with regards to how you eat?
In 2012-2013, I was running fairly long weekend LSD training sessions. In Hong Kong in the summer, it is in the mid-30sC (30C is 86F), and humidity that is hard to compare. I was using water, and a carb-electrolyte formulae.  I started getting headaches, lot of aches-pains in joints and swollen fingers/feet during the LSD runs. I had to take ibuprofen at the end of every one of these runs. I was only 40 years old, and as a naturopathic trained physician, this didn’t feel right.  So I dialed my training right back, and started playing with and shifting to a LCHF lifestyle – and to my surprise the issues cleared up, and gut/GI distress was also notably less.  It took me a while to believe it – as all my training (at college) was based on the USDA food pyramid.  This approach of LCHF, turned that totally on its head.

In 2014, my wife (ex-Nestle) and I began Spike-FREE Limited, and started having some food technologists work on a better product. In 2017 SFuels was born.

How was your transition to LCHF, were you like most of us “carb centric” prior to your change?
Sure I was, I was a teenage triathlete, that prided himself on showing how much pasta I could eat at Sizzler salad-pasta bar….it was like my proxy ‘show-off’ measure of how much training I was doing.

Do you see a difference in fueling for training and racing with regards to carbs, such as “Train low and Race Higher?”
Yes, firstly from my/SFuels POV, we don’t promote a ketogenic diet/lifestyle for competitive endurance athletes. Actually, in general, from a naturopathic clinical perspective, I am not a big believer on extreme exclusion of entire food groups – I believe all these foods were put here for a reason.  The issue I believe is mostly in the so-called refining of foods, and secondly the volume and mix of certain food groups (particularly carbs) that creates so many of the issues.

For LCHF to have effect – its not about what you do in the race, in fact I think its even more than what you do in training and racing. For LCHF effectiveness there is a baseline daily metabolism that you need to first invoke and build – and this can be bought about by multiple means.  Fasting, intermittent fasting, initial temporary Keto-like diet, endurance aerobic training, and obviously an on-going LCHF approach to diet.  These practices, rapidly turn on lipolytic (oxidizing fat) metabolic process and enzymes, and begins training the body (again) to use fat for fuel.

Critically, we should avoid carbs in any training less than 2hours. Over 2-3hour training sessions we should consider a MCT/Fat and whole-food complex carbs to provide the necessary macros to fuel our sessions.  The reason why its OK after 2-3hours, is that by this time Calcium, Nitric Oxide and Reactive Oxygen species levels have risen in muscle cells, and these cause the Glut4 transporters to move to the muscle cell-membrane and allow glucose to flow into the muscle cell – without insulin. This is really important, as this is the fundamental reasoning behind how the body can (at this point) oxidize both carbs and fats simultaneously, or what we refer to as metabolic flexibility.

So then taking this back to your question, yes I advocate in races (>3hours in duration) that a competitive athlete, that is fat-adapted (metabolic flexibility) should absolutely fuel through his-her race on both MCT/Fats (in addition to his/her endogenous fat reserves) and complex carbs (starches).  I would never advocate a simple sugar, as I think it has the risk of stimulating insulin (though lower during exercise), fructose and maltodextrin can impair Glu4 moving to cell membrane, and opening glucose channels, and lastly because I have seen some many ‘A-races, ruined by Gut/GI distress – all triggered by simple sugars.

Can one become “fat adapted” and not hold to eating LCHF?
Yes I believe so, we see plenty of professional athletes still living on high-simple sugar fueling – yet we know they (due to their training volume and intensity) are oxidizing fats at amazing rates/levels. You also only have to look at their physique to also realize they are burning fat very well.  Saying all that, I am absolutely sure – that their performances would be even better, by moving to a LCHF lifestyle and race-higher approach.

What got you to start SFuels?
As I said, I had a number of issues myself in training-racing, and I felt the industry was letting athletes down on continuing to just shove more simple-sugars into athletes. My wife and I knew we could do something better.

How do you envision SFuels place in the endurance world and how has its reception been in as you travel around?
LCHF education levels vary dramatically.  Different parts of the world and different ages of athletes show a wide variance to what they know about sugar-based fueling vs. LCHF principles.  I think though this is much much bigger than an endurance-community phenomenon.  We need a global reset on the 30 plus years of preaching the food-pyramid - remember that whole industries have been built up on carb-based living and diets.

For us, we find that when athletes try SFuels they change. It’s not just another flavored sugar product – I mean like, there is close to zero sugar/carbs in our training drink products – so it’s a very different approach.  Being able to carry/eat less in a race is very compelling to athletes, avoiding the swings, the gut/GI distress and the risks of bonking and hitting the wall – is making the LCHF approach, and products like SFuels very intriguing to athletes.

Both the Ironman triathlon and ultra-running scenes have taken to our drink product very well.  We have had a very good following on our bar product, but we decided to reformulate it to extend the shelf-life – and hope to have that back on the shelf in early 2019.

Any plans for SFuels you would like to share?
The team has some partnership discussions in flight, plus they are working up new products in 2019 that I can’t say too much about yet :)

If you had one, well maybe two or three, things to say those that are running to encourage them what would it be?

1. Couple your running with some quality gym strength work, and stretch less
2. Get off the sugar drinks, gels and bars
3. Take those headphone out – and soak up the sounds of life in the mountains

Do you have a website or other social media site you would like to share?
www.spike-free.com

Any closing comments?
Keep on running

Two Week Test – LCHF Reset – Week 2

For info on the fist week you can go the previous post: Two Week Test – LCHF Reset – Week 1

So two weeks is done and all in all it went well.  As I said when I started this it was a somewhat modified TWT in that while trying to hold to the usual TWT items you are allowed to eat a few times I diverted from the list, as with an Apple, Walnut and Cranberry salad and a few other small items.  Even so I was pretty diligent to avoid the main items to avoid and to keep carbs low.

I think this second time around it went much easier since I was already much lower in carbs than I was when I did the TWT a year ago.  Thus there was a lot less stress from removing carbs from my eating.  Even so there were still times I wanted something sweet and had to just say no.  I think often this comes from eating something savory as for me at least that makes me want something sweet:)

One thing I found, that is sort of frustrating, is that when you eat out many places that have “healthy” food often go over the edge to in their desire to limit the fat.  For example; when you get a good salad with veggies and such all the fat you can get is in the Avocado, if you can get them.  If chicken is available it is seldom ,if ever ,dark meat as people feel to be healthy it has to be low fat chicken breast.  Even the steak is lean so this creates an issue since when you remove carbs you need to up the fat intake and the current view of eating can make that more difficult than is should be.

Here is how I ate for the second week.  I should add where I list a snack it is not for snaking all day but just an item or two I may have had between meals if for some reason a meal went out longer than planned or may have eaten at the end of the day if dinner was early.

Day 8
Breakfast – MPC, 3 fried eggs and a piece of cheese
Lunch – Salad (Seared steak, Mixed Greens, Portobello Mushrooms, Tomatoes W/Balsamic Vinaigrette)
Snack – Small helping of mixed nuts (No Peanuts) and a Meat Stick
Dinner – Mix of ground pork and seasonings with broccoli, Slaw mix, Cauliflower all mixed together and heated and toped with Parmesan Cheese.

Day 9
Breakfast – MPC, Egg scramble with spinach and bacon
Lunch – Salad with grilled chicken, tomatoes, egg, carrots, cheese and an oil & vinegar dressing
Dinner – Salad of mixed greens, cucumber, kale, carrots, radishes with Oil and Balsamic Vinegar with a side of fresh chicken in butter.
Snacks -  Small amount of mixed nuts, pork rinds, 2 meat stick

Sausage Link, Eggs and Kale and Onions

Day 10
Breakfast – MPC,  Egg Scramble w/Spinach and Bacon,  No Grain Porridge w/Walnuts (See Week 1 Post for Recipe)
Lunch – 2 Pork Patties with Cranbery/Walnut/Apple Salad (Probably a little more fruit than usual for the TWT but went with it as it was what we had.)
Snacks – Meat sticks and Pork Rinds
Dinner – Ground Pork, Onions, Cole Slaw mix sautéed & 3 Prosciutto and cheese wraps

Day 11
Breakfast – MPC , Ran 5.6 miles then had a sausage with sautéed Kale & onions w/ a couple fired eggs
Lunch - 1 Prosciutto and cheese wrap and a serving of Chocolate/Coconut Primal Fuel
Dinner – Brussels Sprouts cooked with bacon and bacon fat and 1 Chicken Sausage topped with Parmesan cheese
Snacks – Pork Rinds

Brussel Sprouts W/Bacon and Sausage

Day 12
Breakfast – MPC – then ran 5.6 miles
Lunch – 2 of the Real Good Pizzas
Snacks – Meat Stick and few mixed nuts
Dinner – Stir Fry with Lamb meet and mixed veggies

Day 13
Breakfast - MPC & a serving of Chocolate/Coconut Primal Fuel
Lunch – Tuna Salad with Romaine lettuce and an Avocado, with Pork Rinds on the Side – Fat shot from  Adapt Your Life (has small amount of cashews in it which is not on the TWT list but was a very small amount and carbs were very low in shot)
Dinner – Mixed veggies and Park Roast
Snack – A few freeze dried apples – not the best for the TWT but only a few and not as big an issue for what I am using the TWT for

Day 14
Breakfast – MPC before 8 miler then had a sausage link and 3 fried eggs
Late Lunch/Dinner – Smoked Turkey, Lettuce, Pickles, Onions, Tomatoes, Home Made Cranberry/Orange Spread, ½ a Home Made Wheat Sourdough Roll, Butter, Apple salad – As tis was my last day had a few extras to start the coming off the TWT.  Even had a slice of Homemade Gluten Free Pumpkin Roll
Snack – Pork Rinds, mixed nuts & 1 Prosciutto and cheese wrap

Well that was the week, sorry not as many pictures.  As I said in the beginning this was not exactly the same TWT as I did a year ago, but very close.  I was not as strict on a few fruit items but still worked to keep carbs down and as little sugar as possible.  End result is that I am where I want to be going forward to be at a LCHF way of eating for the year ahead.  I also can see that super low carbs for me does not work as even though I was not running until the last week my energy levels were OK but not where they should have been.  My body just seems to need a little more in the way of carbs than say a Ketogenic diet provides, but that is me – N=1.

The main take away is that you can lower their carb in take and make it a sustainable diet.  The usual claim by many who questions a LCHF way of eating, I want to avoid the "D" word where I can, is that even if it is good it is not sustainable.  Now that may be true if you are an average 21st century individual who rarely eats real food and lives on processed offerings but with some effort, and not much at that, you can be lower carb than the average person and actually much lower without a lot of fuss.

OFM – MET – LCHF: What’s It All Mean

I am not going to try and cover a full explanation of all the acronyms in the title but do

hope to shed some light on them as best I can and spur your interest to look into the subject more in depth on your own.

First what are they:

• OFM – Optimized Fat Metabolism
• MET – Metabolic Efficiency Training
• LCHF – Low Carb High Fat 

And one added one that I already wrote on here – What is MAF?

• MAF – Maximum Aerobic Function

First let me say that these all work together and need to be seen as such.  It is also important to see how working towards, say OFM, may look different for each person as while there may be some universal principles one can apply in general as we are all different in various ways how the above apply to an individual may differ.

I will start by trying to show how these work together.  To begin with it is important to know where you want to go and then you can set a path to get there.  That is where OFM comes into play, as it is an outcome to achieve.  This outcome can actually be part of a bigger goal, and it should be, such as being having a goal of longevity in running and good health or maybe being able to run longer and even faster.  With all of these top end goals OFM is a way to get there.

As an aside - OFM is not new, the acronym and name be, as the idea that one's running can benefit from burning fat has been known for some time.  When I began to run marathons back in the late 70's I read about how to help burn fat early in a race you could take caffeine pills.  Caffeine was supposed to help with the fat burning so we took No-Doze to try and minimize the affects of the other ingredients in the coffee on our system.  Looking back the problem with this was that this was also when "Carboloading" was the rage and thus we probably negated much of what the caffeine was to accomplish by stuffing our faces with carbohydrates as many of us did for the days before a race.  The point though is that the use of fat a fuel is not a new idea but maybe is now being seen more as a main source rather than being used simply to delay the onset of crashing due to low carbohydrate supplies.

Next, would come MET as a way to achieve OFM via a training plan that helps one best use fat and thus have an efficient metabolism.  I hope you see how we in truth need to separate out these terms to see how they work together holistically.  Thus, we have gotten to where, as part of the bigger picture, we want to best OFM and to do so we need to employ MET.

Then we get to the methods used to train, the tools we use.  One tool I use is MAF and as I have written on this before I will not spend much of time here.  Basically one of the benefits of MAF, aside from building a great aerobic base and minimizing the damage of running too hard is that it also helps one train their body to burn fat.  So in this case MAF is a great tool to use in ones MET to reach the goal of OFM.

Lastly, well lastly in the case of this short article, is LCHF which is yet another tool to reach OFM.  Is it the only tool, no, but it is in my opinion an important place to look into.  Let me add here that for me LCHF actually is probably better seen as being – Lower Carb – Higher Fat.  I use the terms “lower” and “higher” since if you do much reading you will find that LCHF can range from being in Ketosis to simply being much lower than the average person, or in this case, athlete.  Even within the LCHF realm there is a lot of conversation about what is the right amount of carbs for a person and if Ketosis is a place to be long term or if it is best achieved periodically.  One thing I would like to add here just to be clear;  I am convinced if you have an insulin resistance problem or other health issue related to sugar LCHF is very likely the answer.  For others of us LCHF is an excellent tool to help get to where we want to be with OFM by reducing ones carbohydrate intake and thus helping to move to better utilization of fat as an energy source.

While I think LCHF is a great tool you do need to see what works best for you as in my case I found if I am too low on carbs it does not have the affect I am looking for.  That said I am very low compared to most other runners I know.   

Most that I talk to about  going LCHF struggle with the idea of reducing carbs and this probably stems from all the indoctrination we have all had over the years that "High Carb” is important and especially for athletes.   For those that struggle I advise a couple things:

First is to take the Maffetone Two Week Test (TWT – sorry to add another acronym).  This is an extreme low card regimen for two weeks that is followed by strategically adding back carbs so one can see if they do have a particular issue with carbs or if maybe it is just some carbs that cause issues.  This is not really a diet but a means to find out what how your body reacts and deals with carbohydrates.  I found that in general I can handle carbs but if I get too much bread, for instance, it gives me intestinal issues, such as gas – sorry had to share that.  You may find other issues but it is a great tool to use to help dial in your eating habits. If you are interested in trying the TWT you can get info at the link at the start of the paragraph or here.

The second thing I suggest, if one just does not want to deal with lowering carbs yet, is to at the least work to eliminate as many processed foods as you can and work to eating real foods.   One affect of this will be that you will end up lowering your carb intake and the carbs you will be getting rid of are empty ones, ones you do not want as it is.  This will get you down the road to better health and will even more than likely help with your fat metabolism work.

I did not want this too be a long drawn out article but one that lets you see that as we learn things we have to realize where they fit in the scheme of things.  Such as OFM being a goal, actually part of a larger goal, with MET being a plan to get there and something like MAF and/or LCHF being tools to use to accomplish those goals.  When you see it as a continuum you can possibly not get so overwhelmed by the info out there.  Bottom line seek first better health and then you will see your running improve.  It may take time but most good things do.

Some other resources:

• What is OFM
• Success with OFM
• Metabolic Efficiency Training (MET) by Bob Seebohar
• Metabolic Efficiency – Becoming a “Better-Butter-Burner” by Sunny Blende, Sports Nutritionist
• Bob Seebohar and Dina Griffin: Metabolic Efficiency (Not Just ‘Low Carb’) for Optimal Sports Performance, What the Research Really Says, and More
• Tim Noakes and the Case for Low Carb
• Dr. Peter Brukner and LCHF
• The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Performance by Volek and Phinney