Today I completed my very first (and probably last!) marathon.  I had a couple of goals when I set out at 7am this morning.  The first was to finish.  The second was to sustain my run with healthy sugar-free, mostly paleo foods.  Above all, I wanted to avoid gels and goo.    Running gels and goo are stuffed full of corn syrup, sugar, and other sweeteners.  Given that I don’t eat sugar in my diet, I was convinced that ingesting these in a run would not only be detrimental to my health and would tank my run after a brief sugar high.

So, I set out with an eating plan that avoided all these fake “foods.”  I packed with me a bumble bar, 2 natural fruit bars, raisins, and dried mango.  I had a support team at the 18 mile mark with a gluten-free cashew nut butter and jam sandwich, and I made sure to use the potassium refill stations (bananas) along the way.

I finished, I stayed paleo (with the exception of the gluten-free bread on my sandwich), and I felt strong and healthy at the finish!  If you’re interested in learning more about eating paleo for performance athletes, I suggest checking out the book “Paleo Diet for Athletes“