How to Build Nutritional Resilience for Ultra-Cycling

You reap what you sow.

That’s something my late dad taught me, especially when it came to gardening.

He was an avid gardener. Every winter, he’d make his own nutrient-rich compost and spread it across the garden, knowing that the quality of what he put into the soil would influence what came out of it months later.

Come spring, the results were usually pretty spectacular.

I think nutrition works much the same way.

You don’t build a resilient athlete with one perfect meal, one good recovery drink or a carefully calculated race nutrition plan.

You build it gradually, through the quality and consistency of what you give your body day after day.

For an ultra-endurance cyclist, that’s nutritional resilience.

What is nutritional resilience?

Ultra-endurance cycling places a huge demand on the body.

You’re asking it to produce energy for long hours, sometimes over multiple days and nights, while managing fatigue, repairing muscle, regulating temperature, supporting the immune system and continuing to make good decisions when you’re tired.

That doesn’t happen in isolation.

Your ability to train, recover and adapt is influenced by what you give your body between sessions as much as what you put in your bottles during them.

That’s why I think about nutrition in terms of building resilience.

The goal isn’t to eat perfectly.

It’s to create a strong nutritional foundation that gives your body the resources it needs to do the work you’re asking of it.

And, just like my garden, that takes time.

Nutritional resilience starts with the basics

Before we get too clever with nutrition, I always look at the foundations.

Are you eating enough to support the training you’re doing?

Getting enough carbohydrate to fuel your training and replenish glycogen?

Enough protein to support repair and adaptation?

Are you including a good range of fruit, vegetables, whole grains, pulses, nuts and seeds?

Enough healthy fats, enough fluid?

And are you giving your body the right, and enough, food to drive recovery and adaptation after hard training?

These aren’t particularly glamorous questions.

But they matter.

Because nutritional resilience isn’t built by chasing the latest superfood or supplement.

It’s built by consistently giving your body what it needs.

Don’t forget the micronutrients

Macronutrients tend to get most of the attention in endurance sport.

Carbohydrate. Protein. Fat.

And quite rightly. They have important jobs to do.

But your body also needs a huge range of vitamins and minerals to support the processes that keep you functioning, adapting and recovering.

These micronutrients are involved in everything from energy metabolism and muscle function to bone health, immune function and the production and repair of cells.

You don’t need to memorise a list of vitamins and minerals.

You need to eat a varied diet that gives you plenty of opportunities to get them.

Think variety rather than perfection.

Different coloured vegetables.

Fruit.

Whole grains.

Beans and pulses.

Nuts and seeds.

Dairy or suitable alternatives.

Eggs, fish, meat or other sources of protein.

And a range of foods rather than relying on the same few meals every day.

The more variety you have, the more nutritional ground you’re covering.

Build your nutritional soil

This is where I come back to my garden.

You can’t wait until spring and then decide your plants need better soil.

By then, you’ve missed an opportunity.

Preparation happens beforehand.

Nutrition for ultra-endurance cycling is much the same.

If you want to head into a big training block with the capacity to train consistently, recover well and adapt to the work you’re doing, the groundwork needs to happen before the big miles arrive.

That doesn’t mean your nutrition needs to be perfect.

It means it needs to be good enough, often enough, for long enough.

Think of it as building your nutritional soil.

The better the soil, the better chance you give the plant to grow.

The better your nutritional foundation, the better chance you give your body to do what you’re asking of it.

What does that look like in real life?

Take a simple chickpea salad sandwich.

Chickpeas provide carbohydrate, protein, fibre and a range of vitamins and minerals. Add celery, red pepper, spring onions, herbs and wholegrain bread and you’ve got a meal that brings together a good range of nutrients and plenty of variety.

Nothing particularly exotic.

No expensive supplement or complicated nutrition protocol.

Just good food, eaten consistently.

And that’s the point.

Nutritional resilience isn’t created by doing extraordinary things with your diet.

It’s created by doing ordinary things well, repeatedly.

Ingredients

1-15oz can chickpeas

2 stalks celery

3 spring onions, finely chopped

¼ cup (60ml) dill pickle, finely chopped

¼ cup (60ml) red pepper, finely chopped

2-3 tablespoons of mayonnaise

1 clove garlic, chopped

1.5-tsp yellow mustard

2-tsp minced fresh dill, 1tsp dried dill (optional)

1.5-tsp lemon juice

Coarse black pepper and salt to taste

Method

1. Add all the ingredients to a large bowl and mix. It’s as simple as that!

2. Serve with toasted wheaten bread or a wholewheat wrap.

3. Enjoy!

Build it before you need it

When you’re training for an ultra-endurance event, it’s tempting to focus on the obvious things.

How many grams of carbohydrate per hour?

Which drink, chew or gel?

How much fluid?

What should I eat on race day?

All of those questions matter.

But they sit on top of something much bigger – your everyday nutrition.

Because your body doesn’t suddenly become resilient when the race starts.

It arrives at the start line with the resources you’ve built over the weeks, months and years beforehand.

Just like my dad’s garden, you reap what you sow.

So if next season has big miles, long days and ambitious goals in store, start preparing your nutritional soil now.

Give your body the raw materials it needs and give the process time.

That’s how you build nutritional resilience.

And that’s how you give yourself a stronger foundation for extraordinary performance.

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I’m Jill, a performance nutrition coach who specialises in endurance nutrition. There are a number of ways to work with me. I also offer a complimentary zoom chat so head on over to our contact form and let’s get you up and on your way.