Well, hello ladies and gents, Robert Sykes, Keto savage.com.
It's a dev get special guest Alyssa McClellan on the line and
she is an ultra endurance runner and she is an absolute savage.
She's been doing keto carnivore here lately for her runs and she
has seen tremendous success following that protocol.
So I want to kind of dive in there.
But we also just talked about endurance sports in general.
She has a CrossFit background. She's been in the ultra
endurance running scene for a while now, but I wanted to pick
her brain as far as like fueling strategies, what she does from
like a prep standpoint, how she's structuring her training,
what it's like from a a mindset standpoint to keep going strong
when you're 75 miles into 100 mile race and just keeping the
right headspace. So third, enjoy the
conversation. I got no doubt the we'll take
something from it, especially if you have any interest in
endurance sports whatsoever. So that further delay sit back,
relax and show conversation with Alyssa.
We are live Alyssa, how you doing today?
Good, good. Glad to be here.
How are you doing? I'm good, I'm good.
Glad to have you. So I'm always excited to talk to
performance athletes that are doing hard things on a regular
basis and you are certainly in that category.
You got a race coming up in how how long?
A week or two? Yes.
So let's see, 10 days, 10 days out, I'll be doing Habanero 100,
which is in Cat Springs, Texas. And it is, I believe, the
hottest race in Texas. And it starts at noon, just to
make it even more miserable. Lovely.
And this is so so give me the give me the details on this.
So this is in Texas. Are you're based in Texas,
right? Yes I am, I live in East Texas
and so this race is about 2 1/2 hours from where I am in Cat
Springs Texas and they have every distance really that you
can think of. Last year I did the 50K which is
32 miles and this year I'll be doing the 100 mile distance.
So the goal for that is I'm going to shoot for sub 24 hours.
It's going to be tough, but and. This I'll get better.
This is on Saturday the 24th. What is that?
Yes, it is. It's on the 24th, August 24th
and like I said, it starts at noon.
Just that way that that way we can just get the heat going, you
know? Well, I'm.
Going to be thinking about you think because I'm going to be
doing a 50 mile event on that same day starting at Saturday, I
guess at 3:00 and then going until Sunday the following day.
But I'm, I'm doing like a March. It's like a March for raising
money for veterans through the night from Lincoln, NE to Omaha.
So you're going to be going a. Little.
Harder. Oh no, that's awesome though.
What a what a cool way to raise money.
It is pretty good. That'll get some attention right
there. Yeah, we've done it, I guess
four years now. And I mean, it's, it's amazing.
Like I'm, I am just simply a Walker.
Like I'm not the head honcho by any means, but in doing it, I've
got like profound respect for endurance athletes.
I mean, the first time I did it, I, I did 0 prep Rook.
I was like, OK, we're just going to be walking.
I can walk 50 miles, no big deal.
I walk every day and man, my feet were wrecked.
I was on crutches for a week afterwards and every year's
gotten progressively better. I'd I'd hope not to have near as
much damage this year, but I can't imagine doing 100 miles
straight That's that's no joke for.
Real. Isn't it crazy how your body
gets used to it? I remember the first 50 Ki did
last year in April. The next day I could not move, I
could not get out of bed, I could hardly walk.
And we were in Austin and there's like this little popular
area in Austin, TX where you can go and see the bats come out at
night time. It's supposed to be like really
cool. Well, my husband made me walk
all the way across town and stand there and wait for these
bats for 3045 minutes. And when we had planned this
like the week before, I was like, Oh yeah, no big deal.
Well, you know, like 30 miles, like it's nothing.
You know, I'm used to like running 20 miles of training.
Well, let me tell you, I definitely underestimated it.
And then that's when my respect for the endurance and distance
running, that's when it got my respect because I was like, this
is different. It is, it is totally different.
And it's like, like I'm not a runner, I'm not an endurance
athlete by any means. But there is because when you
think about, you know, running a marathon, for instance, like
people's mind often times go to fueling strategies.
What are you going to do? And all that makes sense.
Less so I guess with a marathon, like I did a marathon fasted and
that wasn't too bad from a fueling standpoint, But it's
like all the other things that you don't really think of, like
the chafing the feet, like just the.
Time, that is what gets me the most.
And you know, that really just comes with experience too,
because each race, like before I go out and do this next one, I
sat down last week and I pulled out my notebook and just like
kind of went back in my in my brain and just recapped each
race and wrote down notes. Because each race I learned
something different. Like don't use this waist belt
and use these shoes, but not this sock.
Make sure that you have like your chafe stuff in your pack.
Because each time I came in at the last race, I was forgetting
to get it from my husband. And by the end of it, it was
just, I was absolutely miserable.
So it's just these races, just having an experience is like
such a good thing. If you can, you can bring back
the notes and write it down and start tweaking it.
And not even perfect a race because each race is different,
but it's every single one of them is a learning opportunity
for sure. Well, I've become a a big
believer in compression socks and salty britches.
These salty. Britches yes, I did a race.
My first 100 mile race was this year and it was February and it
was in Oklahoma and I'll always tell people it was 100 mile hike
and it was absolutely miserable. I was so miserable that I was 93
miles in and didn't even want to finish the last seven.
But my husband made me. I'm so happy that he did, but it
was absolutely miserable. But the next day I was I was on
Amazon ordering as many pairs of compression socks as I can find
because my legs and my feet were so swollen.
Yeah, what I found, and you can speak to this much better than I
can, but like when people have, because when I've been to these
50 mile marches, like the people that's like my first one going
in, I'm OK, I'm going to get some cool shoes.
I'm going to wear no show ankle. Socks that look.
Good and like after about 10 miles, I'm a man.
That was a bad mistake because my feet were all swollen.
And as soon as your feet, well, it's over.
Like, that's when you start getting blisters.
That's when you start, you know, wearing holes and things that
you shouldn't be wearing holes in.
But like if you got compression socks and you can keep that
swelling down, like you're pretty well set up for success
at that point. That's one of the things I
learned at this race last year, the Habanero race was your feet
swell in the summertime and your shoes will not fit and you are
going to be miserable. And if you're running through
sand like I was, it is not a good feeling.
So the next day after that race, I was like, OK, I'm going to
order a full size up in the same shoes to wear during the
summertime because your feet swell so much.
Yeah, no, that that that's good. I know you're an inner like
involved with innovate footwear, talking about that like I'm I'm
a gear and tool and tech junkie, so like I love, you know,
different, different like pieces of hardware and equipment that
you can use. So when it comes to shoes, I've
tried just about everything. Right Right now I'm on this zero
drop wide toe box kick like a minimal shoe.
So talk to me about. Well, that's innovate, right?
That's innovate right there. That's what they have.
They have any minimalist shoe that you can think of the zero
drop just that way you can feel your foot as so many people love
to feel their feet just have that spread on the ground with
each step, you know, and that way you can just kick, kick that
foot back and like really plant it in the ground and, and push
off of the ground. And so they have so many
minimalist shoes that are designed just for that.
And every shoe that they have, they're just all their shoes are
made for wider feet. And I used to wear Nikes a lot
until I started doing the toe spacer and put those in between
my toes and really feeling how it feels to have your feet and
your toes not on top of each other.
And I couldn't, I didn't want to put my feet back in Nikes and I
didn't want to put them back in tight socks.
So now I wear toe socks and I wear like the wider shoes from
Innovate. And like you said earlier, like
like the first race, you know you're like going to look cool
and you're all decked out and this nap well, by the time
you're like your 5th or 600 mile race in, you're like, I don't
care what I look like. I don't care if I look like a
dork. I'm going to wear what is going
to keep my body together. Totally, totally.
So did you What what got you into the zero drop white toe
box? I didn't realize innovate was
that was their thing because like for me, my freaking pinky
toe, it looks like it's fused to my next toe in like they they
they don't have. Any yeah, that's how they
overlap yeah, you need to try toe socks now with the zero
drop. I personally do not like the
zero drop. I wear the the more cushion
innovates that have the wide base just because I'm such a
heel striker that I sound like a clown in zero drop shoes and
they're just not comfortable for me.
Gotcha, personally, but zero drop shoes are very still very
popular. They used to be super popular
back in the day. Remember when they had the the
Vibram shoes like toe? Oh, I've got a pair flat shoes.
I used to have a pair just because, you know, it was like
the thing, but I don't know that I ever enjoyed them.
I remember running like the first time I like right in like
5 miles in them and then the name of my calves and ankles
being so sore just because it's so different.
Yeah, I, I tried to do, and again, I'm not a runner by any
means. I, I do enjoy trail running.
I like hunting, so I'm hiking a lot.
But I tried to do a lot of that like pose method style running
where you're pretty much running on the, you know, your midfoot
strike as opposed to the heel strike.
And that I think is better for me.
But it takes like you can't really do like if you're doing a
trail run, if you're doing one of those like super minimal
shoes where there is no cushion, like your feet are gonna just
like you can't even run on rocks like that.
It hurts. Right.
And a lot of these shoes, that innovative shoes will have a
rock plate in the bottom, which I love because that just
protects the bottom of your feet, your arches when you're
going over those, those little rocks and then roots and stuff
like that. Yeah, so.
I've never heard of Innovate before but I'm going to check
them out for sure. I've used the ultras.
Ultras are super popular. Yes, they are, they are very
popular in the, but you know, Innovate is really big with
CrossFit and I used to be competitive CrossFit athlete.
And so I, I used to wear their stuff during CrossFit and then I
was like, they have trail running stuff and kind of linked
up with them and I was like, they're, they just have really
quality stuff. Yeah, they always have.
Like I, I never partnered with them in the past and I still
wear their stuff in the past. They just have everything they
make is quality. Well, I'm all about the quality.
Talk to me about the the origin for getting into these endurance
rings, especially if you have got the the CrossFit background
like what was the what was the journey there?
You know, I stopped CrossFit in my last year to compete at
regionals was 2018 and I kind of just went into mom mode where I
was, you know, my my older boys, I have four boys, two older ones
and two younger ones. My older boys at the time, they
were a little younger and, you know, they were starting to get
into sports and it was time for, you know, I wasn't enjoying
CrossFit as much as I should have been, as much time as I was
putting into it. And so I kind of stepped away
from that. And the next few years, Fast
forward, you know, just doing things with the older boys,
their sports, taking them to, you know, dropping and picking
up and games and all that kind of stuff.
Practice and life changed a little bit.
So Cross, it was just on the back burner.
You know, I just did it in the garage, but I was always missing
that desire to compete. I'm such a competitive person.
I love. I read something the other day
on Instagram about why we do ultras and it really hit home
with me is because at the end of the day, I want to feel like
I've done something. And when I found ultra running,
when I completed my first fifty, Ki felt like I had done
something, you know, something something bigger than what I
thought I could do. And I don't know where I was
going to let's see, after that first race, I was really just
hooked. And I'm such a competitive
person that if I do something, I'm going all in with it.
So once I found ultra running, just, you know, started signing
up for bigger races and bigger challenges and just pushing
myself and, and seeing what I'm capable, capable of and what the
limit is, if there is one, You know, because each time it's
I've signed up for a race, it's like, man, this one's really
hard and it's harder than the other one.
And I know I'm going to finish the race because I don't quit.
Like I always say that you're going to have to get a stretcher
and come out there and get me like I'm going to finish.
It's going to be hard, but each race that I've signed up for has
been harder than the previous one.
And so I just haven't found that limit yet.
That's, I don't know if I'm like searching for it or you know.
Well, there's definitely a mindset that goes with running
ultra distances like and I love the mindset component of any
type of physical endeavor like I love.
Me too. Yeah, with the same reason.
And like I said, I'm, I'm not a runner, but I, I, I feel like
with running, it is most definitely a mindset centric
sport because anybody can run and there's definitely technique
behind it, but anybody can throw on a pair of shoes and just hit
the trails. But whether or not you go any
distance, like that's all in the head.
And like for me, I listened to, I listened to David Goggins on
Joe Rogan, that's my first introduction to ultra running.
And he was like, yeah, I did 0 training, decided to sign up for
100 Miller and just RIP. And I'm like, man, I'm going to
do that. So that's why I signed up for
that marathon having not trained at all.
And in doing that, it's like when you hit mile 20 for a
marathon, you've never done any running before.
It's like at that point it is 100% all in the head.
Like whether you decide to drop out or keep going, that's 100%
in your in your headspace. And like when you see it through
the completion, the sense of fulfillment you get from that is
hard to put into words. Like it's just, it's a very
rewarding experience. Oh, absolutely every single one
that I've finished you. You'll see me at the finish line
crying and it's like you think I'd be used to finishing these
long embraces by now. But each one is so unique and
carries its own challenges and things that I've overcome in
each race that by the time you get to the end of it, you're
just overcome with emotion of, wow, I just did that.
And I broke through a place in the middle of this race that I
didn't think that I would. And I climbed out of that hole.
If I can do that, like, what else can I do?
And it just floods you with emotions.
Like it's such an incredible thing that I think every human
should experience because we live where we think that we have
these caps on our limits. And I used to live like that
too. Oh, I'm not, you know, the
caliber of athlete that I think I am in CrossFit and this is my
cap is just going to regionals and nowhere.
You know nothing after that. Well, once you're in 100 mile
race and you're 70 miles in and your legs are swollen, you're
you're in 100 mile, you know, I mean 100° weather and you're
like, you want to quit, but you have this support system that
will do everything in their power to not let you quit and
help you finish what you set out to do.
Like it's such a, such an overwhelming, you know,
experience and, and feeling to complete something that you
don't think that you can do. And it's awesome to do it with
other people and realize how much we need other people in
life. Yeah.
To to, to do important big things.
And there seems to be like a just a a mutual respect and
sense of camaraderie, understanding that the ultra
runners in that community share. Because I feel like the people
that I know that are runners like, yeah, everybody wants to,
there's a competitive vibe, there's competitive nature.
Everybody wants to win, be the best they can be.
But like when you show up, everybody's pretty, pretty
friendly. Like there's just a a mutual
respect for one another it seems.
And I think that's because, like you said, anybody can lace up
their shoes and go on a run. Like it's not about that.
It's it's if you want to run 100 miles, the work that you have to
put in is just respectable. Like you can't just put on a
pair of shoes and go run 100 mile race.
I'm sure you can. Is it going to be comfortable?
Is it or is it the best thing to do?
Probably not. But if you plan it and put the
work in, that's something that is just like you have my respect
because it's not something that's easy, like you have to
train your mind and your body for weeks in order to finish and
have a successful 100 mile race. Totally, totally.
So this, this one that you get coming up in 10 days, that's 100
miles. Is that is that the longest
distance you've done out of whack thus far?
So I did Sedona 125 and that was in May.
My very first 100 Miller was just a couple months before
that, the one that I did in Oklahoma.
And then I turned around and did Sedona 125 in May.
And it was just an absolutely amazing experience that on the
way home, even my husband loved it on the way home, driving
back, like we weren't even an hour into the drive back and
he's like, let's sign up, let's do it again next year and let us
do it better. It was just such, it was so much
fun. So yeah, that's, that's the
longest one I've done. And then we've done a couple 50s
in between that and I have this 100 mile coming up.
I'm doing a back-to-back 100 Miller.
I'm doing this one and then I have a four week break and then
I'll do Travelers 100 and that's an Arkansas.
Nice. Where in Arkansas?
Where in Arkansas is it? I'm not really sure off the top
of my head. I'd have to look it up.
But the reason I signed up for that one is just, you know,
that's definitely more of a challenge than than the races
that we have here in Texas. Texas.
So flat. Yeah.
And I wanted more of a mountain, you know, top, top race.
And, and this will give me a little bit of that experience
without just going all in and like Colorado mountains and just
absolutely dying. So yeah, yeah, Well, shoot, I
mean, if it's in Arkansas in the mountains, it's probably up in
Northwest Ogden. So where I'm at.
So definitely hit me up if you're in the in the area for
sure. Yeah, absolutely.
Yeah, I'll have to give you the details on that.
I think it's, it's one that's been around for quite a while,
several years, and it's one that we're just going to kind of have
fun with and use as a training race, obviously, because I don't
know how to like just show up and do a training race, but one
that we're just going to have family at and everybody help
prove and, and just have a good time.
You know, they, they really are so much fun going and doing the
races and have a family there and having my husband there.
And it's just, I think he enjoys it.
He probably doesn't enjoy the lack of sleep, but he we enjoy
doing it together. Yeah, I want, I want to dive
into to that. So like when you have a, when
you're doing a distance like that, you got to have a crew
What what kind of strategy goes behind your, your, your prep.
They're like, what are you doing to prepare for these 100 milers?
How you kind of go about from a fueling standpoint, from a
training standpoint, what do you have your your, your ground crew
doing? Like what does that look like
for you? As far as training, I really
just try to keep a really good base.
I have such a good base from my CrossFit background and then I'm
just, I try to be on my feet just constantly.
Time on your feet is the most important thing.
I know mentally I can't get to the end of the race, and that's
because of that very first $100 that I did.
It really did a lot of good for me mentally, being in the lowest
point that I've ever been in a race and digging myself out of
that. That was such a good mental
training. And so training, yeah, just try
to keep a good base and stay on my feet all day, pretty much
every day. Nutrition, I have for the past
90 days actually have done keto slash carnivore and it has been
the best change that I've I've made.
And then preparing for the race like like all the logistics and
things like that, like me and my husband just kind of go over a
loose plan. He, he's really good with having
things ready, if it's a looped race, having everything ready
for me coming in, He takes notes for me for the, you know, to go
back and look over for the next race.
He has such a great memory, you know, where he remembers things
that happened in the race and that, that we can change and
work on. So it's just constantly just
like a, a learning experience for both of us and making sure
that we're taking notes and, and just staying prepared and
packing 2 of everything, 3 of everything, 2 pairs of socks,
you know, two pairs of shoes, having extra clothes, extra
bottles. And, you know, and, and making
sure that we always have good attitudes with everything.
If something comes up, you know, it's, hey, let's figure this out
together. And I always make sure that he
knows that I don't want to quit. So I'm having a low moment or
something like that. It's like, hey there, we're not,
there's no negative talk and there's zero chance of you not
finishing this race. So let's sit down and, you know,
take a moment, collect ourselves and, and get it back together
and, and get back out there. So all the prep is just a lot of
mental on your feet and making sure that you just have a really
good support system and that you are both on the same page with
what you want the outcome to be with the race.
That that mental component, it's weird because like I would
imagine people would think that once you cross that halfway
point, it's all downhill from there in the sense that you just
don't have any negative self talk.
But I feel like it's like that 3/4 in is like the dark point.
Yeah, halfway is not even halfway is you're like, all
right, halfway. And then it's like you're 75
miles in. And at that point you're, you're
like 25 miles. Feels like it's going to take me
forever. And if you start, if your brain
starts spiraling, then I mean, you've got to stop it like that.
Otherwise you're going to get in a dark spot.
You may not be able to come out of it.
So that's why you you really is such a mental stay in positive
Patty the whole time, even when you don't want to.
And it is such a parallel for life too, because not everything
goes our way in life. So it's like, hey, figure it out
and and get up and do something about it.
When you're running, are you like listening to music?
Listen to audiobooks, podcast, listen to nothing but your
thoughts? Like how do you kind of stay in
the right headspace? Man, I have tried a little bit
of everything. I'm always like, all right, I
download this book. So I'm going to listen to this
book is 12 hours long. So by the time I'm done with
this book, I'm almost done with this race.
Well, I'll listen to it like the audio book for like 30 minutes.
I'm like, this is extremely boring, so I'm not going to do
that. But now my kind of strategy with
that is no music for the first several loops and just kind of
get in the zone, get in the space, kind of fill out the
course and fill out the other competitors.
And then I will throw some music in, some slower tempo music,
usually some Christian music in the in the middle of it of the
race, just to keep my pace down and not get too excited.
And then I'll take my headphones out again and just listen to my
feet, my breathing and all the bugs outside in the desert at
night. And then by the end of the race,
I'll throw on some old school rap and just like, crank it up
and like, let's go. I like it.
No, that's that's the key for
sure. I I got a double tap on that
comment you made earlier about now here lately you've been
doing keto carnivore. So.
So what was the? Oh yeah, yeah.
Catalyst for that? OK, so I can go into that a
little bit. I was on after having my 2
little ones. I have a three-year old and a 2
year old, so they are 15 months apart.
And that is extremely difficult whenever you are just married
and you have two older kids and then then you're having babies
back-to-back. So I was on antidepressant
actually, and I was on the highest dose that you could
could get of a antidepressant, 200 milligrams of Zoloft.
And I was on it every single day for two years.
And I just decided that it was time to stop using it as a
crutch and like, actually own up to, you know, to who I am and my
thoughts and stop numbing things.
And I also lost my dad very suddenly, too.
So that was just a part of all the depression.
And so it was time to just heal and move on.
And so I did a lot of research after cold Turkey and my
antidepressant and I found so much research that I had no idea
was out there about the gut and brain being connected and how
keto diet has helped so many people with so many different,
you know, things going on with life and, and how it helps with
mental disorders and mood. And, and so my husband was on
carnivore. He had already started carnivore
and he's been very successful with that two different times
that he was on it. And so we just kind of use it as
a lifestyle now. But so I started carnivore and
loved it so much but needed a little bit more fuel, you know,
so I added a few things in with keto and I tell my husband
almost every day or at least once a week, you know, there's
no way I could go back to eating the traditional diet.
Like I have gone off of keto just a couple times 1 during
races because that's the most important thing to me is to get
to the finish line strong and then just having a cheat meal or
you know, some fried chicken here and there.
And the next day felt absolutely terrible.
And I had no idea that my body was feeling that terrible in the
past when I was having those things until I took everything
out and slowly added things in. And I don't like the way my body
feels with anything besides carnivore right now at the time.
And that's just butter, eggs and and ground beef.
But it sounds boring, but I, I like to use food as fuel and
it's completely changed my energy levels and mood in A, and
my skin and things like that in, in a way that is just, to me,
it's not worth it going back and having, you know, the
traditional American standard diet.
No, 100% agree there. I mean you, you preach the
Inquirer on me on that one. I mean, I, I pretty much eat
beef, eggs and the keto brick and that's my day-to-day
nutrition without, without fail. And people always ask, do you
get bored with it? Do you crave sweets?
And it sounds absolutely crazy to say, no, I don't crave sweets
and I seriously do not. And I was a chocolate.
You got ice cream eating Andy's frozen yogurt like a couple
times a week. Like, and it, it never was a
body image issue. I wanted to change diets or
anything like that. Like I could care less about any
of that. Like I exercise so much that
none of that matters. It's about how I feel when I
wake up every single morning, Like and I can do a 1718 hour
fast and then have a carnivore meal and feel the best I've ever
felt and have so much energy and mental clarity.
Like, and I'm not trying to prove a point to anybody or
convince anybody to do you know if keto died or a carnivore
died. It's just it works for me.
And so I stand by no A. 100% so are you.
You said that you've introduced carbs you know through races in
the past. Are are have you done a race
with a keto carnivore without introducing the carbs since
then? Yes.
So I've done 2/2/50 mile races first.
First one I did, I was on carnivore for a month and then
one week leading up to the race I did keto.
So it's strict carnivore for four weeks and then one week
keto and then went to the race, started the race completely
fasted for the first hour, 2 hours.
Just so my body knows, you know, that we're going to use BAT for
fuel 1st and then slowly introduced carbs little by
little during the race. So I'd have dual fuel.
And it was the best race that I've ever had.
I ran 50 miles. The last five miles of that 50
miles, I was running 88 minute mile pace like it was the best
I've ever felt. So, so yeah, it, it worked for
me And then the the the next race I just did a few weeks ago,
I did the exact same approach and it went really well.
So very cool. What haven't haven't, what are
you doing for fueling? So many, so many people ask
like, how do you run? How do you have the energy to
run whenever you're you don't have any carbs, but you don't
have to have carbs for the energy.
You know, there's other things. Yeah.
No, totally agree there. So, so when you do introduce the
carbs as you're running like that, that those past two races,
what did that come in the form of?
So the so the first 50 miles that I tested it with, I made my
own fuel and you just sit for one and things like that.
I made like fruit patches with avocado and coconut oil and
things like that. So avocado and coconut, I mean,
that's not. Very well, I started out with
that not yeah. So I did, I did some a lot.
I did more fat with a little bit of carbs at the beginning of the
race when I. Oh, you're breaking up a little
bit. Can you hear me?
Oh, did I lose you? Like oat bars and so I'll have,
I would have that some sweet potatoes.
I had candy just for that extra boost.
You know when when your stomach starts hurting, you can just
have a couple of hard candies that you can suck on and get
energy from that and. I think I may have lost you
again. Literally anything I could find
I was eating. I haven't ever had like any gut
issues during races. I have pretty, pretty iron gut
because I've eaten pretty much everything my entire life.
So yeah, pretty much anything that because the race to me is
so much more important than trying to stick to a strict keto
while running. I just like to do dual fuel and
there's a way to go about it where you can start with fat and
then glucose and have dual fuel and like a rocket.
What what do you do is you're breaking up a little bit, but
I'm pretty sure I heard all that.
What do you do as far as electrolytes are concerned?
Hydration. Electrolytes yeah, so, so most
of the races that I've done are looped races and usually the
loops are between 5 and 10 miles from what I've done so far.
And so each time I come in for a loop, I will put 500 to 1000
milligrams of the BPN electrolytes or swovering BCA as
and their electrolytes in a bottle and have one of my bottle
20 oz just water. And then the other one will be
electrolytes. And so I have electrolytes and
then make sure I take gels and sandwiches and all those kind of
things in my pocket too. And I've done like apple juice
or grape juice, things like that just to get that quick sugar
carbs. And they have Coke at aid
stations. It's literally, I don't have
like a written out list of foods that I eat.
It's whatever's in front of me and I feel like I need it.
I'm just going to throw it in my mouth.
Pickle juice. Pickles.
What do you do anything specific for like the the the prior
nights nutrition? Like I I know a lot of endurance
terms of like a crazy pasta load the night before.
I'm assuming you don't do that. I've done that in the past, you
know, when I wasn't doing carnivore and keto.
But it's such an unnecessary thing for me personally.
It's not necessary. I've never felt it necessary.
And so it's not something I do, I'm sure.
I'm pretty sure I did that before Sedona 125.
We didn't start the carnivore journey until like right after
that race. And so I think the night before
that race, a couple nights before that race, when not, we
had like, pizza and pasta, and then the next night we had
burgers and fries. Yeah.
And I was fueled just fine what doing that.
And I, I feel just this, feel just the same if not better
without doing that. Yeah, totally.
I, I know you mentioned that a lot of people you know, are just
not really understand how you're getting energy without the
carbohydrates. But do you feel like the the
running community as a whole is kind of opening their eyes and
minds to going about it with a more ketogenic carnivore
approach or is there still like a lot of.
The majority of the athletes are carb focused athletes, but there
are some really great athletes out there.
My coach, Zach Bitter, he's a low carb athlete and he's one of
the best in the world. Has world records and 100 mile
distance, has world record and 12 hour just distance.
Michael McKnight, He's a low carb athlete, one of the best
200 mile runners in the world. Yeah, I've had both them on my.
Punch. So they're out there.
Yeah, they're they're both awesome and awesome people and
amazing best athletes I've been around.
And the approach is working for them.
It's just I think it's getting people to trust that you don't
have to fuel with carbs in certain situations.
Yeah. For sure, but it it's hard to
when I post a picture of my lunch and it is a pound of
ground beef, butter and eggs. Like to me, if I looked at that
as an outsider and didn't know anything about keto or
carnivore, I'd be like, this girl is crazy and she's going to
be sick. Like, you know, that's what
people think because they just don't know.
But if you do the research, you listen to podcasts from
reputable doctors and scientists and things like that, Huberman,
doctor Chris Palmer. If you listen to those experts
on this then it it can change your mind and you know you you
can't learn anything unless you try something new.
No, 100%. And Chris Palmer, I mean, I've
had him on the podcast and I love what he's doing with it
from like a psychological standpoint, because you'd
mentioned the the depressants. And I feel like from, from the
mental state alone, the benefits to be had with a ketogenic
approach far outweigh the physical.
The physical just bonus on top, basically.
But if you can mitigate the depression and the anxiety and
just the ailments of people struggling with these days via
dietary interventions alone, then I mean that that's got to
mean something right there. I totally agree and he is the
one that I first started listening to and I have done
nutrition plans for clients for you know, 7-8 years and have
always done a well-rounded balance dot.
And that works for people, it really does.
But there are people out there that need something different
that that does not work for. And there's people out there
that are on antidepressants that don't want to be on
antidepressants, but they don't know any other approach.
And So what he's doing with putting his information out
there and, and sharing all his knowledge like it's, it can
change people's lives because it's changed mine.
And like you said, the benefits of the mental clarity, the no
depression, the exercise and the you know how I feel in the when
I wake up in the morning, that's just a bonus like.
Well, the there's. There's so many good things.
Yeah, people don't realize. I mean, you mentioned earlier
about the, the relationship between the brain and the gut,
but like people don't realize that, you know, like 98% of
serotonin or something crazy is produced in the gut.
And it's like when you look at what the average human is
consuming these days and they're not active, they're not running
these ultra marathons, they're not lifting weights.
They're just simply going about their day-to-day.
I mean they're. And see, that's where it can
make a difference. Is, is if you want to do like a
well-rounded balanced diet and you are up on your feet every
single day, you're doing weight training 3-4 times a week,
that's and it works for you and you don't feel like you have
inflammation and you're not groggy and crashing at the end
of the day, then that's great and that works for you.
That's wonderful. But there are other other ways
to eat them. Then then going that you know
and and still having ample energy but changing like your
mental. Yeah, no 100% totally agree.
You mentioned that your your husband is doing like your crew
work as well too. Is he doing runs with you on
occasion as well? Yeah, and even at times, my
husband has a very demanding job.
He is a prosthetist and he makes arms and legs for people, so he
has a very demanding job. So he's up early and home late,
but in the Evening Times, if he can get in, you know, 3-4 miles
with me, we usually put the babies in the double stroller
and head out and get up 3-4 miles in together.
Or even if it's just a walk, walk, run or run, we just try to
stay fit together. But he is 100% not the only crew
member that I've had. I've had one pacer 2 Pacers
before in the past, which are fantastic to have Pacers in
race, especially in the night. But he is my crew, yeah.
And and he takes care of pretty much everything during the race.
No, that's awesome. Power couple status right there
for sure. Yeah, for real, he is.
He makes me want to be better. So we complement each other
well. How?
How do you all wrangle the kiddos throughout the race?
Like you have someone watched them while he's with you through
the night? Or how's that work?
Yes, I have my, my mom lives close by, his parents are close.
We have great friends that come and take care of the house and
and the animals because we have a dog, 4 cats, 8 chickens.
And then I have four boys that are three to 12 and 16.
So we got a little bit of everything.
So it definitely takes a village and and I've got a good one.
So my mom usually watches them during, you know, races that are
far or more driving involved and overnight stays and things like
that. She'll stay here and watch them.
And actually this next race we're going to take them with
us. So we're going to have RV and,
and take them with us to the race.
This the race I did a few weeks back as a training race.
It was a nine hour run, as many miles as you can in nine hours
on the the 5K loop. The babies were there for a
little bit and it was really refreshing to come come in from
each loop and see them. I didn't realize how much I
enjoyed having them there. I'm sure my husband didn't as
much as he's out there and they're just wanting me while
I'm out in the woods. But it it's definitely nice to
to come around each loop and see family and friends and it just
gives you, you know, that fresh energy before going back out.
So it's going to be it's going to be fun having them with me at
this next one. We'll see if they have fun.
Everybody else has fun. Yeah, I feel like, you know,
having somebody just prick your spirits up when you're getting
in those, those miles, especially at night like that,
that's worth its weight in gold right there.
Oh my gosh, yes. And like I said, my husband is
like, if I'm like, this is not what am I doing?
Why am I here? He's like an instant like OK,
we're going to shut that down. And I'm like I'm hurting.
He's like good. Like that's what you came here
to do and that's what we're doing.
So did you have? But yeah, like I mentioned
before, I've had Pacers in the last in the 50 mile, the BP and
50 mile race that was in Austin. And then I've had Pacers at my
first 100 Miller and then I had it in Sedona.
And just having the person to talk to in the night makes it go
by faster and gives you a little bit of, you know, a fresh, fresh
day, You know, because you're just, you're just out there just
talking to yourself for hours. And then it's like, OK, finally
I have somebody to talk to. Now I have somebody that'll
listen to me and check on me and make sure like you can stop
thinking for a little bit because your pacer kind of
thinks for you. Like, have you had nutrition?
Are you drinking your water? What else do you need when we go
into an aid station? Because you forget you, you just
your brain is in constantly going.
And so it, it just by the end of the race, when you're, you have
30 miles left, your, your brain is fried.
And it's nice to have that pacer.
That's like, OK, you told me you needed this, this and this.
So when we go into this aid station, I want to make sure you
have it. So I've had a couple of really
great Pacers do that like a. System you got to you got to run
through when you stop at an aid station to just knock out like
the hit list. Otherwise you're you're in total
disarray when you start running again.
Exactly. I have.
My husband knows what I want and need each loop.
I usually text him I'm a mile out and I need this.
I need Tylenol, I need more electrolytes and I need a water
and a sandwich. And he's literally standing
there with it in his arms. I'll pull out my empty stuff and
hand it to him and we swap out and I just keep going.
Because if you sit down in a chair like I did in Sedona,
there were so many unnecessary stops and wasted time that you
don't know until you do a race of that caliber you have to do
this year that I did it. It was a learning opportunity
and and a time to take notes next year.
It's like, OK, we know what we did wrong.
We know what we're not going to do this year.
Now it's time to to put the hammer down in work and get it
done. This time, like the first time,
was putting some feelers out there and then the next, the
next one is like, all right, let's go well.
When you start increasing the distance, like you get just so
many more variables that come to play.
Like when I had Mike on last time, we were talking about his,
I think we did the Coco donor 250 or something.
And like with that distance, like he'll typically, you know,
take a little break from time to time throughout the night to
like get a little bit of sleep. But it's like if you sleep too
much, you start getting stiff and everyone's got like a
different window of time that that, you know, happens in.
So it's like you got to just, you know, test all these things
out. There's so many variables.
Oh yeah, with each, like you said, 100 mile race and a 200
mile race are two totally different things.
Sedona, I never slept. I probably, there was a point
that I probably should have taken a nap, but I didn't.
I think it took me 45 hours to do that race.
So there was no sleep in that time.
And there was, and I mean 0 naps, not a 5 minute nap, not a
10 minute nap, absolutely no sleep.
There were a couple times in the woods when I was just like, hey,
I'm I just need to lay on on my stomach for a second or lay on
my back and just like give me 5 minutes.
But it was never anything that I could close my eyes and actually
get some sleep. Now I think with with longer
distance, yes, that's something that you would have to throw in
there. Obviously that way you can
continue. You're only halfway through with
a 200 mile race when you're 100 miles in, I mean, think how much
you have left. So yeah, it's a lot of lot
different strategy between 100 mile, 125 and 202 fifty.
All right, it it's, it's definitely its own beast, those
longer races. And they just keep getting
longer and longer. I mean, I, I saw something
advertised today for like a 500 mile race and I'm like, I didn't
even know that was a possibility.
Like people are doing that, but it's just, it's like people just
keep pushing the envelope. Yeah, I saw someone post the
other day that they where OK, it's time to start training for
the the Monster 300, I believe is what it is next year, maybe
in Arizona or Utah, something like that, one of those places.
But it's a 300 mile race. I'm not sure what it's called or
like I said, where it is, but yeah, it's constantly pushing
your limits. And it would be so much fun to
do something like that. It's really hard to even sneak
away with four kids. Yeah, for 100 mile race because
it it it's so time consuming. There's logistics, there's you
can't just go and show up and just run a race like they're 100
mile distance. There's planning to it is
getting there, you know, a couple days before and making
sure that your body is ready, making sure you have everything
prepared and packed and you have drop bags and yeah, it's it's
definitely strategic. So yeah, it's the 100.
Maybe one day I'd do a 200 mile distance if I could fit that in.
But right now I'm really enjoying the 100 mile distance.
That's good, good distance for me, I feel like.
Yeah, no, that's super, super impressive.
What what do you say when when people ask about like just the,
the wear and tear on your body? Like, I know ultra derntiators
get a lot of Flack about, you know, that can't be good for
your joints. They can't be good for your your
knees, your hips, your feet, like you're, you're wearing
yourself down. Like, do you feel like that is
true or do you feel like, yeah, that's.
True. Not at all.
The benefit? Cycle.
I don't think it's true at all. I did CrossFit, like I said,
competitive heavy, heavy lifting, CrossFit, barbell
cycling, heavyweight for 5-6 years and that tore my body down
a little bit. But your body is so resilient
and if you're consistent with your training, your body gets
used to the demand that you put on it.
Like the first 50 Ki ran, I told you the next day I I could not
walk. The next time I ran A50 Ki felt
like the next day I was totally fine.
And it was a very similar race with the similar elevation
profile and things like that. So it wasn't like one was 16,000
feet of gain and the other one was 2000.
No, it's just my body responded well because it knew this time
around what I had done and how it needed to recover.
So each time you add distance to your to your races or your
training, you know, just your body responds to it well and, or
can respond to it well if you do it the right way.
And, you know, slowly add mileage each week and recovery,
recovery is so important. And you know, if not just as
important as getting all that time on your feet.
And that's one of those things I think that you kind of learn
with age. When I did CrossFit so
competitively, seven days a week, I was like, I don't have
time to rest. I don't have, you know, I've got
to be in the gym. I've got to do this.
I can't take a day off AM and PM sessions and just not
recovering. And your hormones go wild.
And as you gain maturity with age, it's like, yeah, I think
I'm gonna take a rest day. Like I don't feel like I'm fully
recovered. And I think it's smart to take a
rest day. And lo and behold, the next
couple of training days are phenomenal because gave back to
my body what it was given back to me.
Yeah, no, 100%, totally, completely agree.
I feel like the body is just so much more adaptable and people
give it credit for. You just have to be smart about
it. You have to consume ample
nutrition too. Like a lot of people that are
chronically under eating like they're not doing themselves any
favors. You're are you tracking your
macros at all? Are you pretty much just eating
intuitively? I don't know.
I tracked macros for so long when I was competing in CrossFit
and it was just one of those things where I said, I'm done
with this. I don't want to do that.
Like it's so time consuming, you know, just did a regular diet
and exercise and through both pregnancies ate pretty much
everything. And then, you know, ate healthy
and then tracked a little bit. And again, it was just like,
this is not for me. It's not like, I just don't
think it's like a realistic approach to a busy mom, a busy
dad. Like, you know, there's so many
other things going on in your everyday life that how do you
have time to track numbers like that?
Like, I just don't. I think that if you make prote,
protein and fat a probability and listen to your body, then
everything else will fall in mind.
Yeah, especially if you're doing keto carnivore, like it's much
easier to eat intuitively and hit the right numbers because
your body's satiety signalling is so much more in tune with
what your body actually needs. Right.
And before I would eat until I was just like, Oh my gosh, I'm
so full. Like I just ate a whole pizza by
myself. And then now it's like I'm like
3 boiled eggs in and I still have half a pound of ground beef
on my plate. And I'm like, I can actually
hear my body saying, OK, you're full.
Like I'm like, oh like I don't actually have to finish
everything on this plate. Like my body's telling me I'm
full and I can listen to it. No, 100%.
That's awesome. I'm hopeful that more, you know,
endurance athletes look to keto carnivore.
That's kind of. Been I do too.
Yeah, I mean, I think that, I mean, it's just healthier.
It's it's better from a psychological standpoint.
From a physiological standpoint, it's more, you know, native to
what we're supposed to be consuming as a species.
So it's awesome talking to people like you that are moving
that needle forward. So by all means, keep doing it.
And it's so easy to do. And I mean, it's literally eggs,
beef, and but you have to give it time.
That's The thing is just just like anything great, you have to
be patient with things. It doesn't happen overnight.
It took, you know, 60 days for my body to come to somewhat
abnormal after getting off the antidepressant and using
carnivore diets as medicine. But once I saw things change,
you know, that's when it's like, wow, like, OK, that's worth it.
But you have to, you got to try it and give it time first.
Just like anything great you have to, you've got to put in
the work and be consistent with the no A. 100% agree with you on
that one. Well where do people go to find
out more about you? Following are you?
Are you documenting this race in 10 days?
I'm assuming you're probably putting all this stuff on your
social and whatnot. Yeah, I use Instagram majority
of everything, you know, I do a little TikTok, no TikTok dances
or anything like that. It's basically the same thing I
post on Instagram. But yeah, Instagram AK dot
McClellan. I post to my stories, I post
videos each day and, you know, try to help people with shown
them that the keto carnivore diet works for endurance
athletes. I try to show people that hard
work pays off, that if you're a mom with four kids and a house
full of animals and, and a husband, that you could still,
you know, achieve great things. And just trying to inspire
people, you know, to, to live each day to their full
potential. That's what's all about.
I mean that that's what's all about.
So keep keep preaching that message for sure.
What what did you do to tell a tangent right now, but you got
chickens and dogs. I have.
Chickens. I had chickens and then I got a
dog and now I got no more chickens.
So how'd you kind of keep them separated?
We have a big goofy dog. We have a greater Swiss mountain
dog. He's a year old, he's 120 lbs
and he hasn't even filled in yet.
But he's just a big goofy, fun dog that just plays with the
cats. He plays with the chickens.
Our chickens are free range, so we have a little area for them,
but they never stay in it and we're totally fine with that.
They they eat grass more than they eat the chicken feed that
we put out for him. And so all the animals, the cat,
even the cats are used to them. I have a couple cats that are
indoor outdoor cats and he will literally go down there and just
hang out with the chickens and then go into his own thing.
But we do have a hawk around here that we have to watch
gotcha with the chickens. That's the only thing that gives
us trouble around here is a little hawk that wants to bother
my chickens. Yeah, can't be having that.
We, we got a Connie Corso pup. He's seven months old now.
He's Oh yeah. And he's just growing like a
freaking weed. He he's carnivore.
He's eating. He's eating raw meat.
And he's eating. Like 10 lbs every every month it
seems. Yes, we, we do the raw diet for
Packer and it's been wonderful. Oh my gosh, his coat.
And like I had mentioned before, I did meal plans for people for
eight years and I never knew the research on a keto or a
carnivore diet and how amazing it is for humans and for your
dogs. And so one of the the biggest
reasons I started doing it was when we got this dog, we
committed to doing a carnivore raw food diet for him.
And I thought, if he's eating this good, I need to be eating
this good. Like we all need to be eating
this good, not just my dog like I need to, if my dog's eating
better than I am, I need something needs to change.
But his coat is so clear, he's healthy.
Like there's a a book called The Forever Dog I believe is what it
is. Such a great book on research
with dog food and the industry and all that.
Really good book. It's so weird that like, like we
take our dog, you know, the vet occasionally for his, you know,
normal check UPS as he's growing.
And it's weird because they'll be like, oh, he looks so great.
He's grown. His coat looks amazing.
His teeth are perfect. Like he's so attentive.
What are you feeding them? And then I'll be feeding them
raw carnivore. And then they'll be like, Oh,
yeah, but you should really increase your vegetation.
You should add some more, you know, kibbled food in there.
And it's like, you just got to tell me how great he was
looking. Like don't, don't be going back
on yours. Yeah, it's like, why would I
change anything? See, he had some skin issues,
which were like an allergy, outdoor allergy kind of thing.
But when we took him to the vet, they said his first vet, they
said, what is his diet? And I told him and they're oh,
well, how is he getting his carbs?
And I'm like, have you not done research that have you seen what
is, have you read what is in kibble?
How could this diet be bad for him?
And so that anyways, that was the last time we spoke with her.
So and, and he's still on a raw diet and his allergies have
completely cleared up. So and his coat is so shiny
black and he is such a youthful, playful dog.
It's just he's awesome. That's the way to do it.
Well, I did just look up the the Arkansas Travellers, 100 miles.
That's in Central Arkansas and it goes right around Lake
Winona, which is a place I used to kill.
It's a National Forest. I used to go camp out there when
I was in high school. Super pretty, super pretty spot.
So you're going to be in a very beautiful part of the state for
sure. Wow, that's awesome.
You know, we used to growing up, we always July 4th weekend went
out to Hot Springs, yeah, Arkansas and we would camp and,
you know, get in the river. Oh my gosh.
So freezing cold and and, you know, just stay the weekend and
we always left our vacation, our yearly vacation in Arkansas.
That was a lot of fun. So I haven't been back to
Arkansas. Oh my gosh.
Probably since my junior, senior year in high school.
So it's always beautiful when I was there.
Now, is that close by to where you are now?
It's about 2 1/2 hours South from where I'm at currently and
I'm going to be in, I'm going to be in March, those 50 miles in
Omaha. Oh, that's right.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I didn't.
I just put those two together. So I'll be out when you're here,
but you're going to be in a pretty spot at least, so that'll
be good. Yeah, that's awesome.
Well, you lucked out because I was going to make you start
training and pace me in the race, but maybe, maybe another
one. Hey, we'll do it again for sure.
I love what you're doing. By all means, keep preaching the
message, keep doing what you're doing, keep inspiring people,
and keep showing what's possible without carbohydrates.
Alyssa, awesome, awesome conversation.
I will certainly link out to your profile and that people can
follow along with a journey. Yeah.
Thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited that we finally
got this on the calendar and got it done and got to talk about
some fun stuff. A. 100% Well, let's definitely
keep the conversation going all. Right.
Sounds good. Thank you.
Take care.