Welcome to Playbook, a Q&A series where I ask successful guys about their wellness philosophy. This week I’ve got performance chef Dan Churchill, who has worked as an executive chef in NYC, contributed nutritional expertise to Chris Hemsworth’s Centr app, authored several cookbooks including Eat Like a Legend, run marathons around the world and partnered with non-alcoholic brewery Go Brewing.
Tanner Garrity: Are you currently chasing a specific fitness goal?
Dan Churchill: I’m training for a pretty serious Ironman block at the moment. It’s my first-ever full Ironman, and it’ll be in Panama City, Florida, this November. The primary goal is to see if I can go sub-10 hours — just a very high feat. No matter what, it’s pushing my aerobic capacity in ways that I’ve probably never challenged before. Right now I’m the fittest I’ve ever been.
What time do you wake up? What does the first hour of your day look like?
I’m waking up anywhere between 4:30 and 5:30 a.m., depending on the time zone and also training. I start by making my coffee and drinking a decent amount of water. I then read for 20 minutes with red light with my dog Maverick, who sits up on the couch. I’ll probably also have a banana or an electrolyte-carbohydrate complex from BPN, then I’ll head out the door to go for a run or jump on my bike.
What’s your go-to meal when you’re aiming for recovery after a hard training day?
I’ve been having the same power bowl for a very long time. I adjust the amount of oats for the amount of recovery and energy that’s required to sustain my performance on different days. I also have spaghetti bolognese on a consistent basis, because I’m up to like 5,500 or 6,000 calories a day with the 26 to 28 hours of training I’m doing a week right now. On my least active days, I always make sure to increase my fiber. I’m typically doing that with an array of fruit, Greek yogurt and honey.
How about trying to impress someone with your chef skills?
I’d do a lamb shoulder and then maybe a zucchini and fennel upside-down tartine, which is delicious. For dessert probably a banana cake with ricotta and burnt butter. Or just burnt-butter ice cream, which is quite simple to do and absolutely delicious.
Do you experience the flow state differently when cooking versus competing?
Cooking relaxes me, I just chill out. I definitely feel like, whenever I caramelize garlic or onions, that initial phase, the aroma from caramelizing those ingredients, I can find my flow state. In running, it’s interesting: I was reading recently about how our brains can relax when the eye movement is going left to right. We do that when we’re running, being outdoors or walking. But I also feel that when I’m cooking, just kind of not looking at screens. It’s not that I’m concentrating, but I’m present. That’s why, when people ask me, “When you finish service at the restaurant, you still cook?” Yeah, because it helps me get in the zone.
Is there a current performance trend you think is overhyped?
I don’t know that it’s overhyped, but obviously there’s a lot of chat right now around peptides and things like that. I’m still a big believer in whole foods first, and I think a lot of us are turning to quick fixes. There are definitely people who’ve gone through every channel, every opportunity, they’ve tried everything … [but] I just think that the nature of peptides is probably creating a lot of hype. I want people to still try and go through the necessary channels early, like eating right.
You’ve had a shitty week. What are some comfort activities that always reset you?
Drinking coffee, reading, sitting on the couch with my wife, going for a walk with my dog Maverick, watching the NFL.
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