What an Olympic Runner Eats for High Altitude Training

Meet Olympic runner Brenda Martinez in Big Bear, CA and learn about how she’s adapted classic Mexican cooking to the high-mileage lifestyle.
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[@six634]

jesus that is some energy from those cali bar guys

[@alligatormonday6365]

Entirely too much.

[@muhlaynee]

Borderline offensive

[@mickym.6711]

@@muhlaynee Obv joking...?

[@Daniel-hs6ct]

Lmao I hate those kind of waiters

[@SHIESTY-ek8lu]

Def on that white powder

[@salsanacho]

I like how she's a finely tuned professional olympic athlete and her husband/trainer is like a normal dad bod dude.

[@jamies7451]

*Who won a marathon. Think he can hang up the shoes at that stage. Wonder what condition his legs are in after pushing marathon training that hard.

[@cannibalmanimal2336]

@@jamies7451 shitty if he hasn’t been training, it’s use it or lose it.

[@2darkdragon]

@@user-dk6un8sh6z LOL how ignorant. endurance athletes are a different breed, you dont need to worry about what they look like.

[@Kidkato]

Guaranteed that dude is still a better runner than an average person.

[@nguday2003]

That’s her trainer not her husband

[@Mikejguevarra]

I demand munchies go back and just do a vid on those restaurant dudes

[@logancrook9306]

yes!!!!

[@werdup3000]

Agreed. Not so sure why some folk are so triggered by them

[@KrashBangSlam]

Amen to that brother.

[@GhadaElBakly]

Yes! 👊

[@ruthamaya3484]

Yes agreed!

[@dirtyhoney2418]

I love how the restaurant dudes say "cheehooo" 🤣🤣 it's such a Hawaii thing and they're in the middle of the freaking snow

[@noramarcelamj7730]

They made me happy when they scream cheeehooo 😹

[@carmenparedes5656]

I think she’s defining carbs as only refined sugars and not the whole range of carbohydrates. All of her meals contained carbs. Complex carbs are great! Specially for athletes

[@louisjohnson9651]

When she said low carb i rolled my eyes. Its fairly well known that low carb diets are bad for performance in aerobic sports. She doesnt quite know how to define what a carb is.

[@jdlancaster1357]

150g (amount cited at beginning) of carbs is a very good amount for someone her size. When she said low carb, she was talking in terms of wanting to prevent insulin spikes, which is totally reasonable. Also I'm sure she knows more about nutrition than the two experts above me lol

[@Sophiaahhaahh]

@@jdlancaster1357 exactly lol

[@louisjohnson9651]

@@jdlancaster1357 150 grams of carbs is not sufficient for me on a calorie reduced diet. She is literally competitive endurance athlete with a 70 mile a week training regiment which would likely put her around 3500-4000 cal a day. You need carbs to replenish glycogen in the muscles and better off higher glycemic carbs like refined pastas because insulin is the signalling hormone that forces carbohydrates into your cells. Even if the goal was to reduce insulin spikes animal protein is more insulinogenic than pure sugar, they oxidize to glucose as fuel and saturated fats inhibit insulin function through lipotoxicity on the pancreas and through post prandial lipemia. If you look at the predominant diet of endurance athletes they need a lot of carbohydrates so they can maintain the crebs cycle and not hit a wall. Fat oxidation is a series of magnitude less efficient than carbohydrates and produces much less atp for the same amount of oxygen. endurance sports is all about maintaining high VO2 max, heart and lung conditioning and muscular endurance. Replacing carbohydrates with fats in sports directly inhibits aerobic performance and it's been shown repeatedly in studies on sports nutrition.

[@lesliegarcia8263]

@@jdlancaster1357 lol right! shes an Olympian for god sakes !!

[@J.O._comics]

I respect her for dedicating her day in day out life for the dream she's probably been chasing seriously for over two decades. Working a 9-5 or doing shift work brings out a different lifestyle in most people than what we see in this short video. Different goals require different game plans and in this case I think she isn't sacrificing anything, she's consciously choosing to live the way that hopefully will bring her closer to her end goal. Keep at it Brenda!

[@thecleaner94]

When she says that she runs 70-80 miles a week and I don’t even that drive many miles a week...

[@jackieclarke6781]

Lmaoooo

[@1226dragon]

U lucky ... i drive 100 miles everyday to work 10 12 hrs

[@bellapalmer9132]

I only run 21 miles a week and maybe 25 but that’s all 😂

[@THICCTHICCTHICC]

@Fancy it's pretty low for an Olympic runner. Some of the Kenyan guys do 120 mpw

[@briantruck2284]

Same

[@schwann1826]

I was about to fall asleep. Those restaurant guys woke me the fuck up. Running a marathon now lol

[@mjay8733]

They're more motivated than her LMFAO

[@brwwnskinting9241]

your comment made me laugh

[@LowkAlexander]

The way she said pork messed with her heart rate at night I realized I’ll never be an Olympic athlete

[@KenNaka22]

Me too, my family and friends call me a fat pig so 😂

[@mayrar2321]

😂💀

[@hellobello3153]

It's okay Gennady Golovkin loves eating racks of ribs during his training camp.

[@THICCTHICCTHICC]

@@hellobello3153 Yeah but GGG seems to be made of literal iron somehow

[@whodafook3202]

@@THICCTHICCTHICC at least 7 or 8 punches Canelo landed on GGG would have put any light heavyweight to sleep. Dude isn’t human.

[@1999_born]

Missed these. More of this please!

[@Vicburmester]

Do you know where there are more? I loved this so much.

[@1999_born]

@@Vicburmester there's one on ultrarunning they did a few years back. Just search up ultrarunnung vice, it should still be up

[@lovejoy4559]

Munchies ‘FUEL’ I think

[@3grouch]

Yeah this was great I loved it.

[@mezcal_papi]

Orale! 🇲🇽❤️

[@paulagomez7731]

The part where she was talking about support made me mad, it's so horrible that people only care about you when you already won

[@munix9351]

Say that again!!

[@dillonstephens6069]

I'm about to Olympic run downstairs to my fridge and get some ice cream.

[@iminthisplane]

Godspeed.

[@peachycranberry]

💀😂😭 hope it was good !

[@Joan-ot9nf]

:D

[@poshpickle9024]

You keep ice cream in the fridge?

[@internetbathroom]

“i can’t give up cheese... i think i was a mouse in a past life or something” lmfao 🤣 so funny

[@user-fm9ii8rl5o]

Cheese literally triggers the same receptors on your tongue as heroin. 😂 obviously not as strong but that’s why it’s so addicting.

[@elnino4445]

FUEL SERIES IS FINALLY BACK

[@8Scientist]

Ive missed it, such a great show!

[@rcervan13]

Super inspiring to see other latino's prospering out here. Thank you for sharing your story.

[@kimberlygonzalez3148]

I think something she said is key: eat things that make you feel good! Everyone is different. I gave up dairy because it wasn’t making me feel good.

[@dubsteppwarrior]

I gave up dairy because a cow chased me when I was kid, I have yet to be chased by an almond or soy

[@Lousasshol]

@@dubsteppwarrior ..just wait till one falls from an almond tree only to blind you

[@dubsteppwarrior]

@@Lousasshol 😆

[@katierojas8066]

@@dubsteppwarrior be careful with soy. Has a lot of estrogen in it.

[@Joan-ot9nf]

@@katierojas8066 do you mind attaching any links/references in regards to your statement. Thanks

[@DanielTeacherUK]

I missed this series a lot. It's so much better than the non-stop stream of ball achingly dull "what I eat and shit out in a day video". Thank you Munchies ❤️

[@andrewm2786]

"you just create more red blood cells" *Lance armstrong has left the chat*

[@katierojas8066]

Had to look that up about higher altitudes and red blood cells.

[@FoodieInTheStruggle]

I just lost my job because of the pandemic, so I started a KZbin cooking channel. Wish me luck!!!

[@sagarmohanty4452]

Cheers and much love

[@EvanLikesCake]

Good luck

[@omanduhuislife3367]

All the very best🙌

[@penelopeg2433]

Just subscribed :)

[@barbryll8596]

Best of luck 👍

[@TheRedskins6969]

That Michelob product placement was so cringe.

[@hibiki88]

haha yeah i was like 'wtf'

[@chicanohek]

i thought the exact same thing

[@cmantooth9191]

hahahah. scrolling to find this comment. for sure. no fuck'n way she drinks that.

[@rU4cerel]

Live high and train low! It’s so cool actually seeing this in action.

[@carmeloshin]

Definitely didn't think Brenda would be on a low carb diet as a distance runner but her talking about ramping up the intake in peak season makes a lot of sense.

[@alyssumflourishing]

Love this!! She went to my university and is such a nice person & talented!

[@noramarcelamj7730]

she seems sweet. I wasn't wrong

[@kdilli6426]

Are you finally bringing back the FUEL episodes??? YESSSS!!! More please!!!

[@TheTap323]

So glad this series it’s back!

[@bryanvillanueva6943]

I'm definitely going to eat at that restaurant when I go up to big bear

[@eunice1085]

loved this profile on Brenda as a fellow runner! so inspired by her morning mantra written on her daily schedule.

[@Passionforfoodrecipes]

My grandma started losing her taste buds so her cooking got spicier and spicier.. No wonder she's so tough!

[@HeyhitmeBAM]

Huh???? Lmao

[@johnspinelli9396]

Thats pretty crazy, I'm a long distance runner and I eat so much more than her lol

[@777weety]

What's your pace? How long you go? if you don't mind me asking of course.

[@johnspinelli9396]

@@777weety It depends, my pace for workouts range from 450 to 550 and distances could be from 5 to 15ish.. (6 or 7 days a week)

[@777weety]

@@johnspinelli9396 Top shape numbers man. Amazing

[@yourdailyjava]

Of course, you're a guy

[@oofym353]

@@yourdailyjava And? She's still running 60+miles a week, surely she would be eating more.

[@mainpage725]

We need more of these kind of videos!!!

[@rohanchandna3284]

These restaurant dudes are high on Salt!!

[@XchaoticchaseX]

What a phenomenally inspiring story and video. Life is so easy to take for granted; our health, our happiness, our mind and our body. I'm glad I got to watch this and just soak up the fruitfulness of it.

[@gmemo4449]

Thank you, those food nutrition tips really made me think about what I'm eating and how it's affected my running. And not for the better. I miss seeing you and Jenny Simpson dueling it out at track meets.

[@hmunoz314]

I go to Big Bear every year for the Kodiak races and never knew there's an Olympian living there! So awesome and so inspiring!

[@duallove6909]

Yaaay ... LOVE these Fuel videos. Thank you!

[@missruize]

I love you Brenda, es un orgullo de Mexican-American like yourself!!! I am so proud of you 🤍

[@LUribe408]

I was hoping she had a KZbin channel. I love her personality and her partner’s connection with her. If you’re HER, please start one or let me know if you do if you have.

[@noramarcelamj7730]

her YT channel is Brenda Martinez, and yes they seem to have a good connection, I would love to have a husbnad that trains me so I can be fit, they are lucky to have found each other.

[@LUribe408]

@@noramarcelamj7730 you’re amazing, thank you!

[@joetran8892]

Shoutout to them tropicali boys in big bear! Best hospitality in the game

[@kahleesaangelofthenight2895]

Im getting off the couch after this video ! Never too late !

[@SuperCD93]

Love the FUEL series.

[@SHIESTY-ek8lu]

Those Cali bar guys def on that Alaska snow

[@barebp]

Fuk yea. Ima start drinking Michaelo to run like an Olympian.

[@nrondo690]

Those enchiladas looked good! Ty for the inspiring story and tip on avocado oil 😊

[@timon20061995]

I don't know how important age is on running. But it seems it's quite impressive to run in Olympic at 33 since it isn't young in sport world.

[@mic9check]

I believe stamina/endurance is a quality that enhances as you get older, up to a certain point of course.

[@thingX1x]

Endurance running is doable at an old age. My mom runs 100km+ races at age 64, not competitively but still, wow. I can't stand running so I lift heavy, :D.

[@andreyosuap]

Eliud Kipchoge and Kenenisa Bekele set marathon records at the ages of 35 and 37 :)

[@brandonsutton3714]

Well, if you look at recovery rate associated with hormone production, age certainly doesn't help, it hurts you. Women are different than men, obviously. I can't really comment about women, but 33 isn't too far on the opposite end of the spectrum, for men. Obviously 23 > 33 in terms of all of this, but it really drops off around 40. Once you get to producing less and less hormones, that's when your body and endurance really take a hit. All athletic sports are for the young (unless you're using substances to combat the effects of aging). So then you gotta think about running, and how it affects your body. Running is pretty tough on your joints. All those impacts really add up. Again, 33 is probably more in the middle of the spectrum, with say, 43, being on the opposite end, and 23 being at the beginning. For the sake or argument, I'll use those numbers. The real sweet spot for an athlete is mid 20s, or so. So, 33 isn't too far off. But it all depends on how you've treated your body both inside and outside of your sport. Generally speaking, running is tough on your body, though.

[@stopcheatingconsumers9779]

@@andreyosuap That's exactly what I was thinking.

[@coryz.872]

Who cares if it's a beer commercial if it's good content.

[@TonyRios]

That beer is really good

[@mrboatshoe]

At least this one was way better than the last one with all the dudes rowing

[@VangaurdTDS]

I honestly prefer a little bit of branding in the background to the in your face commercial reels from TV that are coming back with a vengeance online now.

[@likemysnopp]

I did feel the fake vibes from the getgo...

[@lo-fivibes96]

It worked. I want beer after work now. Lol

[@lucasnunez3193]

Love seeing athletes like her succeed

[@wallacetf]

'ive been running since i was 5' me: so have I more or less

[@alexski2271]

This comment is my fav

[@omanduhuislife3367]

Enjoyed this, thanks 😊

[@rosegold973]

Omg the guys at the restaurant are a ball of fun 😀🤣 I love it! She’s so disciplined! That’s admirable

[@mrboatshoe]

I'm pretty sure she didn't drink any of that sponsored beer 😂😂

[@rosegold973]

@@mrboatshoe most definitely! With how strict she is with her food consumption, there’s no way in hell she’s drinking beer and giving herself empty calories 😅🤣

[@andrewsampson3236]

those restaurant dudes look like they have fun at work!!! amazing!!!

[@waddafuniture7026]

Beautiful work 👍

[@be7journeys912]

I just recently picked up running 🏃‍♀️ and it’s now a hobby and activity that I want to keep doing every day to maintain good health and life style, so learning about the importance of training and dieting is very important too, Big Bear lake is not that far from me

[@luv92810]

Omg!!! I went to school with her at Rancho Cucamonga Middle School!

[@dylangoforth7823]

I live in big bear, playing football is so good up here we always have more stamina then other teams

[@qc3227]

Love her mindset

[@jchex14]

Huge fan since her racing back in college; got to see her run at Mt. SAC several times and boi she is a fast mid-distance (800m) runner. Its a joy still seeing her run!! Her nutrition and prehabbing are obviously the key to her longevity in the sport. I appreciated her take on the "low carb diet". Overall, her end goal is to reduce the insulin spike that comes from simple sugars (very unhealthy to have several spikes throughout the day - check out Dr. Jason Fung for more), not to eliminate carbs given that she eats oats or complex carbs every morning. Carbs have been shown to improve performance but they have also been shown to increase the likelihood of diabetes, prime example is Tim Noakes and Dr. Peter Attia. She increases her sugars/ carbs during competition because she is insulin sensitive, that way her body (muscle cells) increase the uptake of glucose or sugars at faster rates and when they most need to. Carb loading works in a similar fashion - you deplete sugar intake for a couple of days by slowly cutting sugar or reducing carb intake, the enzymes that break down sugars then increase and are highly sensitive, muscle cell glycogen stores are depleted, finally you "carb-load" by eating pasta/ rice/ bread a day or two before competition allowing glycolytic enzymes and insulin to do their job, thus fully maximizing glycogen storages (fuel) in muscle cells and in the liver. Her take on bioenergetics is amazing, I wonder if she was a Nutrition major at the University of Riverside. GO BRENDA!!!

[@TheRoxorrify]

High spice tolerance? Put her on Hot Ones!

[@staceybillig3144]

I like the outlook on carbs. Never thought about that before.

[@gr8fulngiving]

WOW this was SO SO inspiring.🙏 For me it was the low carb thing and weaning off red meat and investing time/activities on recovery!

[@michaelkeecho7589]

Awesome! God Bless You Sister!

[@uclamnguyen1459]

I can barely walk during winter and this lady run in it amazing

[@marissagomez3809]

Awesome video!!

[@erikaatienza8686]

YES BRENDA!!!!

[@thebeavers]

For her height and weight with the amount of training she’s doing, her maintenance calories should be at about 2400...doesn’t seem like she consumed 2400 in this video lol

[@22flame]

maybe that's why she hasn't won anything lol

[@q.a.2875]

Respect for the dedication... seems intense 👍👍💪

[@yodieindrawan5193]

Finally outside world content, great to see this

[@TheDriftingsmoke]

Watching this, Enjoying a Refreshing Modelo!

[@LilyKat]

i love big bear ca!! it so beautiful. when i use to run in college i would train up the mountains in washington because of the high altitude and then have some rest days back in the plains. it really help me perform well when competing and when i hit peak time before competing i knew i had it! running down was simple and i could outlast my competitors and finish strong. brenda you are a big idol of mine!! especially when i didnt see much representations when i was young!! sending mucho amor y saludos!!

[@robbieevans6536]

Fantastic!

[@ShadyNH]

Oh, and these beers help me achieve my goals.....

[@maxmorton5881]

That beer has less carbs than the salad she was eating lmao

[@Alexatzel]

Viiceeeeee we need more

[@flyingface]

what a nice, laid back person for an Olympian

[@TheSugarCharms]

love the vibe we have created here

[@beerguide37]

10am naps? Yupp! I like this schedule

[@ArtAndPrevailing]

this is such a great series. i love and re-watch every single episode. they're so fascinating.

[@XxhimynameiscynxX]

Big Bear Lake is awesome 👌

[@JohnConnor636]

These two are great

[@mahoganyeye5269]

Fuel is back!

[@drew6167]

A proper Tropicali experience and shoutout.... you love to see it

[@espadasensei]

Nice couple and nice lifestyle, wish you success 🙏🏻✨

[@camiscmon]

she went to my alma mater so this very cool to see!!

[@MultiFuckshitstack]

They are so cool!

[@mrsapplez2007]

This was really engaging.

[@dianabest-hutchison4187]

Wow how interesting to hear and see the perspective of a athlete Olympian. Very informative 👏 seems very interesting 👍 I would like to see updates ? Or Vlogs if possible. Thank you 😊 love N.Z

[@Poffology]

I really like the music in this video

[@nishaismail]

The Tropicali guys are the best!!

[@username1212b]

Wow this is inspiring! I also run but just at home in my barn on the treadmill. I used to run 4 miles a day about 5 days a week then i got pregnant and here I am 2 months after having my baby and I'm finding it extremely difficult getting the motivation to go back to running.

[@bdrienne]

Watch Brittany Runs a Marathon. It will help. ( :

[@iwantlee9510]

1:48 that right there resonates with me.

[@eddiesanchez2293]

Love Big Bear👍

[@tyrannism5648]

She's been running since she was 5? How has she not lost her breath?

[@minuit6305]

My lungs would have evaporated by 10!

[@Ro-Rello]

Great video n I love how the end is sponsored by Michelob 🙂

[@gregoryvierra6114]

She’s way cool and their food looks delicious.

[@javierpreciadojr413]

Lunch with a show, gotta go there next time im up there.

[@mayrar2321]

Female and Latina doing the damn thing 🙌🏽 I missed these

[@zakimtshali8105]

My favorite content

[@PaulieRubinDMize-uu6lc]

The place where they ate looks rly chill

[@cambell2608]

Nice people. Grounded and hardworking

[@Astrostar21]

QUEEN!

[@taehoyoon2970]

She is def way above 150g of carbs a day

[@renegade_legend2583]

Yeah, between the oatmeal, rice, tortillas, and beans, she’s not really low carb.

[@DKofDAH]

Best thing is she said she doesn’t want this insulin spikes. You know that some amino acids lead to much higher insulin output but ok😂

[@zoeracette7686]

I totally agree but she does have the “whole foods “view on her nutrition. She said that she avoids sugar and thats true but not the carbs statement. Still her nutrition is pretty clean but so little

[@KuyaArbee]

Yo give a shout-out to that restaurant those guys are amazing!!!