I enable endurance athletes to overcome lack of energy and gut upset so that they can fuel their bodies with confidence and race to their full potential. Subscribe to my weekly 'Fuelling with Purpose' newsletter to receive endurance nutrition insights directly in your inbox.
Fuelling With Purpose — 23 September 2025
💡 Fuel For ThoughtRecovery Starts Before You Stop RunningHave you ever finished a long run feeling totally wrecked, only to wonder why recovery takes so long? One of the most common “aha moments” I hear from athletes who start being more deliberate with their training nutrition is this: “I can’t believe how much faster I bounce back.” We often think of gels, chews, or carb bottles as fuel just to get through the run. But what you consume during training also shapes how well you recover afterwards. When you consume carbs during a session, your body uses that incoming fuel right away, which helps maintain steady blood glucose levels, keeps stress hormones in check, and prevents you from becoming completely depleted. Instead of playing catch-up, your body can shift into repair mode faster. There’s also a hidden bonus: carbohydrate intake during prolonged or intense exercise has been shown to support immune function by lowering the stress hormone response and reducing the dip in specific immune cells that happens after hard training. Translation: fuelling well not only helps your muscles recover, it also keeps you healthier and more resilient over the course of a training block. 🚀 Endurance Highlights1️⃣ Simulating heat training without hot weatherIf you’re preparing for a race in warmer conditions, heat acclimation is strongly recommended. Unfortunately, that can be tricky if your current training environment isn’t hot enough. This new study explored a practical workaround: overdressing during exercise to simulate heat stress. Researchers tested a standardised treadmill protocol (30 minutes running at 6 mph, followed by 60 minutes walking at 3.5 mph) while participants wore multiple layers of clothing in a 20°C gym environment. Compared to training in just shorts and a t-shirt, overdressing raised core and skin temperatures, heart rate, and sweat loss much more effectively. The real test came after five consecutive sessions: athletes who used overdressing showed lower core and skin temperatures and reduced heart rates during a heat stress test at 40°C, clear signs of heat adaptation. In short, this approach can be a suitable alternative to induce heat acclimation without needing access to hot weather or climate chambers. 2️⃣ The link between adequate hydration and stressWe often talk about hydration in the context of performance, but this new study highlights another important angle: stress. Researchers compared adults with low daily fluid intake to those with high intake and put them through a standardised psychosocial stress test. Both groups experienced similar increases in anxiety and heart rate, but only the low-fluid group showed a significant spike in cortisol, the body’s main stress hormone. The findings show that suboptimal hydration (often visible as darker urine) is linked to exaggerated cortisol reactivity, which over time may contribute to poorer health outcomes. These findings suggest that monitoring your thirst and staying well-hydrated may also help your body respond to stress in a healthier way. 🕵🏻♀️ Retail Finds*This week's product review: Naak Ultra Energy BarSolid food options can be a good inclusion to add texture and flavour variety as part of your training or race fuelling. Features & benefits
Things to keep in mind
Final take This bar can be a convenient occasional inclusion as part of your race plan. The high-fat content makes it not suitable for high-intensity efforts or reliance on this product as your main fuel source. 👩🏻🍳 Kitchen CreationsI'm committing to sending the most valuable endurance nutrition newsletter. I want to make sure that every piece of content you receive has information that is helpful for you and your journey to achieving your personal best. Happy fuelling! Gaby | Endurance Nutrition Specialist p.s. I personally read and answer your email replies. |
Gaby Villa
I enable endurance athletes to overcome lack of energy and gut upset so that they can fuel their bodies with confidence and race to their full potential. Subscribe to my weekly 'Fuelling with Purpose' newsletter to receive endurance nutrition insights directly in your inbox.
💡 Fuel For Thought Eating big in a world obsessed with small Picture this: you’re sitting down with your well-earned bowl of pasta after a long run, and around you, everyone’s comparing notes on their latest diet: intermittent fasting, low-carb, pre-holiday "detox". You twirl your fork and quietly wonder: am I doing something wrong? Nutrition can feel overwhelming when you’re an endurance athlete living in a world that celebrates eating less. Your energy needs are significantly higher than...
💡 Fuel For Thought Fuelling Beyond the Nutrition Label A client recently told me they were struggling to find foods to eat before training. “I don't really like sweet things,” they said, “I thought about toast with Vegemite… but that's useless, right? Vegemite doesn't have any carbs.” It's true, Vegemite isn't a carb-dense source. But that doesn't make it useless. In this case, it's the bridge that makes fuelling possible. The Vegemite isn't there to fuel the session, the bread is. The...
💡 Fuel For Thought Gut Training: The Workout Most Runners Skip “Do not try anything new on race day” seems to be a well-known rule. However, when it comes to nutrition, many athletes interpret this too narrowly. They’ll test a gel once or twice in training, have no stomach upset, and assume they’re good to go. But tolerating one gel during an easy long run is not the same as fuelling with multiple gels per hour at race intensity. Your gut is trainable, just like your legs and lungs. Research...