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My diet to break a world record – and why I include fasting
Josh Kerr, Gold medal winner at 2023 World Championships: Everything I eat for fastest mile attempt is prepared by my performance chef – it’s the best investment I’ve ever made
I’m a foodie, no doubt, and a huge part of my development over the past four years has been dialling in what I eat. My earnings have increased with Olympic medals and world titles and one of the best performance decisions I have made is to invest in a nutritionist and a chef.
Dr Kyle works out the precise dietary requirements to support my training while my performance chef Jameel Austin does the shopping and makes the meals to ensure I implement that. Everything I put into my body is cooked by Jameel. He also works in a restaurant as a pastry chef – that’s not a food on my menu – but he comes to our house every Monday and Thursday to prepare the meals.
He did not have a passport until around 18 months ago. Now he travels the world with us. So if I’m on a training camp in Seattle, where my Brooks Beasts team are based, he will visit. He might fly in at 8am, shop, cook all day, and then fly back to New Mexico that evening. I’m blessed to have him in the team – he’s incredible at what he does – even if I sometimes think that his main goal in life is to only sleep two hours a night. Larimar, my wife, also loves whole foods, although Jameel will sometimes bring some cool stuff for her that I don’t get. He made her chocolate cake last week.
Jameel was in Poland, taking over a corner of the hotel kitchen, when I won the world indoor title in March and he will be in London with me next month, when I will try to break the world one-mile record that has stood since 1999.
Nicole, who is now my manager, first took on the cognitive load of preparing my food before the World Championships in 2023 and then Jameel came on board following the Paris Olympics. It has all been a major step in becoming more professional. I’m trying to focus on my running and don’t need to be weighing food and worrying about getting the exact amount of carbs, protein and fats at every meal.
I now know that I am getting what my body needs and it has all decreased the risk of injury and illness. In a sport where training consistency is king, that is crucial. A lot of athletes are either under-fuelling or not tracking the different macros.
What I eat shifts according to whether I have a race or one of my harder training days – Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays – but the key overarching principles do not change much. Whole foods. Nothing processed if at all possible. Jameel even makes my pasta, bread or any sauces from scratch.
We have lots of rice, eggs, and salads, almost always with spinach. We have big quantities of vegetables – three types per meal – as well as a lot of chicken and steak. Breakfast is typically egg-based, lunch usually chicken-oriented, with steak in most evening meals.
Pancakes, berries and maple syrup are another staple, especially before a race, when I will also cut back the fibre and leave out the salad to ensure I never risk a cramp.
We have also worked on some additional tweaks. I do a 16 to 18-hour food “fast” from about 6:30pm on a Tuesday until around 12:30pm on a Wednesday, when I have only an eight-mile recovery run early in the morning and is the first of two days of relatively easier sessions. That is a grind, even if I will have a coffee before and a protein shake after. It encourages the body to utilise fats during that easy run and also just helps to keep me lean.
It can be hard when we go out and people are ordering ice cream, but I know how my body reacts to those foods and it is not of benefit to me. I don’t intend to retire with any regrets and not eating processed food or sugar actually cuts out any cravings.
Timing is also crucial, so I usually have a box of food with me wherever I go in case I get held up anywhere. We push carbs super hard going into the Friday, Sunday and Tuesday sessions. We also hit protein particularly hard on Tuesday afternoons and evenings to maximise recovery from that sequence of hard sessions every 48 hours in the six days before. The high-carb days are mostly rice, manioc, pasta and noodles and I love sweet potato on a lower carb day.
We also do an eight-day coffee fast before races. A coffee about three hours before the race should then have more impact. Regular blood-work informs whether any supplements are recommended by Dr Kyle. Supplements that I might have at different times of the year include vitamin D, omega-3 or beta-alanine.
Like most runners now in almost every distance and endurance sport, I will also take sodium bicarbonate before a race, but I never bother in training. Sodium bicarbonate is essentially baking soda and has long been known to buffer hydrogen ions and thus delay muscle fatigue. Its usage, however, has increased over recent years after it was produced in a gel that helps to bypass the gut and thus reduce the risk of gastro issues. There can be a lot of hype about supplements, but they are just that; a supplement to what is the foundation of getting your nutrition right. And it is with my diet – and specifically more whole, unprocessed foods – where I have had the big gains during these peak years of my career.
Kerr’s sample menu
Race day
Breakfast Protein 31g / fat 25g / carb 74-83g
- Two slices of sourdough toast
- Three scrambled eggs
- 1/4 cup greek yogurt
- 1/2c fresh berries
- 1-1.5oz local jam of choice
Lunch Protein 30-36g / fat 18-24g / carb 42-29
- 150-175g basmati rice
- 5.5-6oz Chicken thigh / or four strips of Canadian bacon and optional two scrambled eggs
Pre-evening race (2.30hr-3hr before): Protein 20-21g / fat 15g / carb 98-137g
- 80g gluten free pancake mix
- 1/2c fresh berries
- Two scrambled eggs
- 1-1.5oz maple syrup
- Optional banana
- Coffee and sodium bicarbonate
Post-race dinner Protein 44g / fat 24g / carb 50g
- 4-5oz Sirloin steak or chicken breast
- 115g egg-based fresh pasta
- 100g mushrooms
- 1-g shredded parmesan
- Side salad
Hard workout day
As above, but with the high carb pre-evening race meal of pancakes etc becoming the breakfast ahead of a morning (usually 10am-12noon) running session.
Lunch and dinner to both also include three vegetables and a salad.
Vegetable choices typically: Asparagus, cauliflower, carrots, mushrooms, leeks, courgettes and broccoli, often roasted in extra virgin olive oil.
Salads typically with mixed greens, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, long beans, fresh figs, peach, apricot and peppers, with either a dressing or avocado for healthy fats.
Food frequently seasoned with garlic and ginger as well as various herbs.
Go-to snack: Rice balls
Easy workout day
As per race day but with no pre-race pancake meal.
Lunch and dinner to both also include three vegetables and a salad. Rice and pasta carb options may be replaced with sweet or russet potato, although carb portions will increase on the day before a race.
[Source: Daily Telegraph]
