You’re eating lunch at school with friends and pretty soon your conversation turns from your peanut butter and jelly sandwich to wondering what sled dogs eat. The answer to that very simple question can be very complicated. But for sure, we don’t eat PB&J, chips, apples or cookies.

When we’re training or in competition, we need a lot of calories. We’d feel hungry if we didn’t take in between 10,000 and 12,000 calories a day. Humans, like you, only eat about 1/5 of that amount – 2,000 calories a day. If a human were to try to eat as many calories as we do while out on the trail, that human would have to down nearly 50 Big Macs. NO WAY! I hear handler say she’s stuffed after eating just one of those monster burger combos from the golden arches.

So what goes into our bowls and down into our bellies? Where does our energy come from? Our dry food is called kibble. Those crunchy nuggets of food that are usually mixed with water contain vitamins, minerals, protein and fat. We need those nutrients to keep us healthy but there aren’t enough calories in just kibble to get us revved up and running.

We need more calories! Our mushers know that fat is a great source of calories – yes, FAT. So, besides our bowl of kibble, which is very high in nutrients and very healthy, we eat meat with a high fat content. Up to 60 % of what we eat every day is fat! Small quantities of fat contain a ton of calories so we don’t have to eat a ton of food to get a ton of energy.

The digestive processes of humans and canines are completely different when it comes to turning fat into energy. If human athletes were to take in the same amount of fat as canine athletes consume, it would spell cardiac disaster for the humans. Unlike humans, sled dogs are able to turn fat and other calories into energy very quickly. That’s why a six hour on, six hour off run/rest schedule works very well for the endurance athletes of the Iditarod.

Out on the trail, we consume our calories several times a day. We come into a checkpoint and our musher immediately gets out the cooker and begins to heat water for our meal. Roughly we eat a 2,000 calorie meal every six hours. I’m an enthusiastic eater but just like you, I have my favorite foods. I look forward to dinning on kibble with venison, beaver or salmon. We get snacks every couple of hours during our 6-hour run/rest schedule. My favorite snack is frozen lamb with venison scraps being a close second.

Well, there you have it – some information on what we eat and why our diet is so different from what a human marathon athlete eats. Stay tuned for more information on the importance of staying hydrated and our checkpoint routine.

Let PRIDE be your guide – Personal Responsibility in Daily excellence.

Born to Run,
Sanka