Killian Jornet’s Nutrition: What we can learn from his data?
What Ultra-runners Can Learn From Killian Jornet's Nutrition Data? (Part 1)
I was asked what I thought about Killian Jornet’s nutrition, this got me thinking...
If you follow Killian, you’ll know what a fantastic human being and generous and talented athlete he is. Recently, he very kindly shared his Coros and Strava data, provided an in-depth interview to Megan and David Roche on the Some Work, All Play podcast, and wrote an in-depth 7,400-word blog about his 2022 season - complete with training, racing, mental prep, and nutrition planning. Essentially, a rare insight into the training and racing life of one of the world's greatest athletes (with a side order of energy gels and avocado).
But, what can we learn from it?
His training data has been explored in detail elsewhere, but what about the nutrition that supports his success? Over the next few posts, I'll break it down and cover his:
👉️ Race Fuelling
👉️ Energy use and intake
👉️ Protein
👉️ Carbohydrate metabolism
👉️ Fat Metabolism
👉️ Supplements
I’ll deep dive into the data in an effort to better understand his nutrition, and what mere mid-pack mortals like you and I can take away from it.
However, it’s first important to understand that Killian is no ordinary athlete. Elite athletes are genetic outliers - their training technique, volume, and intensity may not be relevant to ordinary competitive athletes. Killian emphasizes this at the start of his blog post:
“Each of us is very different, so to copy/paste or to adapt this plan to you without first analyzing what your different capacities are, would probably be a big mistake.”
It's exactly the same for nutrition. Some athletes have a gut made of steel, others have a gut made of jelly. Some athletes are responders, some are non-responders. Some burn more fat, others burn more carbs. As Killian states: each of us is different. Therefore, I plan to analyze, deconstruct and provide a rationale for his nutrition choices, presented in a way that will hopefully help other ultra-runners understand their own energy and nutrition needs.
I'll elaborate more in further posts. Follow for updates.
📸: Me not stalking Killian
