Nutrition on the road - What, How and Why?

Yes. Recommendation: find a freaky diet and follow it.

Jonathan Basham?
http://www.runnersworld.com/rt-web-exclusive/fastest-known-times-the-long-trail

http://fastestknowntime.proboards.com/thread/1/long-trail-vt
Jonathan Basham holds the Long Trail record, 4d12h46m, Sept. 7-11, 2009.
Travis Wildeboer holds the unsupported FKT, 6d17h25m, Sept. 7-13, 2010.
Nikki Kimball has set the women's FKT, 5d7h42m (supported), Aug. 13-18, 2012.

It is him, although it wasn't entirely junk...

You lost a lot of weight during your Appalachian Trail run. How much were you eating?
I was on the trail for 13, 14 hours a day at first—and then, later, it became 16, 18 hours a day. Sometimes 20. I was getting less and less sleep, and my metabolism was just raging. I needed to consume 7,000 calories or more a day. A lot of that—around 3,000—of that was in Clif products. Jenny would supplement that with sandwiches or toast drenched in olive oil. Sometimes she’d get me hash browns or greasy home fries from a local diner. Or, after eating pasta with olive oil and vegan sausage, I would down a whole pint of coconut milk ice cream and it didn’t even make a dent.

src: http://www.bonappetit.com/people/article/scott-jurek-ultrarunner-diet

and...

This was especially important during the Appalachian Trail run: “When I was having meals at the end of the day it was about getting extra calories, dumping extra olive oil on pasta, my wife was bringing toast lathered in coconut oil. The carbohydrate is a vehicle for fat, which is what most people who are sedentary and not as active don’t want to do. But I needed to get the maximum amount of calories for the time that I had.”

The biggest challenge with fueling during a run is to keep your food interesting. Even running a regular (tiny) 26.2-mile marathon gets monotonous with gooey gel pack after gooey gel pack. (Especially since Jurek recommends eating 25 grams of carbohydrates every half hour.) So he looks for new flavors, textures, anything that keeps eating during the race from becoming a chore. On some runs he’ll eat bean burritos or pop rice balls rolled with miso paste, but for the Trail run he used Clif Organic Energy Food, which he helped design with Clif Bar. The packs are full of pureed food in flavors like “pizza margherita” and “sweet potato with sea salt,” which for Jurek are a welcome break from sweet goo.

src: http://www.gq.com/story/the-real-life-diet-of-the-ultramarathoner-who-gave-up-meat-and-became-vegan

Apart from the vegan sausage bit, none of that actually sounds bad.

I agree.
I remember watching interview with him while he was running the AP, by a fan who lives close to the trail and decided to run with him for a bit and do a bit of an interview meanwhile. Scott then literally said vegan junkfood. Gonna have to find that video.

http://youtu.be/BVlKhO2FHXg

Yeah no saying it near as fast as carbs.
But you got my point.

So I have 8 bars of a box of Clif bars that I haven't got around to using. Problem is the 'Use By' date is May 2011...

48hrs since digesting a ~5 year old clif bar. I'm not dead yet, and they taste better than I remembered!

The Food Programme on Radio 4 yesterday had some crazy stuff about the diet of long distance athletes (mostly runners), and what they are eating to train their bodies to digest food quickly. It was really interesting.

I too eat out of date energy foods, tends to be fine. There's so much additive etc in them I reckon it would just be them and the 'roaches left come apocalypse day.

@pastry_bot, I listened to that too, was really interesting. Definitely worth a listen : http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qnx3

looks up how to make charcoal yogurt in a gourd

Wiggle are doing a selection box of their 9 new gels to try out @ 50p each

They are cheap and taste pretty good.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06zqd89

50p each doesnt sound like a massive bargain, I regularly get nakd bars 2 for a pound.

Most gels are £1+ each so 50p for a gel is a bargain. Nakd bar != gel.

true, I dont buy gels so always surprises me how pricey they are, dont see the point.

gel!= food

You're right, they're not food, they're easily digestable race fuel. Which is why they're sold at a premium compared to your garden variety snack bar.

That's nice. I eat dates instead of nakd bars and I was talking about maltodextrin/glucose gels not actual food

the number of people that take gels on club runs..

I haven't been on a club run for years. I'm too fast. Must be all those gels I throw down my neck.

What's the thinking on nitrites / beetroot juice etc? Does anyone supplement with it, or use nitrite gels, and do you reckon it makes a difference?

I eat beetroot a lot anyway coz its tasty, but happened to have loads yesterday (juice and fresh veg) and happened to have a great ride today. Probably coincidence, but interested to hear how others find it

Maybe. I've used it and acquired a taste for it, so i'll sometimes drink it before a TT, but not religiously.

You can't beat a root.

Love beetroot and its effects. My bowels not so much.

Had about 2.5 litres of water, 2 gels, 1 energy bar, cake and a coffee

Not sure how long the ride actually was or what the temperatures were but at first glance that seems like very little carbs. My 4.5hr 6omile XC training loop has me eating a couple of bannanas, some sweets and about 6-8 gels as well as 2-3 x 660ml bottles of Torq energy.