Inside Sports Nutrition · Bob Seebohar and Dina Griffin

Dietitian Becca Rick and Victory at the Moab240 Ultramarathon - Ep. #208

·1 hr 9 min·2 clips

I shaved 11 hours off my time, and 8 of those came from reducing stop time.

The episode opens with a blunt ultrarunning question: how many calories does someone actually consume over a 240-mile race, and what happens in the body during the recovery days after that effort? Dena Griffin and Bob Sibahar set the table with Rebecca Rick, a registered dietitian, a board certified specialist in sports dietetics, and an adjunct professor at the University of Utah, and they keep the focus on turning sports science into real-world fueling decisions. Oatmeal cream pies and Nutter Butters come up right away. That detail matters because the conversation is not really about perfect fueling theory; it is about the foods athletes actually reach for when the course keeps going and the body starts negotiating. Rebecca walks through what she trained with for hydration, including Scratch and Precision Hydration, and how she used a few gels to get her system ready. She also talks about using Never Second on the race course because it was available at aid stations, and trying Morton gels as part of the mix. The hosts keep pressing on the practical side. They want to know what stays tolerable over a long race, what gets used early, and what becomes the fallback when the stomach gets picky. Rebecca says she tested a little gel in training because last year's race taught her that she might need it later. That kind of learning loop is the spine of the discussion. The episode also gets into non-sport foods that still function as fuel, including Nerd Clusters, gummy candies from Trader Joe's, and Uncrustables. The show does not treat those choices as cheating or as a punchline. Instead, it stays grounded and leaves room for the fact that race nutrition often lives somewhere between lab logic and the snack aisle. There is even a back-and-forth about whether highly processed foods should count as real food, which gives the talk a useful, slightly messy edge. The crew stash of Uncrustables in the freezer comes up too, along with how easy they are to take along and use in the race. The crew talk helps connect the nutrition plan to the realities of aid stations, handoffs, and what is actually easy to eat on the move. At one point, the hosts start comparing notes on which food source likely contributed the most calories across the whole effort. That angle turns the race into something more than a highlight reel. It becomes a case study in planning, adaptation, and the slow accumulation of calories over a very long day, then a very long recovery. The result is a talk that feels useful for anyone who wants sports nutrition translated into ordinary choices, not abstract rules.

As heard by us

Race fueling and recovery, with snack math for when the miles get absurd.

A 240-mile ultramarathon makes fueling questions feel immediate, and this episode stays there. Rebecca Rick joins Dena Griffin and Bob Sibahar for a race day conversation about calories, recovery, and how much an athlete can still get down when the miles keep piling up.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

You want ultrarace fueling without the sports-nutrition fog.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from Inside Sports Nutrition