week in workouts + what i eat for high volume training

I’m quite fascinated with the eating habits of other people, particularly athletes and especially elites. It truly is useless to compare food logs: everyone’s body runs on vastly different portions, proportions, and preferences. Since becoming something of a triathlete I have noticed old habits I adopted when solely running do not work anymore: for example, I used to run fasted for anything up to 90 minutes of running. Nowadays, since my overall training volume is higher, I HAVE to fuel before embarking on a morning session, or even a midday session post-work, or else I’ll fizzle hard and struggle through workloads that should be manageable.

I offer a glimpse into two days of eating: one on a hard run-swim day, and on my long run. I am for 2,500-2,800 calories per day and sometimes exceed it after a 13+ mile run since I factor in nutrition before, during, and after. I’m still not excellent and figuring out if/when I need to take in calories in my doubles (like when I perform a brick) and I’d imagine that might take my intake a touch higher on occasion, too.

My dietary staples

My approach to nutrition isn’t anything innovative. I try to fill my plate with wholesome foods and indulge my sweet tooth by-and-large in an intelligent fashion. My weakness is anything crunchy and salty (pretzels, tortilla chips, trail mix) and frozen-creamy (gelato, frozen yogurt) so while I allow them moderately I REALLY have to focus on not shoving my hand all the way to the bottom of the bag or container. Sometimes, that’s harder than any training session.

I thrive most off frequent, large-volume but reasonable-calorie meals, usually between 300-500 each. I’m a grazer by nature so my mouth gets bored if I don’t occupy it fairly often, plus I crash very quickly if I don’t eat for more than 2-3 hours. Not everyone’s bodies react like this, so I always encourage others to honor their appetites and to be mindful of digestive health. Further, I try to frontload my meals, meaning I consume most of my calories in earlier meals rather than saving all of it for late day. I usually train early or in the midmorning, so this makes sense in a fueling and recovery aspect to ensure my sessions go smoothly and my body is revamped as soon as possible once I finish.

As a pescatarian, protein is less difficult to come by than if I fully eliminated animal products, but I still have to be wary of my levels since I don’t eat fish every day. I track in MyFitnessPal, though I’m not married to the numbers: I mostly use it to confirm I’m eating enough overall. MFP is useful for reflecting upon workouts that felt less than stellar to pinpoint foods that may have caused any distress or diminished performance.

All that in mind, I am fairly repetitive with my intake. Some of my staples, meal by meal, are as follows:

Breakfast: Oatmeal, eggs, English muffins, homemade muesli (with coconut, almonds, raisins, and flaxseeds), yogurt, fruit

Lunches: vegetarian burgers or other meat substitutes, leftovers from dinner, whole grain breads, beans salads, hummus + raw or steamed vegetables, canned or smoked fish

Dinners: roasted or seared fish or tofu or shrimp (with marinade or as curry, with vegetables), beans, rice, quinoa, homemade naan or pita or baguette, potatoes, sweet potatoes, pasta (less frequently).

Snacks: cereal bowls with fruit and yogurt and jam or peanut butter, whole grain frozen waffles with toppings, energy bars, fresh fruit, mugcakes, homemade energy balls.

Of course I deviate from the formula on occasion and enjoy a homemade veggie pizza, a meal out (though I usually go for the lighter fish-based dishes anyway), or a pastry outside of one I make myself, but I limit those indulgences in favor of mostly training-friendly dishes. I find, anyway, that my body doesn’t take well to a bevvy of treats nowadays, and I don’t really want them much as is.

Any questions? Leave me a comment or find me on Instagram and throw a message! We can spar about who eats more peanut butter in a day, as well.

Monday, 6/15: 20.31 miles, 16.2 mph cycling (75 minutes) + 7.02 miles, 10:06 pace + 1,800 yard swim (36:20)

Woke up a touch later than I hoped but still got in my planned brick workout! I really pushed myself on the bike with sets of 3 minutes outdoor cadence/2 minute higher cadence, 4 minutes outdoor/1 minute higher, then 5 minute outdoor and back down the ladder in reverse. The sun fully unsheathed by the time I started my run, but the breeze felt nice and my legs responded to the new stimulus.

My swim started off well but my form blew up after the first two intervals. I’ve found the pool VERY stressful these past couple sessions what with the lack of regulation and chaos reigning on the deck as children dash around, with seemingly no limit on how many people can occupy the area. I’m highly disappointed in the city for this (I swim in a city-owned pool) and will either have to plan all of my swims for early in the day or eliminate them altogether. Either way, for today’s workout I swam 3 x 400 (7:54, 7:59, 8:10) and 4 x 100 (1:55, 1:55, 1:57, 1:57) before a 200 slow cooldown.

Tuesday, 6/16: 5.12 miles, 10:23 pace + 45 minute strength + 2.01 miles, 10:22 pace

Recovery miles felt ROUGH, I think my legs are absorbing all of the previous training and spitting it right back out. I focused on not forcing my effort and kept my heart rate good and low; lower humidity swept through the afternoon and I actually enjoyed being outside and moving around. Legs and core for the lift, and a quick cooldown jog on the treadmill while watching a kid plow around the gym as if it were a playground and the parent/guardian/babysitter/whatever not giving a damn what she did.

Strength: 3x through

• 10 barbell reverse lunges
• 12 barbell deadlifts
• 8 barbell cleans
• 12 single leg jumps per side
• 12 weighted single leg knee-ups per side
• 12 bosu ball squats
• 15 bosu ball side plank pass-throughs per side
• 20 bosu ball plank knee to elbow

Wednesday, 6/17: 8 miles, 9:36 pace + 1,800 yard swim (38:24) + what I ate to fuel

Dew point at 68 does a happy Kellie make! My legs weren’t so into the whole running thing until my pickups during the second warmup mile – then they recalled how to move properly. Hit 10 x 1 minute hard intervals between 6:47 and 7:06 paces, consistently hovering around 6:55-7:00 for most! Recovered for half a mile before clocking one marathon paced mile at 8:42. I had to stop for a moment during that mile to relieve a side stitch, but I don’t doubt I easily could’ve maintained that pace sans a pause since it felt so manageable.

A quick swap of clothing later and I stroked through the pool for a sunrise splash: 500, 400, 300, 200, and 100 yard sets at a slower effort with a 200 breaststroke rep and 100 cooldown to finish at 1,800 for the day. The deck was so serene without children around, just a few others getting their workouts in. As much as I’m able, I’d like to venture over to the facility early since it’s doubtlessly the best time of day to go.

Pre-workout: 1 scoop Nuun Prime + Caffeine in Orange, GU Stroopwafel in Caramel Coffee

Workout 1: Run (water)

Snack: 1/2 banana

Workout 2: Swim (water)

Breakfast: 1/2 Clif Cookies & Cream Builders Bar, 2 fried eggs with avocado on whole grain English muffin + grapes and strawberries

Lunch: Mixed green salad with canned salmon, cherries, blueberries, avocado, feta cheese, homemade naan bread + homemade hummus

Snack: Bowl of Honey Nut O’s and cinnamon crunch cereal with yogurt, blueberries, peanut butter, and dark chocolate

Dinner: 2 slices homemade wheat bread (toasted), sauteed white beans and maitake mushrooms in fennel and garlic, small side salad with tomatoes and cucumbers.

Dessert: dark chocolate mug cake with two small scoops of Talenti Sea Salt Caramel Gelato.

Thursday, 6/18: 30.31 miles, 15.8 mph cycling (114 minutes)

Dead hour ride on the trainer with 10 miles solely in my outdoor gear: averaged 15.9 and 16 mph during those segments. I should’ve probably fueled during the ride but didn’t bring anything except water downstairs. Knowledge for next time!

Friday, 6/19: 4.21 miles, 10:30 pace + 45 minute strength + 2.25 miles, 10:03 pace

Had a troublesome time finding my groove during the first run: my legs were heavy and didn’t seem thrilled with my pavement-pounding. I’m sure biking yesterday and mileage in general contributes, but I think my super early wakeups these past few days aren’t helping. Tomorrow I luckily get a little bit more leeway with my alarm, so 3:30 am is out of the picture. Post-strength cooldown run felt much better and I formed a mini progression in the last mile, ranging from 10:00 to 9:30 paces.

I enjoyed my lift very much. I’m noticing plenty of strength gains from my increased focus on resistance training!

Strength: 3x through

• 10 single arm shoulder press
• 16 torso rotations with knee lift
• 15 triceps pulses
• 12 single leg, single arm row
• 15 biceps curls (did hammer curls for the final set because I hate biceps curls)
• 15 hike and pulls
• 12 side lunge windmills
• 15-10-8 dropset front raises
• 16 bosu ball plank dumbbell drags
• 16 bosu ball side plank leg swings

Saturday, 6/21: 16.03 miles, 10:35 pace + what I ate to fuel

Entirely pleased with my long run considering how awful it was outside. I made sure I hydrated especially well and brought a tab of Nuun in my toolkit to plop in my first water bottle refill, which happened about halfway through the miles. I didn’t suffer overmuch except from maybe miles 8-10 when the headwind got to me: I think this mentally fatigued me more than anything, for my heartrate jumped up and I couldn’t get it down the remainder of the session. I felt energetic enough the rest of the day and even got in a yummy 30 minute restorative yoga session before lunch.

Speaking of lunch – here is my food diary from Saturday:

Pre-run: 1 scoop Nuun Prime + Caffeine in Orange, 1 GU Stroopwafel in Salted Chocolate

Workout (run): 1 Maurten Gel100 + 1 tablet Nuun in Orange (electrolytes only) + ~ 60 oz water

Post-run: Recovery shake with 1.5 bananas, 1 scoop Sprouts Vegan Protein in Chocolate, cold coffee and ice (basically my cocoa peanut recovery shake sans the peanut powder)

Breakfast: 2 fried eggs and avocado on whole grain English muffin + grapes, strawberries and blueberries + coffee!

Lunch: Salad with apple, celery, raisins, green onions and balsamic vinegar + 2 slices of homemade wheat toast with hummus and hickory smoked vegan “turkey” deli slices

Snack: Bowl honey nut cereal with Greek yogurt, strawberries, banana, blueberries, honey, and a few dark chocolate chips

Dinner: Miso glazed salmon, sauteed baby bok choy, 3 homemade fresh rolls (cabbage, carrots, herbs, green onions, etc) dipped in sweet chili sauce.

Dessert: Dark chocolate mugcake with small scoop nondairy cookie dough ice cream.

Sunday, 6/21: 2,500 yard swim (54:32)

I didn’t struggle with wayward kids so much during this swim as the guy sharing a lane with me hitting me more often than warranted. I know it wasn’t on purpose, but the dude really needed to watch himself. I was focused on my intervals and it wasn’t frequent enough to stop me in my tracks, but I more than once lost my rhythm due to his negligence. Regardless, I completed 1,600 yards straight in a little over 34 minutes, which would put me around 36 minutes for a mile swim! I continued my yardage with 2 x 200, 1 x 300 breaststroke, and a 200 pull cooldown. The pool felt glorious after my work shift and even better contrasting with the blaring sun.

Total running mileage: 44.6 miles

Total cycling mileage: 50.4 miles

Total swimming yardage: 6,100 yards