The Slow-Carb Diet and Distance Running, Part I
Last year, following a serious surgical procedure on his foot, Faster Than Forty co-editor Rick Miller experimented with Tim Ferriss’ Slow-Carb Diet in an effort to shed weight before beginning a distance running program. The free white paper at the end of this post documents the effects of this diet.
A future paper will present the results of attempting the Slow-Carb Diet during a long, slow distance training cycle. (The research for the future paper is underway as this post is going live.)
The net takeaways from Miller’s research:
- The diet is extremely effective for weight loss.
- The diet requires some discipline, but most motivated people should be able to follow it.
- Long-term participation may negatively affect endurance training, but more research is needed.
- Surprisingly, some fast food outlets (like Chipotle) meet the diet’s guidelines.
You can download the white paper in PDF format here or by clicking the image to the right.
Rick Miller ran track and cross country for Northeastern University, where he graduated with a degree in journalism. He is a trained researcher with experience building complex data models, and now works in advertising. Learn more about him here.
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Author: FasterThanForty
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4 Comments
Lots of crazy supplements in the book too. Did you just skip those?
Stephanie
2/5/2012
During the research phase I cover in the paper above, yes, I skipped all supplements. I am slow-carbing again now while logging btw 50-70 miles per week, and I have started using beta alanine in addition to a typical multi-vitamin.
Too soon to tell if the beta alanine is worth anything — I’ve only tried two 10-mile tempo runs (not very fast). One went much better than expected. One was a complete bust. I think the performance was more related to where I was in the diet cycle than the supplements.
~RM
FasterThanForty
2/5/2012
Started this week on slow carb diet. lost 3 pounds in the first few days. My daily runs are a struggle. with 6 weeks to the marathon I really wonder if I will have to include a carb meal the evening before my long weekend run (18.6mile).
Marco
3/1/2012
I’m still testing, but my early recommendation would be to re-introduce traditional carbs 10-21 days prior to your race day. I am off slow carb for a few weeks to try and gather some data on how it affects the base-building phase of training, but I plan to slow-carb again leading up to a competitive Memorial Day Weekend 10-miler, but I’ll be “full-carbing” a few weeks before the race.
~RM
FasterThanForty
3/11/2012
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