Agreed - Kenyan meals center on Ugali (maize) and green vegetables like kale. Limited amounts of meat, in general .
In Kenya, very little or no junk food, in general, although the Kenyans who run in US colleges seem to indulge, moderately in some/occasional junk food.
Most Kenyans are a lot smaller so have lot less calories needed to fuel. ugali and veg aren’t calorie dense so if you need as many calories as Phil would you’d be constantly sluggish after eating a kg of food pre runs.
Is there a reason why you posted that? 99.999% of runners have never won anything of note. Imagine how small and insignificant it must be to be you?
You’re killing me over here. The poor guy doesn’t need to be reminded that he is insignificant, as he probably has a wife who already does that.
Probably true. But he's the one who made the uncalled for gratuitous insult. But he still needed to hear it. What was the point of the guy saying that a 2:07 marathoner hasn't won anything of note? Its nothing but invidious envy. LRC has become place of bad intentions. No one can appreciate those striving for excellence. Thats not the sport that I signed up for.
It's almost as if what you do in training 95% of what determines your success. And diet is like 5%. Who could have predicted this extremely obvious observation.
Sarcasm aside, you are a mouth breather if you think diet will help you get good at something. DOING THE THING is what helps you get good at something.
Diet: Some healthy stuff, but high percentage of less optimal food. Breakfast - crumpets, Nutella, etc, lunch - sandwich and cake, etc. Plenty of chocolate, etc.
Not saying it's a junk food diet, per se, but definitely could be more healthy. Heavy absence of fruits and vegetables.
It's almost as if what you do in training 95% of what determines your success. And diet is like 5%. Who could have predicted this extremely obvious observation.
Sarcasm aside, you are a mouth breather if you think diet will help you get good at something. DOING THE THING is what helps you get good at something.
Referring to optimization and I don't think Phil Sesemann's diet is optimal but I may be wrong in terms of the calorie intake but I've seen much better diets than his from some French elite marathoners who run around the same time or faster.
The French, by the way, are more conscious of what constitutes a subjectively "healthy diet" - ingrained from most parents, and the French canteen school lunch, which is very healthy, containing an entrée of salad, a mains of protein (meat/fish/quiche) and veg, and usually fruit/yoghurt for dessert. Night and day with British/or American typical school lunches. The best, are Japanese school lunches, in my opinion. Japanese are at the top in world longevity.
In terms of longevity, runners who include a lot of junk food need to be careful when their career is over lest their career junk food inclusion habit produces problems to their metabolic system with weight gain, diabetes and cardiovascular problems. Seen it in countless former runners.
Phil Sesemann is a qualified MD.... probably aware of all of the above.
Looking at Strava he runs ~250km per week and does a lot of intensity, even for a top marathoner (double threshold on Tuesday, Marathon specific session Friday and a reasonably fast long run on Sundays). In spite of all that I don't believe he's had any bone stress injuries in recent years, so if it works it works!
Looking at Strava he runs ~250km per week and does a lot of intensity, even for a top marathoner (double threshold on Tuesday, Marathon specific session Friday and a reasonably fast long run on Sundays). In spite of all that I don't believe he's had any bone stress injuries in recent years, so if it works it works!
His mate, Emile Cairess/4th Olympic marathon, is frequently injured. Different physique Cairess - extreme ectomorph. Still trained by Professor Canova?
Diet: Some healthy stuff, but high percentage of less optimal food. Breakfast - crumpets, Nutella, etc, lunch - sandwich and cake, etc. Plenty of chocolate, etc.
Not saying it's a junk food diet, per se, but definitely could be more healthy. Heavy absence of fruits and vegetables.
Discuss. Btw, Mr Seseman is a doctor by training.
I just came back from a training camp with another top European Marathoner (faster PB than Phil), who's diet was almost entirely freshly made. Nothing was supermarket-packaged. All meals were from scratch, fresh bread from bakery, meat from butchers, no "'treats". A lot of fresh fruit too. He consumed a lot of honey, and added sugar to tea and coffee though.
I was very impressed by how "clean" his diet was every day. ______ That being said, I wouldn't say Phil's diet is a "high percentage junk food" diet. Sure his crumpets and nutella aren't clean, but they don't make up a large percentage of his daily nutrients, nor does his evening chocolate consumption.
I'm sure he could eat a little less sugar, but would it make him run better? Even if it did, would it make him happier?
He's also a Dad, with kids. Being a pro runner is also just a job, he should be able to enjoy his life, and balance it with the conveniences and luxuries we all need outside of our day-jobs.
He's an Olympian, a paid athlete, and loves his job. I think he's doing fine!
Looking at Strava he runs ~250km per week and does a lot of intensity, even for a top marathoner (double threshold on Tuesday, Marathon specific session Friday and a reasonably fast long run on Sundays). In spite of all that I don't believe he's had any bone stress injuries in recent years, so if it works it works!
His mate, Emile Cairess/4th Olympic marathon, is frequently injured. Different physique Cairess - extreme ectomorph. Still trained by Professor Canova?
Looking at Strava he runs ~250km per week and does a lot of intensity, even for a top marathoner (double threshold on Tuesday, Marathon specific session Friday and a reasonably fast long run on Sundays). In spite of all that I don't believe he's had any bone stress injuries in recent years, so if it works it works!
His mate, Emile Cairess/4th Olympic marathon, is frequently injured. Different physique Cairess - extreme ectomorph. Still trained by Professor Canova?
Struggling to see the relevance of this - are we not talking about Phil Sesemann's diet here? What does Emile Cairess being injury prone have to do with it?
All I'm saying is that the absence of him getting any serious injuries recently is good evidence that his diet is all g.
Could it theoretically be be better if he replaced some of the chocolate with fruit and veg? Maybe, but the opposite could also be true - he might physically struggle to consume the same aggregate amount of calories if he ate "cleaner" as whole foods are so much more satiating. Also eating too much fruit and veg whilst running high mileage can give you the sh*ts, which isn't exactly ideal when you're doing hard continuous marathon sessions where you're also taking gels which can themselves can cause GI distress.
His mate, Emile Cairess/4th Olympic marathon, is frequently injured. Different physique Cairess - extreme ectomorph. Still trained by Professor Canova?
Struggling to see the relevance of this - are we not talking about Phil Sesemann's diet here? What does Emile Cairess being injury prone have to do with it?
All I'm saying is that the absence of him getting any serious injuries recently is good evidence that his diet is all g.
Could it theoretically be be better if he replaced some of the chocolate with fruit and veg? Maybe, but the opposite could also be true - he might physically struggle to consume the same aggregate amount of calories if he ate "cleaner" as whole foods are so much more satiating. Also eating too much fruit and veg whilst running high mileage can give you the sh*ts, which isn't exactly ideal when you're doing hard continuous marathon sessions where you're also taking gels which can themselves can cause GI distress.
If it ain't broke don't try to fix it!
Not being negative.
I saw what happened to Ron Clarke, Gordon Pirie, Carlos Lopes and other elites post career when they developed cardiac problems. There's no correlation (or little) between elite sports people and longevity. Runners should still strive to be healthy. By age 40, 50% of their life, on average, has already passed. Why not try to eliminate certain (addictive) foods, which do little for health. There are always alternatives which are more healthy. Just saying.
In any case, not dissing Dr Sesemann, just discussing whether he could optimise his diet.
Re Canova - no diss either - Emile has been injury prone with his own structural characteristics.
When you’re hitting 12 miles in the morning and 7 in the afternoon, the equation sort of changes.
One run in the morning, and you have all day to replenish calories and fluids before your run the next day. When you have another run lined up in five hours or so, the mission changes.
You not only have to replenish just like before, but you’ve gotta do it and have your stomach ready to roll in somewhat short order. It’s the same reason you don’t eat rice or a chicken breast during your long run. It won’t end well.
There are some situations where candy or cake is less optimal than something “healthier”. But there are also situations where candy is the best option, in my experience. Just need to make sure your meals that aren’t between runs are nutritious and healthy.
He runs 2:07. Clearly his diet is working for him.
Diet: Some healthy stuff, but high percentage of less optimal food. Breakfast - crumpets, Nutella, etc, lunch - sandwich and cake, etc. Plenty of chocolate, etc.
Not saying it's a junk food diet, per se, but definitely could be more healthy. Heavy absence of fruits and vegetables.
Discuss. Btw, Mr Seseman is a doctor by training.
Runners, especially marathoners, burn so many calories per day that the nutrition of their replenishment calories don’t matter. They burn so much that high fat, high cholesterol foods will be burned off before posing any serious risk to the arteries. It is nutritionally best to eat foods with a high amount of the full range of nutrition, such as fruit, vegetables, and nuts for proper recovery so that the runner doesn’t risk nutritional deficits like low iron, low protein, low Vitamin D, etc. But bad foods cannot really harm them compared to your average Joe who doesn’t exercise enough.
I agree with 90% of what you say except that even for marathon runners a highly processed diet will still leave behind a variety of physical and metabolic "residuals" - accumulated waste products, harmful compounds in the body which over time can definitely have an impact on the body. A good example of this is uric acid crystals which can form around joints and contribute towards injuries and/or the need for surgery. It can also obviously shorten the career lifespan of an athlete. As with anything it’s all about moderation. Some processed foods/junk foods is not going to make or break an athlete. It’s what they eat most of the time that counts.
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A better diet may give a 1% improvement. The question is how long do you want to last. I remember pro triathlete tim O'Donnell having a heart attack at 40 ending his career, who enjoyed donuts
Yes, Kenyans eat protein often and that's why they're so successful
Disagree, from what I've seen the Kenyan runners are on around 80% carbs dominant diet, with around 400-500 grams of Ugali, maize, typically consumed in one day. The runners I've seen and lived with eat small amounts of protein, mostly from milk, occasional eggs, and meat perhaps once per week, and for many once per every 2-4 weeks. Quasi vegetarian,, mostly.