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=C2=AB=20 Fit Kids Score Better on Tests | Main | 24=20 Hours of Sunlight: The Pain Begins =C2=BB

February 07, 2009

24=20 Hours of Sunlight: Fuel

By Ou= tside=20 Online
Feb 07, 2009

Comments=20 (0)

Let=E2=80=99s go conservative and = say 300 calories an=20 hour. And, of course, I=E2=80=99ll be going =E2=80=93 skiing = uphill at the Sunlight=20 Ski area in Glenwood Springs, Colo. -- for 24 hours. = That=E2=80=99s 7,200=20 calories.

For reference, a pint of Ben and = Jerry=E2=80=99s=20 isn=E2=80=99t even 1,000. (Not that my =E2=80=93 or most = athletes for that matter =E2=80=93=20 stomach could handle ice cream during a race.)

Few things can send a race = =E2=80=93 and the world=20 record you=E2=80=99re going after in it -- sideways as = quickly as eating the=20 wrong stuff. The last time I did this race (as part of a = two-person=20 team) I went for taste rather than substance: Krispy Kremes = all the=20 way =E2=80=A6 and at 3 a.m., they sent me running all the = way to the=20 bathroom.

I=E2=80=99m happy to report = I=E2=80=99ve learned from that=20 mistake. Peanut butter M&M chocolate chip oatmeal=20 cookies don=E2=80=99t send me running to the bathroom, at 3 = a.m. or any=20 other time. And they taste delicious. But, they do have one = strike=20 against them: they give me a type of gas =E2=80=93 and in = quantities that=20 really are impossible to believe one human can produce = =E2=80=93 that I just=20 can=E2=80=99t subject fellow racers to. And, over 24 hours, = a hard-working=20 body does need more than sugar. So I supplement the cookies = with a=20 variety of other foods.

Ramen rocks, especially in the = middle of the=20 night -- carbs, warmth, and it doesn=E2=80=99t really = require chewing. And=20 cashews? = Perhaps the=20 single best thing ever =E2=80=93 calorically dense, tasty, = and crunchy.=20 Well, the single best thing ever next to Ensure. 250 = calories in=20 six-ounces =E2=80=93 about three gulps. And the vanilla = flavor tastes great.=20 There=E2=80=99s no faster, easier way to get calories. = Sometimes I think I=20 exercise as much as I do so that I can drink as much Ensure = as I=20 want to. And I brought a blender too: chocolate carb/protein = powder=20 with half a banana. Again, something else that = doesn=E2=80=99t require=20 chewing and can disappear fairly quickly. And the Hammer = drink mix=20 Perpetuum. And, when I might need a jolt of caffeine? = Mountain Dew.=20 It works better than other sodas for me because it=E2=80=99s = not super=20 carbonated. Burping and heavy breathing don=E2=80=99t go too = well together.=20 =20

For when I do want to chew, = there=E2=80=99s hot=20 buckwheat cereal, Snickers, and Pearson=E2=80=99s Salted Nut = Rolls. And, of=20 course, whole-wheat tortillas, bananas, peanut butter, and = Nutella.=20 And Canadian bacon with cheddar cheese. And, well, I think = that=E2=80=99s=20 it, except for the very best thing of all:

The McDonald=E2=80=99s double = cheeseburger. With Big=20 Mac sauce.

I know, it=E2=80=99s totally, = totally (totally)=20 gross. But gross in the kind of way that is exactly what you = need=20 after charging for a minimum of six hours. The soft bun. The = greasy=20 patties they pass off as beef. The catsup. The thin orange = sliver=20 they pass off as cheese. Did I mention the soft bun? =

I was a vegetarian for 10 years. = Then,=20 immediately after college, I moved to Wyoming, enrolled in a = Hunter=20 Safety Class (with every eight-year-old in the town), and = added game=20 meat to my diet. And then I read Fast Food Nation. = After I=20 finished the book, for the first time in my entire life I = wanted a=20 Big Mac. (I very well might be the only person in the world = to have=20 been inspired to add fast food to their diet after reading = that=20 book.)

I=E2=80=99d salivate anytime I = passed a McDonald=E2=80=99s.=20 There may have been some Big Mac dreams. Still, it was about = seven=20 months before I allowed myself to indulge. And even then, it = was=20 only because I had just done the 40-some mile = rim-to-rim-to-rim hike=20 in the Grand Canyon in one push.

Orgasmic can=E2=80=99t even begin = to describe that=20 first Big Mac.

Ever since then, my first stop = after a=20 prolonged physical adventure is McDonald=E2=80=99s. = I=E2=80=99ve moved on from the=20 Big Mac to the double cheeseburger (with Big Mac sauce) = because 1)=20 it=E2=80=99s a better value 2) it=E2=80=99s less bread and = one more pseudo=20 meat.

When we arrive in Glenwood Springs = this=20 afternoon, the first thing I=E2=80=99m going to do, before I = even check in=20 for the race and pick up my schwag bag, is some = McD=E2=80=99s recon. And=20 then make sure each and every one of the five awesome family = members=20 and friends who are my support crew know where it is. = Because=20 they=E2=80=99re going to have to make a few runs there over = the course of 24=20 Hours. If memory serves me correctly, each double = cheeseburger is=20 490 calories. What=E2=80=99s 7,200 divided by = 490?

-- Dina Mishev

24=20 Hours of Sunlight starts Saturday morning at 11. During it, = Jackson,=20 Wyoming-based freelance writer Dina Mishev is hoping to set = the=20 world record for most feet skied uphill by a woman in a = 24-hour=20 period.

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