Being an elite athlete is tough work. I am currently finishing up a cycling season of professional-level road races while transitioning to marathon training for a 2:45 goal time in January. This typically looks like six days of running, three days of cycling, a couple sessions of strength training and a roller ski or two for cross-training weekly.
Luckily, I have master's degree in nutrition with board certification as a sports dietitian because training like this—and really any training at all, benefits from proper fueling. If you're like me, you're looking to boost your fitness, improve body composition, have enough energy for a full-time career outside of training and stay healthy. What you eat day to day can have a serious impact on all of those factors, and it is crucial to keep in mind that fueling your body well goes beyond the workout.
Here's a full day look at my food choices and training for a select day. With two-a-day trainings, my aim is to consume easy-to-digest fuel for my workouts but also get in enough variety of whole foods to support good health and not be overly reliant on sports nutrition.
6 a.m.
I start with a glass of room temperature water to go with my supplements. Right now I take Swisse Wellness CoQ10 and Klean Athlete Beta Alanine.
6:30 a.m.
Oat milk latte (1 cup oat milk, 3 espresso shots, 1 tablespoon turbinado sugar, a pinch of salt and 1 tablespoon Beet Boost).
7 a.m.
12-mile run, warm up/tempo/cool down. I always carry water with me and a gel in case I need the energy boost. Today, I did not.
9 a.m.
Kombucha and a Power Bar performance bar. It is crucial to have a bit of immediate recovery when doing double workouts day after day, but I hold off on a full meal until I have cooled down completely.
10 a.m.
Scrambled eggs with avocado and an English muffin, plus sparkling water. Working from home means I have more flexibility with meal timing.
1 p.m.
Salmon with greens, beets, brown rice, blueberries and oil/vinegar. I like lunch to be my biggest meal of the day and include the most 'roughage.' This way I have ample time to digest.
MORE: Best Ways to Refuel After a Hard Run
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