Summer’s Here: Fuel Up!

Now two weeks into June and summer training underway, athletes across the country are amidst these first volume blocks of the summer, setting the tone for training to come. The APU athletes are skiing up on Eagle Glacier, the BSF Pro team is taking to the mountains for some sweet trail running, Team Birkie is hitting the sweet Minneapolis Roller skiing, the US Biathlon team is tearing it up in the Adirondacks, and the Craftsbury Green Racing Project is back crushing laps on the loop. It seems that everyone is getting back into the swing of training after resting. I’ve currently been enjoying a great month back home in Bend Oregon reaping the sweet benefits of crust skiing up high and mountain biking in town before I head back to Vermont to get training with the newest Pro team on the block, Mansfield Nordic Pro.

Being on social media seeing all the different ways people are choosing to start their training year can be confusing to say the least. It had me thinking about how important it is to set intentions for our training early on, so that the benefits of these good habits pay off later in the year. It also reminded me that the K.I.S.S. advice from Micheal Scott in the Office is especially pertinent this time of year: Keep It Simple Stupid. What I mean by that, is that this June I’ve found it helpful to write out the basic process goals I want to have for the year to set myself up for success. The best part about process goals, is that they are not specific to athletes seeking high performance. These are training pieces that anyone can integrate into their process, no matter if they’re trying to qualify for Cortina 2026, set a personal best Birkie result, or just set themselves up for a winter that they can ski however they want.

The process goal I found myself thinking about a lot is how I want to be fueling my body during these months. With volume, and temperatures high, nutrition is the most important way that we can maximize both our recovery, as well as our output during training. Not just on the performance side, making sure we are fueling while we exercise sets us up for a more productive day in general. I’m someone who has certainly suffered from the bonk on my morning mountain bike ride that ends up tanking the rest of my day, making what was supposed to be an easy workout, into one that exhausts you all day.

You can read all you want about nutrition, but for me, the thing that has worked best is experience. Mixing and matching what works for me and what doesn’t has been a process for sure, but in the past few years, I’ve honed in on a couple of habits that have made my training better, particularly during these summer blocks. Here are a few! 

Breakfast: THE MOST IMPORTANT MEAL OF THE DAY

A game changer for me training last summer, was integrating much higher levels of carbs before I trained, during training, and directly after training. Tour de France athletes are taking in upwards of 110g of carbs per hour during their stages. This high carb intake doesn’t just apply to hard efforts though, it is incredibly important in our threshold, speed, and base training. However, breakfast is the fuel that sets the tone for our day. If we enter the day in a caloric deficit, or without enough carbs to get us through the first workout of the day, our bodies will be working overtime to catch up.  

For my pre-workout breakfasts, I’ve worked on training my stomach to handle larger amounts of food, a practice that really paid off in the winter for my prerace stomach which can be tough. A good gauge to know if you are eating enough for breakfast, is if you can make it 2 hours at your easy, Level 1, pace without starting to get hungry. Not to say that you shouldn’t be eating during those two hours, but if you find yourself getting hungry at an hour into your easy workout, you should definitely work on having more for breakfast. For me, the meal that has worked best, is a bowl granola/cherrios/oats, fruit, and yogurt bowl, with two pieces of toast, one with an egg, and one with peanut butter and jelly (oddly specific I know, but it’s been the best for me). Sometimes, the last piece of toast becomes an on the go eat on the way to training, but the integration of more breakfast fuel, really pays off later in the day. I also find that having these kinds of ‘two’ breakfasts, allow for you to switch up what you're eating. Sometimes, instead of my egg and toast with my yogurt, I’d have a waffle with yogurt and jam, or a bagel with cream cheese. I strongly believe that I felt much better for my second session of the day due to my increase in intake during breakfast. It really is the most important meal of the day!

During Training: Carbs Carbs Carbs

Additionally during workouts, particularly during intensity session, making sure you are training to handle carbs before your intensity, (in the form of gu, blocks, mix whatever) as well as after is super crucial for both expanding what your muscles can do during the intensity workout, and how it can instantly begin recovering. I had a coach once tell me, as soon as your intervals are done, your recovery begins, why waste any time not recovering? In months where our volume as athletes is high, these small moments of recovery, really add up.

During these hot summer months, it is crucial more than ever to be on top of hydration. Having the option to carry both a drink mix, and a water is optimal. For me, I when I’m rollerskiing, I carry a softbottle with a drink mix (usually Gatorade for an easy session, or Skratch High Carb for an intensity session) in the pocket of my drink belt, with water in the belt in the main bottle. If I’m running or bounding, I’ll do the same thing with my Salomon Drink Vest, with one bottle being a mix, and the other being water. Having both allows you to get water when you need it, but also constantly supplementing with glucose and electrolytes to replace what you are sweating out.

Additionally, having a bar on hand for during the workout is super important, as well as your snack for after. For me, the classic PB and J is unbeatable as it is easy, filled with protein and carbs, and super tasty. It’s an easy thing to pack along for after when going for any workout.

The Afternoon Snack: Maybe even More Important than Breakfast?

One of the harder things I’ve had to figure out in my training is what afternoon snack works the best for me. After lunch, and whatever it is you fill your day with before the afternoon session, it can be hard to figure out the best thing to eat. You don’t want something too heavy before, but you want something enough to get you out the door and keep you from bonking. I’ve found that the smoothie bowl has been my go to. When it is hot in the summer, it can feel nice to have something cold before your second session. Making sure to put oats in the smoothie, as well as eating it with some granola gets the carbs you need. Integrating greek yogurt, or peanut butter in the smoothie gives you the protein to last, with some frozen berries for some fast yummy cool sugar makes this my go to afternoon snack. Additionally, it’s been the best thing on my stomach.

The real tricky thing is making sure you eat something after this session and before dinner. As hard as it can be to do this one, particularly with dinner so soon, again, anytime you finish up a workout, you begin your window of opportunity for recovery. For this pre-dinner snack, I chose a classic staple of recovery nutrition: good ol’ chocolate milk.

Whatever works, Works!

These are just some of the tricks I’ve found myself through training, but at the end of the day, what works for you is what works best. Nutrition is a finicky game, and at the end of the day, our own trial and error is the best science we have for ourselves.