Eat and Swim
An ode to Scott Jurek’s Eat and Run
I first read Scott Jurek’s book “Eat and Run — my unlikely journey to ultramarathon greatness” when I was preparing for the London to Brighton 100 kilometre race. I was experimenting with alternatives to energy gels for fuel to keep me going for up to 20 hours of non-stop-walking. The inspirational back story to Scott’s early life and dominance of some of the toughest long-distance running events was fabulous but just as insightful were his recipes and approach to eating for ultra marathons. His natural, vegan approach to eating proper food before, during and after a run was a revelation and a genuinely fresh take for me after years of awful, sticky energy gels packaged in single-use plastic. In Eat and Run, Scott shares 25 different wholesome and effective running recipes, one of which — the Kalamata trail wrap — I used to get me through my long-distance event. It was great to eat real food on the run for a change with one hummus and olive wrap every hour. I am now signed up for a long-distance swim, a 10K this summer, the equivalent of a marathon. I started looking at eating and swimming and chatting to a few fellow swimmers who asked for an article on the subject. It is important to say that I am not a medical professional or nutritionist and you should always follow medical advice, or as the Scottish say, “Don’t be daft”. Food and diet are very personal matters and individual…
