So You Want to be a Ketogenic Endurance Runner...

Over the course of my journey to a healthier life I have developed a great appreciation for amassing knowledge about both the process of endurance running and the function of cell metabolism in supporting endurance activity. As an ultra runner my capacity to oxidize fat is second in importance only to my vO2 max, and there is no better way to capitalize on superior fat oxidization than to run ketogenically. One thing about being among the few openly ketogenic ultra runners is that I am asked a lot of questions from athletes looking to make the switch and many of you want to know the same things so I thought, "Why not write a blog just for you?". So here it is because you as a member of the greatest athletic tribe there ever was, the distance runners, are worth my time and effort ❤

One of the things I most often receive emails and DMs about on social media is how I manage my nutrition as a ketogenic ultra runner. This is of course due in no small part to the fact that the way I choose to eat flies in the face of traditional running wisdom- don't you need carbs, all the carbs, to be an effective distance runner? Is there even merit to being keto if you run? I mean you can't even build muscle on keto...can you (spoiler: my quads are the result of a year of distance running and no progressive overload lifting programme)? These are all questions worth exploring.

What is the difference between Glycogen Dependant and Ketogenic Running?

For those who may not be in the know, to be in a state of ketosis simply means that you have restricted carbohydrates to the point that your body has chosen to deviate from using glycogen as its primary fuel source and has switched to using ketones. [Note: Ketosis is frequently conflated by health care professionals and lay men alike with diabetic ketoacidosis which is a dangerous condition that only effects diabetics- there is nothing inherently dangerous about your body using ketones to fuel its activities and ketosis is not synonymous with ketoacidosis.] As an endurance athlete making the switch you will need to be keenly aware of two things that are about to impact your performance in the short term; (a) the fat adaptation process and (b) the important of electrolytic balance.

Fat Adaptation and Electrolytes

The first 6-8 weeks after having made the switch to low carbohydrate living are a period in which the body is busy optimizing its new energy pathways known as the fat adaptation process. This is unfortunately also a period where you will need to hang tight and embrace the hard (after all as an endurance runner isn't hard where you live?) as you will experience temporary losses in both endurance and speed. Think of the very worst you've ever bonked on long run or at a race- prepare to live there for a few weeks and to let up on speed work lest you depress the hell out of yourself. This time period is best spent on some very intentional work on your technical running skills- form, hill work, scramble if you run tech trail. Take advantage of the opportunity having to slow down will present you! Once the adaptation process is complete, again usually into your second month of strict ketosis, you will find your running rebound and your need for in run fueling largely gone. It is a truly spectacular thing to realize that you do not need to concern yourself with glycogen depletion or "the wall" sabotaging you in race because you train and race from depletion to start. And in doing so you have taken your power back from an energy process that could have completely shut you down previously. In fact the only thing that can really cause you issues on course nutritionally speaking post-adaptation is your electrolytic balance.

Whether you are an athlete or not, electrolytic supplementation on a ketogenic protocol is of paramount importance. The bare minimum one should supplement sodium to is between 3,000 and 5,000mg and between 500 and 1000mg of a bio-available form of magnesium (think magnesium malate ideally). Please note that while it is important to eat potassium rich foods such as avocado to keep those levels up, it is not recommended that you supplement potassium without your physician's knowledge and direct monitoring as there are significant risks to your heart in potassium over supplementation. I personally find against a 400 or so mile a month training plan that a sodium level of roughly 8,000 to 10,000 of sodium a day and 1,000 to 1,500mg of magnesium sufficiently covers my day to day needs. Your own day to day supplementation level will be highly personal to you and may require some tinkering. I highly recommend taking salt pills (either a product like SaltStick or home made salt capsules) or Elete electrolytic add-in out in your vest/belt/pocket on the run as you figure where yours lies and at what points you may need to tune in your intake for peak performance.

Why We Fuel, When to Fuel, What to Fuel

When we think on fueling we should always be considering how we can best foster peak race performance, but I find that sometimes in running culture that can get lost. Entire industries have sprung up around race nutrition; gels, chews, bars- you name it, there is probably someone at a race expo somewhere trying to hawk it to package pick ups. Industry involvement and the tendency of running culture to fetishize food has led to some of these products being very nutritionally suboptimal and essentially all inappropriate for the purposes of a ketogenic runner.

I am asked very frequently by runners who have made the switch how to fuel a half marathon. A really good point of note regarding the half marathon is that even as a glycogen dependant runner it is physiologically unnecessary to fuel the half. In an appropriately nourished glyco runner muscle and liver glycogen should hold until about the 20 mile mark- seven miles past the end of a half. In this way industry, having a great deal of financial interest in pushing the 1 every 15 before 45 mantra, has created a psychological crutch for runners in the lower distance races. Congratulations, you no longer have to buy in to a theory that benefits a bottom line more than it benefits you.

To fuel distances marathon and above there is some level of variability within the ketogenic running community regarding what to fuel with pre, intra and post race. My personal scheduling looks like this:

1 Day Pre- Race

-Breakfast of "Noatmeal" with 5-6 egg whites with 30g of low-fat mozzarella cheese

-Lunch of 8-12oz Striploin and 85g steamed broccoli 

-Dinner of 300+g of baked Salmon with a spinach salad (the nitrates in spinach are believed to be very beneficial to race performance if taken within 12 hours of the gun going off)

Race Morning

-Breakfast of 300+g of baked Salmon

In Race

-30g of natural peanut butter every 20km following the 60km mark and very intentional use of Elete electrolytic (generally partnered with Naproxen timings)

Post- Race

-All the steaks, all of them.

As you can see I rely entirely on the two stars of my nutritional universe, PB and Elete, in race. Other ketogenic athletes have reported to have success with jerky, cheese, fat bombs and packets of MCT oil- whatever you choose be sure to vet it thoroughly on long run training to avoid GI regrets in race. MCT can be as much a curse as it is a blessing in the wrong dose. Nutrition timings on ultra are also highly personal so don't feel obligated to stick to my every 20k after 60k timing. Provided you keep in mind that (a) runners with higher levels of body fat will require less active fueling because they are carrying it on their bodies to start and (b) that fear of a wall does not need to determine your fueling timings for you, you will do a fantastic job of managing it all yourself.

The Role of "Strategic Carbohydrate Use" or TKD 

One large bone of contention in the ketogenic running community is the validity of strategic carbohydrate use in race/training. If you are interested in learning more about such protocols I would suggest seeking out RunKeto.Com, I personally am not a proponent of this school of thought. My experience of CKD (the cyclical ketogenic diet) was decidedly negative and my times were very erratic during this time- it is my personal opinion CKD/TKD are more appropriate for serious weight lifters than they are for average people or endurance athletes.

Is There Any Difference in How You Train?

In short, no there is zero difference in how you train at the mechanical level. You still need to hit hills like they owe you money, you still need speed work peppered in between your easy runs and you still need to run long. As far as I am aware, though there are elite ketogenic ultra runners who have the clout to publish, there are no training plans or instructive running books written by a ketogenic runner that could speak to training any differently.

What Other Resources Can I Review Regarding Ketogenic Athleticism?

There are several excellent works in the community in this vein, but the stand-out is Volek and Phinney's The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Performance. There is also excellent information on ketogenic athletica in general on the KetoGains website. Furthermore there are several study abstracts that detail the current level of understanding of nutritional ketosis and its effect on the fat oxidization potential of the endurance athlete.

If you have any questions regarding ketogenic endurance running or fueling theory further to this entry please feel free to comment below and I will address your comments as soon as possible.

Run on friends! Don't let anything, least of all something as silly as glycogen depletion or nutritional gaps, stand in the way of you being the best you can be- because we both know that your best is pretty damn good ✌