When it comes to endurance events the key is plenty of carbohydrate in the diet. Carbohydrate is the fuel your muscles use while you are exercising but stores in the body are small, so a regular intake of carbohydrate-rich foods is necessary to keep them topped up. Low stores will result in poor performance and increase the risk of injury. Choose carbohydrate foods that release their energy slowly such as the oats used in this pancake recipe and flavoured with the leeks and tomatoes.
Serves 4
1 tbsp olive oil
1 leek, thinly sliced
4 sun-dried tomatoes, drained and chopped
100g rolled oats
250ml buttermilk or semi-skimmed milk
3 eggs, well beaten
50g plain flour
2 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch salt
1 tbsp sunflower oil
Put oats into a large bowl; add the buttermilk or semi-skimmed milk. Let the oats soak overnight if possible but for at least 30 minutes.
Mix in the eggs, flour, baking powder, salt and sunflower oil using a hand whisk to get a fluffy mixture.
Heat the olive oil in a frying pan and add the leeks and cook until soft (approximately 5 minutes), stir in the sundried tomatoes and cook for a further minute. Stir into the pancake mixture.
Heat a griddle pan to medium high heat. Oil the pan and take a ladle of the pancake batter to drop onto the griddle. When air bubbles start to bubble up to the surface at the centre of the pancakes (about 2-3 minutes), use a flat spatula to flip them over. When golden or darker golden brown, they are done.