Advice sought about diet, vitamins and sports drinks for the 100km Oxfam Trail Walker

Hi Gary,
My name is "G" ..... I am competing in an event next year in April. The oxfam 100km trailwalker. I am planning to run it in a reasonable time.
Currently I can run over 30km with no hassles and averaging 60-70 km a week. This morning I tried mixing up my training by doing some stair work in the bush, it felt great. I got the idea from your advance training schedule off the oxfam website, training basics.
I wanted to ask some questions about Diet, Multi Vitamins and training sports drinks.
Firstly my diet is ok but not fantastic. I am currently eating 1/2 cup of rolled oats with half a banana and yoghurt with raisins sprinkled on top for Breakfast every day.
For lunch it is a mixture of either left over dinner (White Rice veges sometimes meat.)
Dinner generally always some dark green vege and carrots with either meat or beans or lentils etc.
Water intake is good, early in the morning after I get up I am consuming about 2 glasses before my morning training session. I normally take one glass of Leppin sports drink 5-10 minutes before I go out to exercise any time between 5.30am and 7am and 1 glass when I get back (20 grams per 250 mls of water).
Bowel movements good, normally go straight away after I get up in the morning, sometimes twice.
Just started drinking Keifer which is soured milk to help with good bacteria in the stomach. My wife has been using the keifer grains for 2 years.
I have a wheat intolerance and I find it I have too much Wheat and Dairy my eczema plays up.
I am taking two Omega 3 capsules at night and two evening primrose caps. I'm also taking a Calcium supplement (Coral C) for bone blood and nerve health and a Multi Vitamin called CAA (distributed by Health house). I have found the evening primrose to make a difference in my skin.
I have a friend who is in Usana Health sciences who has just given me 2 containers (1 is Multi Minerals and the other is Anti Oxidants) What would your advice be with taking Usana as oppose to CAA or any other Multi on the market. Usana have high claims that their product is made to Pharmaceutical standard.
I would like to eat a diet that is not through the roof money wise but still provides the essentials I need to train at a high level week in week out. Any suggestions?
I'm also using Leppin Sports Drink (Enduro Booster) which has helped incredibly with my performance and recovery. Any suggestions about changing this or staying on it?
Also if you have any suggestions on training guides. I have looked at the one on oxfam and still need a bit more guidance. I am keen to build more strength in the coming months and enjoy the challenge of a varied training schedule.
Thanks for your time
Regards
"G"
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Gary Moller responds:
Your diet appears to be basically, quite good; but even the best can always be a little better!

For my opinion on multi-level marketing schemes, including those that sell vitamins, please read my articles here. To continue to train as well as you are, I would do more to boost the general nutrient intake of your diet. This should include rich sources of minerals and antioxidants and more quality protein after a training session. You can get these through my recipe for the Super Smoothie, the beef bone broth and the home made muesli. You can find all of these by going to the Recipes pages of this website and by doing keyword searches for terms like "Super Smoothie". While some supplementation may be beneficial, you should be able to get most of your requirements from your meals that are enriched with nutrients. How you manage this is explained in the dozens of articles about nutrition on this site.

If you are developing eczema when eating wheat products and if you are also finding that the condition is improved by taking Omega 3 products, it is possible that you do not have a wheat intolerance. You may, instead, have a chronic Omega 3 to Omega 6 imbalance. Many processed foods, including those with wheat, such as crackers and bread, are made with oils that are high in Omega 6. You may find that wheat products are fine if they are home made using oils like olive oil and fats like pure New Zealand butter. I recommend that you explore this possibility and include a course of supplementing with Waihi Bush Flax Boost. Flax Boost is designed for people with a chronic Omega 3 to Omega 6 imbalance. Use Flax boost daily for as long as is necessary to bring about a lasting improvement in your skin, then switch to Waihi Bush Flax Balance or Flax Original. Apply the flax oil twice daily to the affected areas of skin as a moisturiser. These oils, including fish oil and evening primrose oil, are available from http://www.myotec.co.nz/

I am not that keen on the sports drinks. Having a dentist and a dental therapist in the family, I am regularly reminded of the enormous damage sweet drinks are doing to teeth. Sports drinks are as bad as any when it comes to tooth decay and gum disease. In my opinion, fresh water is always best when running and you can get your running calories from natural sources derived from a basic diet that is highly nutritious.

In order to run long and hard day after day, you need calories - heaps of them. The more you eat, the faster and longer you can run in training and in racing. If you find that you must take a sweet drink to get through a long training run, this may be an indication that your diet just does not supply enough recovery calories between training sessions. Sources of calories must include plenty of healthy fats and oils. A fat-free diet is unhealthy. If the labels says "99% fat-free", avoid it as if it was toxic waste. Drink full fat unhomogenised and preferably raw milk and not the fat-reduced milk. Eat organic eggs from chickens that are having a happy outdoors lifestyle. Got the idea?

For further training guidance, go to the E-Publications pages of this website and read the E-Books about Training for a Marathon, Train to Win and Training for Endurance Mountain Bike Races. You will also find E-Pubs about nutrition that are well worth reading.