Ru El's Running 055 : Special Guest - Tony Portera - Part 2 | Badwater 135 | Ultramarathon | Nutrition

Author: Ruel Abadam
Published: Mon 20 Jul 2015
Episode Link: https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/ruelsrunning/RER055.mp3

Part 1 with Tony Portera was fun. In part 2 the fun continues and we get to learn much more. We learn about Tony's nutrition, fueling strategy, the wonderful people he's worked and trained with, and in the end a rapid fire question round. Be sure to listen. Thanks!

Nutrition outside running

Follow NSNG (No Sugars, No Grains) lifestyle.

Eat when hungry.

Typical day:
- Wake up, have a coffee with HWC (heavy whipping cream)
- Might have BPC (Bulletproof Coffee) if have a 20 mile run.
- Had a Fat Shake before the call consisting of kale, spinach, broccoli, cauliflower, celery, chia seeds, and a scoop of coconut oil.
- Sometimes an afternoon snack of cheese and salami. Maybe a salad.
- Dinner would consist of steak, fish, or chicken and salad. Maybe some berries.
- Almonds or sunflower seeds.

During running:
Still a struggle. On a fat-adapted lifestyle and fueling strategy, Tony can run 20 miles without eating anything, so unless 20+ mile training runs are a regular thing, there isn't a lot of opportunity to practice fueling on the run.

Typically things to fuel with:

Vespa

PocketFuel

Justin’s Nut butters

Salami

Cheese

Pickles

Olives

Coconut oil

In his most recent Jackpot 100 performance, while employing a High Fat, Low Carbohydrate fueling strategy:

For 80 miles:

PocketFuel

Salami

Nuun for electrolytes

No bonk. No rush of sugar.

For miles 80 through 90s infused more carbs into system:

A few gels on limited bases

Pizza later in the race.

Result: It went well and Tony finished 3rd place overall. His personal best for a 100 mile race, and just under 19 hrs (18:58).
“Everybody is different. Experimenting is good.”
Some recommended fuels to try include:

Justins Nut Butters

PocketFuel

Generation UCAN Superstarch

Vespa

BRL Sport Nutrition Trifuel and Invigor8

“Adapting in ultra running is very important. Running an ultramarathon is all about goal adaptation.”
Fear the chair. Fear the van...Don’t get in the f*cken van!
“There’s nothing wrong with not finishing. Some of the greatest runners have DNF’d one point or another. Absolutely nothing wrong.”

Tony's wrap up and special thanks: