Endurance Athletes

Elliehmltn

Is anyone here a long-distance cyclist or runner? I've read conflicting information on the benefits/drawbacks of low-carbohydrate diets for these athletes. I'm still gathering info before I change my nutritional approach much, although I've set my goals to under 100g carbohydrate for the moment -- I'm sidelined with an injury and don't need many carbs to support sit on the couch with my foot up.

HappyG35

A great book: The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Performance. Written by 2 doctors. Intelligent read, but not over anyone's head. Love the science, graphs, and studies. Great testimonials included by endurance athletes.

rungirl1973

I'm a marathon runner. I have decided not to run any full marathons this year while I go low carb and lose the last few pounds, but I have run 4 half marathons so far this year with another on the schedule for Saturday.

I would say that while my day-to-day energy at work is more even (I don't get tired in the afternoon any more), I struggle with race performance. My race times are ~2 minutes/mile slower than they were at the end of 2014. I started LCHF on Jan 2. My total carbs are generally under 50, and usually I'm shooting for 20-30.

zoom2

Sticking with keto works great for me until I need to pull off a redline effort, like cycling up a steep and long hill or during cyclocross races. Since 1/1 I have been primarily staying <25 net carbs each day. But as race training and competition season is winding-up I'm staying keto and lower cal on my easiest days, but 1-2 days/week of higher carb and calorie to coincide with my hardest training days and races.

So far seems to work. Saturday we were leading the 21 mile distance of the world's largest gravel road race (Barry-Roubaix) on our tandem...at least until a rock messed up our rim and took us out of the race. The guys on the tandem who were in 2nd prior to the mechanical won the entire event--even over all of the single bikes.

We pre-rode the course a couple of weeks earlier and the hills (of which there are many...and they have names. I wrote about it in the Carb Cycling Endurance Athletes group) were awful...I was in rough shape on keto. On race day I felt like I had a jet engine strapped to my back. Training low/racing high is amazing.

wabmester

If you try keto, the key seems to be to take it easy until you're keto-adapted. Give it at least 3 weeks before you try to test your endurance.