Eat These 4 Vegetables to Race Faster

G'day mate!

Just back from HYROX Worlds, and I can already feel my Ironman coach rubbing his hands together. First full Ironman week is done, and it was a big jump. Longer rides, more in the water, tempo runs off the bike I won't pretend I enjoyed. Add a bachelor party on the weekend and my body had plenty to adjust to.

Even with a solid base, that volume makes you pay attention to every recovery lever. One thing I've leaned into harder this block is a specific group of vegetables. Beetroot in salads, rocket instead of lettuce, more spinach in everything. Not on a whim. When I looked at what they share, it turned out to be one of the most studied compounds in sport.

In this week’s newsletter (4 min read):
🥬 The everyday greens that share a performance compound most people haven't heard of
🩸 What that compound does inside a working muscle, and why it matters at race pace
✅ How to eat these foods around training without overcomplicating it

f you have a mate paying for beetroot shots when the salad does the same job, , send them THIS link.

The Everyday Greens With a Performance Compound

During this Ironman block, four foods keep coming back to my plate: beetroot, rocket, spinach, and celery. They don't look related. A root vegetable, two leafy greens, a stalk. But they all carry the same thing, a compound called inorganic nitrate, and nitrate has some of the most replicated performance data in sports nutrition.

Most people only know nitrate from beetroot shots at race expos. The whole food versions in your fridge hold the same compound, the same mechanism, at a fraction of the price. A shot isn't a different category, just concentrated whole food with a standardised dose. Eat these regularly and you're already getting the benefit.

What Nitrates Actually Do

When you eat these foods, bacteria in your saliva turn the nitrate into nitrite. Nitrite then converts to nitric oxide, especially under low-oxygen conditions, like inside a muscle working hard.

Nitric oxide widens your blood vessels and makes your mitochondria more efficient. The payoff: your muscles produce the same force using less oxygen. The 2009 Bailey study (Journal of Applied Physiology) measured it cleanly: oxygen cost at a fixed intensity dropped after beetroot, and time to exhaustion at hard intensity rose by about 16%. Lansley repeated it in trained cyclists and saw the same: faster times, lower oxygen cost.

The effect is biggest under low oxygen, exactly the state inside a muscle at threshold. So it shows up late in a race, at hard pace, when oxygen delivery is the limiter.

What the research shows:

• ~16% longer time to exhaustion at hard intensity (Bailey 2009)

• Lower oxygen cost at submaximal pace: same speed, less effort

• Whole food works; shots just standardise the dose

What They Do for Recovery

It's not only a race-day tool. Nitrate-rich vegetables support blood flow during the recovery window, when your body is repairing. Beetroot also contains betalains, the red pigments, which carry anti-inflammatory properties. A 2016 study found beetroot supplementation reduced post-exercise soreness and sped strength recovery after eccentric loading, whether you're running long or hammering legs. I keep these consistent through heavy blocks, and notice the difference when I slip.

One practical thing almost nobody mentions: don't use mouthwash for two to three hours after eating these foods. The nitrate-to-nitrite step relies on the bacteria in your mouth. Antibacterial mouthwash kills them and blunts the response. It's well replicated and easy to get wrong.

• Betalains cut post-exercise inflammation and support strength recovery

• Skip the mouthwash on training days for the full effect

What to Actually Do

• Rotate the four into weekly meals: beetroot, rocket, spinach, celery. Not just race week.

• Before a key session or race, load them for five to six days for a sustained effect.

• Time a higher-nitrate meal or shot two to three hours out, not right before.

• Shots or whole food, your call. A 70ml shot gives a standardised dose; the vegetables do the job if you'd rather eat real food.

• In heavy blocks, keep the greens daily. The benefit builds over time.

• No mouthwash after. Let the oral bacteria work.

Final thoughts

You don't need a supplement stack for this. A beetroot, some rocket, and laying off the mouthwash after dinner covers most of it. The foods are in your fridge and the mechanism is real. The better you eat them through a heavy block, the more you get.

Recipe: Poached Salmon

This is one of my summer go-tos. Easy, delicious, and nutrient-packed.

RECIPE HERE

Nutrition Breakdown:

cals: 420   •   fat: 22g   •   protein: 38g   •   carbs: 10g

Quick Notes

🏃YouTube is out from HYROX Worlds in Stockholm, watch it HERE.

💒 Officially sub-2 weeks out from my wedding, couldn’t be more excited.

#EatGoodFeelGood

— DC