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The post-race party has started

With the current foodie trend extolling the health benefits of whole foods, organic foods, home cooked or slow foods, gluten/fat/sugar/salt-free and 100% natural foods, I thought it was curious that many endurance athletes, self-described health and fitness conscious folks, who even believed themselves that home cooking with natural ingredients was better for their health, regularly processed and fast foods on the go. Instead of eating meals and snacks made of local farm fresh ingredients, they regularly gulped down processed, packaged and pre-made convenience foods chock full of artificial ingredients and flavorings known only to food chemists with PhDs. And forget about sitting down to a meal with friends or family around the table. Many of the athletes I surveyed frequently ate alone– taking their meals in the front seat of a car, under a tree on a trail or from their bike jersey’s back pocket. What’s the deal?


By looking at the dietary habits of nearly 150 triathletes and marathon runners in my area—what they eat, when they eat, how they eat and their food-related rituals and beliefs—I hoped to explain why they are “a little different” when it comes to their eating habits. The following report is an edited down version of a research project I did for a food anthropology class in the Fall of 2008. I edited out most of the social science lingo, methodological details and references to old dead French social theorists to spare you.
Methodology: 
To figure out why triathletes and marathon runners are preaching, but not necessarily practicing the whole foods/slow food trend, I surveyed 108 marathon and ultra runners of two local running clubs and 33 triathlete members of a local triathlon club. In addition to the online surveys, I interviewed several race participants about their food ways at the Carpinteria Triathlon, September 28, 2008 and Santa Clarita Half-Marathon and Marathon races, November 2, 2008.
 My sample of respondents was purely convenience based. However, they represent “typical” triathletes and marathon runners per the demographic information from online media kits for Triathlete and Runner’s World magazines (Triathlete 2008; Runners World 2008). And, full disclosure, they were also my friends and friends of friends who self-reported their eating habits while training for and during their last “important” triathlon or marathon race. Their self-reporting may not be entirely accurate due to poor memory and potential social embarrassment. For example, my eight time Ironman athlete and personal trainer friend may not have come clean about his weekend beer and gummy bear consumption. In other words, the results should be taken with a grain of salt (ouch, bad pun).
The eating habits and dietary beliefs of the interviewed athletes seemed to mimic the ideals of sports nutrition within both sport sub-cultures of triathlon and long-distance running.  These ideals are represented in sports nutrition articles in both peer-reviewed research journals and popular triathlon and running magazines such as Triathlete, Runner’s World and Marathon and Beyond.
However, this is with the one significant exception: post-race binging. Very often, after a major race, my surveyed endurance athletes threw out everything they knew about performance enhancing nutrition and recovery and did the exact opposite. Basically, it seems that these normally sports nutrition disciplined and solitary eaters found their inner post-finals college party selves and went crazy–dietarily speaking. Many of the triathletes and marathon runners surveyed went on a post-race communal consumption binge: drinking enough beer or margaritas to make a fraternity guy (or sorority girl) wobbly, and happily consuming normally what they considered to be "bad foods" foods such as burgers, French fries, pizza…But I am getting ahead of myself.
Research Results:The "good foods" and "bad foods" according to triathletes and marathon and ultra runnersThe surveyed and interviewed athletes generally categorized foods as either “good foods” or “bad foods” most consistently by their digestibility (important for consuming foods while training and racing), their functional ability to increase the athlete’s endurance, and their perceived healthfulness. When asked to name “good foods” and “bad foods” triathletes and marathon and ultra runners athletes alike seemed to categorize most foods by the foods’ perceived health and athletic performance enhancement functions.
“Good foods”
Good foods were described as “healthy”, “nutritious”, “high carbohydrate”, “anti-oxidant”, “fresh”, “whole grain”, “organic”, “non-processed”, “vegetarian” and “raw”. Some of the descriptions they used for good foods seemed to be symbolic of the body image ideals of these sport cultures such as “lean”, “in moderation”, “light”, “low fat” and “whole”.
Believing that they are what they eat, triathletes and marathon runners seem to prefer eating “light”, “low fat” and “whole” foods and thereby would imbue their bodies with those qualities and thus they, in turn, would seem to embody their sport cultures.
Moderate amounts of high carbohydrate and micronutrient rich foods were uniformly cited as generally “good foods”, a category which matched the prevailing sports nutrition discourse (Ryan 2007; Maughan 2002 ;USDA 2008). What I didn’t see that surprised me were foods being categorized “good” because they were “organic” or “natural.” Perhaps the mainstream acceptance of those labels have made them no longer differentiating or meaningful or perhaps these are just not as important to these athletes as the foods functional qualities in regards to one’s athletic performance. Though a few respondents did say that they preferred vegan or vegetarian foods.  Also, many foods that were good were noted as “lean” which reflects the dominant fitness trend and embodied culture of runners as lean and athletic (Bourdieau 1984: 214).
 Representative examples of “good foods” from surveyed triathletes are:
“carbohydrate foods like bagels, oatmeal, energy gels, bars like PowerBar.” “I find whole foods are best and I also try and avoid a lot of dairy …”“high carbohydrate foods like bagels, oatmeal, energy gels, bars like PowerBar”.“fruit and vegetables and juices. Yams/sweet potatoes for high carb content.” “WHOLE GRAIN BREAD, BANANAS, PASTA”
Representative examples of “good foods”  from surveyed marathon and ultra runners are:
“lean protein sources, wild salmon, grass-fed beef, veggies, fruits, nuts, fish oil, olive oil, coconut oil, protein supplements, maltdextrin for recovery.”“whole grains, fruits & veg[ie]s”“skim milk, yogurt, whey protein, bananas, apples, berries, oatmeal, lots of broccoli, olive oil, chicken breast, salmon, … wheat breads. Water”“Chicken, fruits, oatmeal, salads, beans, pasta, seltzer water! … fresh, stuff that is lower in fat content, stuff that will fill me but not fatten me…”
“Bad foods”
Bad foods were described as the very qualities triathletes and marathon runners eschew with their active life styles. Symbolic of these “bad foods” qualities are their negative descriptors such as “fake”, “processed”, “high fat”, “fried” (“fried” is also a slang term for “tired”—a state these athletes try avoid when training and racing), “preserved,” “fat” (race times are slower generally the heavier one is), “heavy,” “artificial” and “junk” (term for over-training without a specific performance goal is called “doing junk miles” in the lingo of both of these sport cultures).
The categories of foods are based on their functional role of health and athletic performance enhancement. These functions are based on what many of the athletes believe is scientific research on exercise physiology and sports nutrition as well as the health and fitness trend in American culture. This is a significant departure from food choices based on religious beliefs, flavor and family customs or traditions.
 These “bad foods” generally mirrored the same foods categorized as “bad” in the American media lately. Foods that contain high fructose corn syrup, MSG, too much salt, and trans fats are “bad”. These athletes usually consider fried foods and “drug foods” such as coffee, alcohol and refined sugar are as “bad”. Also, considered “bad” are red meat, processed foods, fast foods.
Representative “bad foods” from surveyed triathletes are:
“simple carbs, alcohol, processed food”“Alcohol, preservative laden foods, ice cream”“fried foods, lots of meat, lots of alcohol, soda!”“CHOCOLATE, COFFEE, SUGARS, STARCH”“anything with fake sugars desserts fast food of any kind”
Representative “bad foods” from surveyed marathon and ultra runners are:
“French fries, alcohol, sweets”“Anything that takes a while to digest or impedes digestion. I tend to avoid: meat, friend foods, especially fried meat, cheese, anything ‘heavy’”“Liquor, fast foods, red meat, salt, processed foods”“Too much fat”“Processed foods tell me ‘evil’. Although I used soda in ultras, just consuming them (my big vice) is not good at all. Dairy products…Eating too much puts on fat. Take out food. Coffee…”Post-race celebrations: Reversal of food categories and carnivalSomething interesting happens to the endurance athletes’ categories of “good foods” and “bad foods” after they finish an important race. At many a post-race awards dinner or party the categories of good and bad foods seem to get reversed. What is normally a  “bad food” is now a  “reward” or a “treat” and consumed with gusto. Once these athletes cross the finish line many of them seem to ignore their food prohibitions and go nuts. Post-race celebrations seem to function as a rite of reversal (a socially acceptable way to blow off steam) for triathletes and marathon runners who normally abide by their strict dietary and training regimes each day (Turner 1964). Many triathletes and runners stay up late after they finish a race (or try to anyway) and celebrate in an un-characteristicly  hedonistic and Bacchanalian fashion over-indulging in normally forbidden unhealthy or "bad" foods and alcoholic beverages in a rite of reversal. By purposely breaking their dietary rules in a post-race ritual of food rules reversal, they are reinforcing their fealty to these rules and their membership to their dietarily strict sport sub-culture tribes, if you will.
Some representative responses of what triathletes said they ate after they raced on race day include a lot of "bad foods":
“anything/everything and beer”“love burritos and margaritas!”“French fries, burger, salty foods. Wine or beer. Treat foods.”“whatever I'm craving at the time, frequently something full of fat and salt (like pizza) after a long race.”“A big fat steak!”
 The marathon and ultra runners I surveyed had similar food category reversals. Here are some representative responses:
“… ice cold Sierra Nevada beer, big salad, maybe even some nachos. Mostly salty cravings and fat cravings”“very much so, often I will eat a very large, fatty, high protein dinner, like a gigantic cheeseburger, or fried chicken.”“1 or 2 beers, some sort of red meat. This is very different from my normal diet which is primarily vegetarian.”“Beer and Mexican food. Spicy.”“BEER OR MARGARITAS... BECAUSE I CAN!!!”
I like to think of these crazy post-race binges of triathletes and marathon runners as  their to equivalent of the annual carnival celebrations in predominantly traditional Catholic communities such as New Orleans and Sao Paulo, Brazil. Competitive triathlete women, normally never seen by their training mates in anything other than lycra bike or running gear or a swim suit and goggle ensemble, long hair bound up in a pony tail, are dancing in high heals (or barefoot) in some kind of ultra feminine floral or strapless mini dress, hair flying free. And, eating anything and everything normally considered "bad" in sight.  Post marathon race men, usually decked out in some form of sweaty running shoe, tank and shorts ensemble, are happily barefoot by a pool or showered up and jeans clad at a hotel bar chowing down chips and salsa and re-hydrating with a chilled bottles of their favorite beer and tequila shots instead of water and some electrolyte and energy replacement concoction.  Normally devout and disciplined, once a year (or on this case after a milestone race), the faithful relax and party like it's 1999.

Life is full of contradictions isn’t it?
In about a week I will publish Part II: “Food As Fuel: Eating Habits of Triathletes and Marathon Runners: How They Fit Food in Between Work and Working Out” of this report. In it I will share what my triathletes and marathon and ultra runners to told me about their mealtimes: how many meals a day (usually more than three), when they eat (lunch is rarely at noon), how much they eat and the structure of a “perfect” endurance athlete meal.
Following that post, I will post Part III: “Food As Fuel: Why Triathletes and Marathoners Eat so Weird According to Old Dead French Social Theorists”. That’s my working title for Part III for now anyway.
In the meantime, happy trails and, if you just finished a race,  "Cheers!"
Resources
Applegate, Liz    2006  “The Best Food For Runners”, Runner’s World, retrieved on September 24, 2008, from http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-242-301--10200-2-1X2X3X4X6X7-7,00.htmlApplegate, Liz   2008  “Liquid Diet,” Runner’s World, June 9, retrieved on September 24, 2008, from http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-242-302--12702-0,00.html Atkinson, M.    2008 “Triathlon Suffering and Exciting Significance,” Leisure Studies, April, Vol. 27, No.2, pp.165-180.Blanchard, Kendall   1995 Anthropology of Sport: An Introduction, Westport, CT: Bergin & Garvey, pp.31-224Bourdieu, Pierre   1984 Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgment of Taste, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, pp.200-230Burke, Louise M., Gregoire Millet and Mark A. Tarnopolsky.   2007  “Nutrition for distance events, “ Journal of Sports Sciences, Dec. 15, 25,  Vol. 18, no. 3, pp. 281-300. Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly   1990 Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, p.77Brownell, Susan   2000  “Why Should an Anthropologist Study Sports in China?” Games, Sports, and Cultures, New York, NY: BergDouglas, Mary   1975 “Deciphering a Meal,” Implicit Meanings: Selected Essays in Anthropology, 2nd Ed.,, New York, NY: Rutledge ClassicsFishpool, Sean   2002 Beginner’s Guide to Long Distance Running, Hauppauge, NY: Barron’s Educational Series, Inc., pp.30-31Fitsgerald, Matt   2006 Performance Nutrition for Runners, Boston, MA: Rodale Press, pp. 1-151.Giulianotti, Richard    2005 Sport: A Critical Sociology, Malden, MA: Polity Press, pp. 4-165 Goody, Jack   1982 Cooking, Cuisine and Class: A Study in Comparative Sociology, Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, pp. 119-190Hab, Mark D.   2008 “Sports Nutrition: Energy Metabolism and Exercise,” JAMA: Journal of the American Medical Association, [J. Am. Med. Assoc.]. Vol. 299, no. 19, pp. 2330-2331.Larkin, Duncan    2007  “Interview with Scott Jurek”, Elite Running, February 22, retrieved on October 13, 2008, from http://www.eliterunning.com/features/54/Leslie, Charles   2001 “Backing into the Future,” Medical Anthropology Quarterly, Vol.15,No.4,Maughan, Ronald J., and Louise M. Burke    2002 Sports Nutrition: Handbook of Sports Medicine and Science, Malden, MA: Blackwell Science, Inc.Mintz, Sidney W.   1985  Sweetness and Power: The Place of Sugar in Modern History, New York, NY: Penguin Books.Prebish, Charles S.   1993 Religion and Sport: The Meeting of Sacred and Profane, Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports   2004, Research Digest, Series 5, No. 1, retrieved on October 12, 2008, from http://www.fitness.gov/Reading_Room/Digests/Digest-March2004.pdfRunner’s World   2008  “Media Kit: Demographic Profile, Runner’s World, retrieved on November 26, 2008, from http://www.runnersworld.com/mediakit/rw/audience/demos.htmlRyan, Monique   2007 Sports Nutrition For Endurance Athletes, Boulder, CO: Velo Press.Scott, Dave   2008 “Nutritional Fueling for an Ironman, “ Active.com, retrieved on September 25, 2008, from http://ironman.active.com/page/Nutritional_Fueling_for_an_Ironman.htmTriathlete Magazine   2008 “Print Media Kit”, Triathlete Magazine, retrieved on September 25, 2008, from http://www.triathletemag.com/Assets/2008PrintMediaKit.pdfTriandis, Harry C.   1995 Individualism and Collectivism, Boulder, CO: Westview Press, pp. 14-80. Turner, Victor W.   1964 Betwixt and Between: The Liminal Period in Rites de Passage. In Magic Witchcraft and Religion: An Anthropological Study of the Supernatural, Seventh Edition, Pamela A. Moro, Arthur C. Lehmann, James E. Myers, eds. Pps: 91-100. New York, NY: McGraw Hill.United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)   2005 “Nutritional Goals for USDA Daily Food Intake Patterns: Goal for Macronutrients”, Report of the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, retrieved on September 27, 2008, from http://www.health.gov/dietaryguidelines/dga2005/report/HTML/D1_Tables.htm

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