Yoga makes me happy.

Running makes me happy.

And good food makes me happy, too! 

Yoga + running + good food = the majority of my health regime

The following quote sums up why health matters to me, and why I chose to begin the "Real Food" series. 

“Health and cheerfulness naturally beget each other.” Joseph Addison.

There you go. Let's be healthy to be more cheerful :)

​One way to do that is by carefully selecting natural, minimally processed foods to eat before, during and after endurance endeavors, such as long, strenuous, technical trail runs. 

But first!

Have you read the first three blog posts in my "Real Food" series? 

The Real Food I Ate Before, During & After a 16.3-Mile Trail Run

The Real Food I Ate Before, During & After a 20-Mile Run on Dirt Roads & Pavement

The Real Food I Ate Before & During the Kanawha Trace 50K Trail Race

​​In this fourth post, I share with you the list of foods and electrolytes that I consumed during a point-to-point 12.25-mile single track trail run beginning at Lick Hollow on Pine Knob Trail and connecting to Whitetail Trail in Quebec Run Wild Area, in southwestern Pennsylvania, with a total elevation gain of 2,600 feet.

Five members of my all-female trail running group, the Trail Run Tribe, and I did this run on Saturday, Oct. 6, in 68-degree balmy weather (though, when I felt SO HOT that morning, I reminded myself that I completed my first 50K in 25 DEGREES HOTTER TEMPS AND DOUBLE THE DEW POINT... #sweatinmyeyesfeelssogood).

Three of the women ran the first eight miles, where we had set shuttle, and three of us carried on to the end. It took three hours and 33 minutes to complete the run. Roadies, I know what you're thinking...

Why so long?

Because within one mile, we had to detour down a steep bank around the top branches of a six-story tree covering the trail and hillside; for the first 2.5 miles we cleared trail from recent storms, tossing aside large limbs, small trees and various debris; at miles five, 10 and 11 we crossed above-ankle high creeks; one hill had a 20 percent grade; and we love to stop and take photos of the beautiful scenery, flora and fauna! 

Now, let's get to the FOOD.

6:45 a.m. Pumpkin Spice Smoothie (pictured on right in above photo)

Recipe: 
1/4 cup organic canned pumpkin
2 bananas
1 TBSP organic plain sunflower seed butter
1/4 cup Oat Milk, plain, unsweetened 
Lots of dashes of cinnamon
Dash of cloves and ginger

12 ounces hot Yerba Mate tea

12 ounces Dandy Blend (pictured on left in above photo)

8:20 a.m. Began running at Lick Hollow, Pine Knob Trail, to Whitetail Trail in Quebec Run Wild Area

Mile 2.5: Skratch Labs hydration drink mix with strawberries (purchased at local outfitters Wilderness Voyageurs), dissolved in 12 ounces of water

Mile 5: About 20 black grapes (I would never eat these during a race due to the fiber and associated possible stomach distress, but they were refreshing on this, slow, easy-paced group trail run)

Mile 8: Coconut water, 12 ounces (said good-bye to half the group at this point)

Mile 9: About five pickled beet chunks (because I don't like traditional pickles or mustard, a favorite of runners, and I thought that the vinegar, the common, anti-cramping/inflammatory ingredient in pickles, mustard and beets, would do my body good)

Mile 10: Three more pickled beet chunks

Small sipping throughout: I finished about one liter of water. 

Post-run Meal (eaten within 20 minutes of finishing the run):
Three small baked sweet potatoes on two cups mixed greens with Himalayan pink salt and olive oil
Roasted cashews with sea salt, about 1/3 cup
Organic Dark Chocolate Apricots, five pieces

My fellow runners, I hope that eating on the run becomes less of a stressor, if it is one, and more of something that makes you HAPPY. I SO ENJOY packing my running pack the day before a running adventure and experimenting with my favorite comfort foods based on the the distance, season, terrain and my mood.

I hope that your physical practice of running long and far cheers your soul, and that your food choices do, too.

Namaste,

​:)Brynn 

​P.S. Follow my running adventures, yoga journey and mom life on Instagram: @brynn_cunningham

Eating well is a practice. Just like yoga (my daily go-to for recovery, strength, balance and stress reduction in life and running), eating well takes discipline... in fact, it is a discipline. 

Eating well on the run takes practice. 

Eating well in general is simply part of the equation for improving quality of life, so why stray from that belief on the run?

With that said...

Have you read my two blogs sharing what I ate during two 50K training runs?

Here they are: 

The Real Foods I Ate Before, During & After a 16.3-Mile Trail Run

The Real Foods I Ate Before, During & After a 20-Mile Run on Dirt Roads & Pavement

I hope that these food lists help you to choose real, quality fuel for your endurance endeavors, because eating well feels good and could make your runs feel good, too. 

Now, in today's blog, I tell you what I carefully selected for the BIG DAY: my first ever 50K trail race!

Three significant factors dictated what I chose to eat and drink during the Kanawha Trace 50K Trail Race held Saturday, August 3, 2018, in central West Virginia.

​Factor One: Extreme heat and humidity to which my body was not accustomed. I knew that running a 50K in central West Virginia in August would not match any of the training or races I had done anywhere else, including the training runs in my hometown of Ohioyple, Pa, three hours north of the event. Sure, it gets hot and above 85 degrees here at home, but the humidity never compares to the south. Plus, running, let alone racing, in the peak of summertime is my least favorite. I much prefer 20 degrees and races such as the Frozen Sasquatch :) Even 75 degrees is nice! The duel challenge of HOT HOT HOT (90s and max dew point) and LEAST FAV TIME, which I deliberately put upon myself as a test of my own ability, meant precise planning to keep electrolytes balanced and cramping/over-heating at bay. What I chose to do worked, and I only experienced cramping toward the final miles but nothing that halted me for too, too long.

Factor Two: Breastfeeding - I was still nursing my then 15-month-old son, Grey, on demand, 24/7, meaning that we nursed every one to two hours when together and during the night, but that he could go up to seven hours sans the boob if I were away (hence the inspiration behind my goal to finish as quickly as possible!). Nursing meant extra hydration and extra calories from galactogogues (foods that increase breast milk supply), just to ensure milk production did not drop significantly during the event. On top of nursing, as we slept in the tent the night before the 50K, I lay there sweating, from doing nothing, and so did Grey. Yes, it was hot, and yes, that meant Grey was extra thirsty. I accepted the fact that I might go into the race dehydrated, or depleted, or both, but confidence in my fuel plan kept panic (or fear?!) subdued. So, I nursed with little anxiety. When I woke up around 4:30 a.m., I was ready to eat within the hour because the heavy nursing and dripping sweat nighttime conditions made my body want food. 

​
Factor Three: A broken arm. HA! I don't know how this changed my approach to fueling, really, other than it made me really want my favorite foods, because I knew that after 11 miles the elbow and shoulder connected to the fractured radius would begin to ache, my left hip would feel tight because my left arm was swinging slightly askew, and my whole right side, from trapezius to outer shin, would constrict in reaction to all this asymmetry...  and I would want chocolate. OK, OK, I would want chocolate regardless! But a broken bone is always a good excuse for more of this heavenly sweet treat, right? There's nothing like comfort foods to ease a little pain!

Going into the event, I re-read the the chapter on racing in extreme conditions in Stacy Sims' and Selene Yeager's book ROAR: How To Match Your Food and Fitness to Your Unique Female Physiology for Optimum Performance, Great Health, and a Strong, Lean Body for Life again. And again. And again. Hands down, their calculated hydration/electrolyte replenishing plans, which I figured out for my weight and race conditions, WORKED. They actually saved me from bonking and the dreaded wall and ensured that I drank enough - if I did not do the calculations, I would have underestimated the amount of liquid to drink.

Further, I went with the "trickle" tactic. In other words, I ate a tiny amount of food every 30-45 minutes. For instance, I ate a bite of sweet potato and some chocolate covered blueberries 45 minutes into the race. A few miles later I had more sweet potato and a date. By miles 22, food actually made me gag, and I began eating Pro Bar Organic Energy Chews. This aren't exactly real food,  but they get as close to it as a chew can. 

No, my fueling was not perfect. I did cramp sometime after mile 17 when I strayed from the plan and downed fresh, plain water from am aid station - a big no no in extreme heat! My body needed constant salts and sugars. Once I reverted back to the plan, cramping mostly went away but was always manageable upon slowing down.

​Also, I regretted eating the Justin's almond butter, but I wanted it for it's milk-producing effect.  

Overall, though, I was happy, because I kept a steady 12/minute per mile pace over the rough terrain of the trail. Slow and steady, with no big surges or dips in energy, I maintained my post as second overall female and 12th overall runner with a time of 6:29:40. 

And I can't wait to do it again, somewhere, on another trail, in another part of the woods, with real food on my back and happiness in my heart!

​<3 Brynn