By Infinit Staff Nutritionist, Kim Mueller, MS, RDTrue adventure is about defining your own path and breaking beyond your traditional rings of comfort to establish new performance potentials for your body that the mind may have once doubted. Whether you are planning 50 miles of single track action on your mountain bike, some backcountry XC skiing, a long rock climbing ascent, or a trek by foot to the summit at 15,000 feet, the boundaries set by our minds can continue to be defied with the aid of proper nutritional planning for the long haul.
Extreme Nutrition Tip: Prevent engine failure with frequent fueling
Unlike rest where our glycogen (storage form of carbohydrate) reserves are maintained for a good 3-4 hours, when ‘in motion, these stores deplete every 1-2 hours making the mental ‘bonk’ and muscle-wrenching wall probable causes of a engine failure during all-day adventures when nutrition is neglected. To ensure optimal energy levels for sustained endurance, an adequate amount of fuel plus some emergency fuel should be included in your adventure pack before heading out.
Because all-day adventures are more aerobic in nature than shorter workouts, there is sufficient oxygen available for digestion of a more diverse macronutrient (carbohydrate, fat, protein) buffet during such efforts although carbohydrate should still be the focus of this buffet. While calorie burn will vary based on course terrain, weather conditions (shivering increases calorie expenditure), and activity chosen, adventurers should expect to burn ~3-4 calories per pound of body weight each hour of activity of which 30-50% should be replaced. For example, a 150 lb adventurer will burn ~450-600 calories each hour of which 135-300 hourly calories should be replaced.
Obviously, ease of travel will contribute to the foods chosen for all-day adventures but common choices include non-perishables such as freeze-dried foods, trail mixes, nut butter sandwiches, sports drinks, energy bars, dried soups, & beef/turkey jerky.
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