Brief
Chef Jake Smyth details pre‑ultra‑marathon diet, including a 2 pm fast
Smyth fasts until mid‑afternoon and then eats carb‑rich foods, while a sports nutritionist warns the approach may limit glycogen stores.
By Felo News Desk · Published
Jake Smyth, the 44‑year‑old chef and co‑founder of Mary’s venues in Sydney, outlined his eating plan for the day before his first ultra‑marathon.
He wakes at 5 a.m. to start dough, drinks filter coffee with cream at 7:30 a.m., and takes a Vital Greens supplement with grapefruit‑flavoured hydration salts at noon. He fasts until 2 p.m., then eats a slice of Mary’s Hot & Cold pizza topped with tomato sugo, nduja, stracciatella and chives. Evening meals include rice crackers with tuna and beans at 5:30 p.m., beef stroganoff with rice and broccoli at 7:30 p.m., and two squares of 85 % dark chocolate with peanut butter at 9:30 p.m., finishing with herbal tea at 10 p.m.
Dr Joanna McMillan said the fast “shifts the priority to easily digested carbohydrate to top up glycogen stores while keeping gut residue lower,” but warned that fasting until 2 p.m. may leave “surprisingly few opportunities to eat enough carbohydrate for such a long event.”
Key facts
- Jake Smyth is a 44‑year‑old chef and co‑founder of Mary’s venues in Sydney. (smh.com.au)
- He fasts until 2 pm the day before his first ultra‑marathon. (smh.com.au)
- His meals include coffee at 7:30 am, a pizza slice at 2 pm, beef stroganoff at 7:30 pm, and dark chocolate with peanut butter at 9:30 pm. (smh.com.au)
- Dr Joanna McMillan commented that the fast may limit carbohydrate intake for glycogen replenishment. (smh.com.au)
Sources
- [1] smh.com.au — originally reported as “Jake Smyth day on a plate: What the Mary’s co-founder eats to fuel his first ultra-marathon”
