British cyclist Evie Richards is enjoying the summer sunshine in beautiful Morzine, France. Richards, 27, shared highlights from her trip, including a picture of her basking in the sun in her cycling gear. “A week of big rides, getting rid of my cycling tan lines, a rare occasion of me in normal clothes and lush friends to pedal up mountains with ❤️,” she captioned the post. Here’s how the athlete overhauled her diet and training regimen to be in the best shape of her life.
Richards had surgery after dislocating her knee in 2019, something which forced her to confront some of the more unhealthy behaviors she developed over the years. “Overtraining was always paired with under-fueling for me,” she wrote on her website. “It wasn’t until I took a step back that I realized what I was doing. I always thought I was super healthy, but I remember going on holiday mid-season, eating nothing but salads coming back and losing a lot of weight but naively all of the weight was muscle.”
Richards knew she had to fuel her body properly in order to heal quickly. “I started introducing fat back into my diet and for the first time in years, I enjoyed the cake on my birthday,” she wrote on her website. “Five months on from surgery I am enjoying all different types of food and I no longer have “good and bad” food groups. I enjoy a slice of cake when we are at a party and my sister and I have hot chocolate every night before bed. I have gained muscle and stayed at the same fat percentage.”
Richards loves prepping her own granola for a delicious, healthy breakfast. “Who doesn’t like granola? Wherever I make this at home it lasts less time than it takes to cook,” she wrote on her website. “The best thing is that the recipe is so simple, it doesn’t matter if you’re missing ingredients or you are short on time, it’s always possible to make a quick batch of granola. It is the perfect way to increase your carbohydrate intake and add some excitement to your breakfast or to a late-night snack.”
Richards enjoys endurance work and long rides. “For my head I still do a fair amount of endurance work to keep myself feeling happy and confident,” she told British Cycling. “Yesterday I did 4 hours on the MTB and today was 3.5. I do enjoy riding long. Cross for me has always been a training tool for the mountain bike which is a longer race so I do need to keep that endurance base. It can be harder in the winter though with the weather so split days can be good.”
Richards has a strict race-day routine. “It’s all about being organized and sticking to a tried and trusted routine,” she told British Cycling. “I’ll try and have breakfast 3.5 hours before my start time, get to the course and get some practice laps in and then have a snack. I’ll then get changed and start warming up ready to race. Being organized is so important as the time goes really quickly.”