By Noah Poser
In motorsports, drivers are always reinventing the wheel, constantly searching for new ways to maximize performance and stay at the top.
Nothing is off limits. And for Katherine Legge – who is making history this weekend as the first woman to attempt the Indianapolis 500-Coca-Cola 600 double – that includes finding creative ways to replenish the estimated 2,500 calories she’ll burn during Sunday’s Indy 500, where she’ll drive the No. 11 Chevrolet for HMD Motorsports with AJ Foyt Racing.
She’ll need to refuel quickly before strapping into the No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet that night for the Coke 600, where she expects to lose another 3,000 calories.
Rest assured, Legge is leaving no stone unturned.
“I have to force myself to eat on the plane because once you get out of a race car after 500 miles, you don’t want to eat. You feel sick,” Legge said in a press conference Friday. “It’s hot. It’s brutal. You don’t want to mess your stomach up. I’m thinking, can I eat in the car during the 500? Someone told me Tony (Stewart) did, but then he got protein bar all over his gloves, so that didn’t work out so well for him.
“So we were thinking maybe baby food. When I did Ironman a few years ago, I had sweet potatoes mashed up in a bag, which is almost like baby food.”
At first glance, it may sound ridiculous. But there are a few reasons it could work. It’s quick to consume and easy to digest, making it a convenient option whether in the car during the Indy 500 or on the flight from Indianapolis to Charlotte.
And when it comes to brands like Gerber or Beech-Nut (no ad money was collected in the making of this article), those blends are typically high in carbs, making them a surprisingly effective source of quick energy for an athlete.
Whether Legge goes through with “Plan Baby Food” remains to be seen. But if she does – and it works – it could help alleviate one of the many pressures surrounding her historic attempt.
As for her physical state, Legge is optimistic.
“With regard to fitness, I’ve not done much the last couple of weeks because we’ve been so busy,” she said. “So I’m hoping that training year-round is going to carry me through.”
She’s less confident about the weather.
“I am praying to all of the weather gods at the moment that we get (Cup) practice,” Legge said. “I desperately need practice in the Cup car. It’s going to be my second mile and a half, I think, and maybe my fifth or sixth Cup start. I do not want to go into Turn 1 after the green without having driven Charlotte in a car I don’t know that well.
“So there is a concern that it will rain tomorrow, and if practice and qualifying get rained out, I’ve been frantically asking everybody, ‘Okay, what happens then? Can we run practice on Sunday?’ It would be the O’Reilly race on Sunday instead, so they said no. It’s less than ideal. Obviously that doesn’t fill me with warm and fuzzies, but again, it is what it is. We committed to doing this thing, and we’re not going to not do it because I don’t feel ready. It’s too late for that.”
With the hours winding down ahead of Sunday, the weather remains a significant question mark. But if it cooperates, it could be one of a few saving graces for Legge, perhaps second only to the baby food.