How Kilian Jornet fueled his 24-hour activity

He consumed 40 gels and 5,500 - 6,000 calories total

Madeleine Kelly February 11, 2019

Kilian Jornet is one of the most dominant endurance athletes of this generation. The Spanish ultra-runner did a 24-hour activity on Friday, which according to his blog, was designed to test his endurance and see how his body reacted to extreme elevation gain.

Not my definition of a “fun day” but super hyped of this day doing loops in skis testing myself. Just so tired right now! Thanks @TinaEmelie Jordi, Joan and all the people from Romsdal Rando and Tusten ski center for the help. It made those 23.468m pass faster ? pic.twitter.com/h92bJgxvd0

— kilian jornet (@kilianj) February 9, 2019

He tested himself by skiing as many metres of elevation as he could in 24-hours in Molde, Norway. While his activity wasn’t running, his nutrition plan for the effort reveals some insights for the ultra-endurance runner. Jornet ended up averaging a total of 978.6 metres of elevation per hour on skiis. That’s 23,112 metres of total elevation gain.

Jornet started his day with two small cinnamon buns before heading to the base of the ski hill. The ultra runner aimed to take in 250 calories per hour during his climb. According to his blog post, over 24 hours he took in a total of 5,500 to 6,000 calories. That doesn’t include recovery or breakfast, that’s just calories consumed during his activity. Jornet wrote, “I started eating gels after 1 hour and every 30 minutes from then on. I was taking Spring energy gel (Speednut – 235 cal, Long Haul – 110 cal, McRaecovery – 150 cal, Canaberry, Hill Aid – 100 cal) and Mountain Fuel jellies (Cola, Orange and Lemon). After 10 hours 35 minutes I ate a slice of pizza and for the next 4 hours I ate “normal” food when I reached the bottom (a small slice of pizza, a small portion cheese sandwich and the occasional biscuit).”

https://www.instagram.com/p/BtwE_Rln3Py/

He continues, “Then I went back to gels from 14 hours to 17 hours. I had then a 10-minute break to eat a slice of pizza and a bit of warm mashed potato, I changed my jacket and I rested a bit. I then ate gels every 30 minutes for 2 hours 30 minutes. After 19 hours 48 minutes I took another 10 minutes rest to drink a hot coffee / chocolate and to eat some pasta. During the last 4 hours I ate a piece of chocolate (10 gr) every 30 minutes.”

In terms of recovery, he said he started with a cinnamon buns and a soy yogurt and had a 1-hour power nap. After that he had a normal dinner with rice, veggies, salad and bread with cheese. You can find his full blog post here.

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