anybody have any advice as far as eating during a race?
i'm doing my first solo 24 at old pueblo, and i'd really appreciate any advice.

thanks,
los

That's a hard question since people's tastes are so varied. You can take the top 10 racers at any 24 Hr Solo event and they all do the nutrition thing differently. The good thing is lots of different things work.

The most important thing is stay hydrated. You must pee and hopefully pee clear and often. It's easy to forget and get behind on fluids--your motor will not run well dry and if you get way behind, it's all over but the crying...

I'm a strong believer in sports drinks. I know it's hard to continually drink something sweet for that long, but it can be done. Test out as many brands and flavors as you can, they all work but only if you can keep drinking them. Some are much less sweet than others--e.g. GU2O and the Hammer Nutrition products. It's OK to alternate with pure water, but remember: You need a constant infusion of carbs and electrolytes to keep your power up and sports drinks will help immensely. I have drunk Accelerade nonstop for 48 hrs in an adventure race and didn't mind it at all (in fact I grossed all my teammates out by finishing my camelbak while eating postrace pizza). I've had teammates that were switching to water in 12 hrs because it's the only thing that they could stomach. If that happens, have some electrolyte tablets ready. There is no magic drink that works much better than any other IMHO. Look at how many cokes the guys in the Tour de France suck down--they must be taking electrolyte tabs as well...

Eat whatever sounds good to you. Some people like salty stuff--chips, pretzels, etc. Warm stuff like soups or stews are awesome at night when it gets cool, plus they have lots of sodium. I like fruit and energy bars and PB & J sandwiches. Peanut M&M's taste good to me as well when going long. Trail mix or anything with nuts work great for me later in a long event when the body is using so much fat metabolism--I consider cashews (very high in fat) a must-have for me in long events like ultraruns. Again the BEST food is that which tastes good to you so you will eat it. Test out any food you can think of in training, especially when doing a long day. Have lots of varieties laid out for your first long event because you never know what will look good to you late in the game. Hit the grocery store and get every type of snack food you can think of, even stuff that doesn't seem too tastey at the time if you think there is any chance it might look good to you when cratering late night. Most of the stuff you won't touch but lots of it will keep for later races.

I hate to harp on hydration, but one of the first signs of dehydration is nausea and if you get behind on drinking--NOTHING will taste good to you. It's happened to me and to most adventure racer teammates I've raced with over the years and it's a real drag. I can't count the number of times I've seen someone shut down and they couldn't eat anything and they couldn't understand why nothing tasted good to them. It's hard to get them to force fluids but they thank you later when they start feeling better and can start eating again (it helps being an MD when trying to get someone to listen to you about their health).

Good Luck,

DB

- Typically, your body can only process 300-350 calories per hour. Anything more than that will just go to waste.
- Use foods that digest quickly. Try meal replacement drinks...they are 200-300 cals and are quick to drink and quick to digest
- Nothing spicy or heavy....it will just make you want to vomit
- Sports drink 100% of the time and try to take a gel during each lap. The Pueblo course is long and you will need something
- bring sodium tablets.....helps with salt replacement and prevents nausea
- hot soup for the night time.....it gets cold in the AZ desert

If you have any other questions, feel free to email me....this year will be my 3rd solo outing at Pueblo.

My comments are based on enduro road riding (double centuries) but having done plenty of XC racing over the years I think they still apply to 24 hr solo (I'll find out this year when I do my first).

One resource you might want to consider is the Hammer Nutrition website. Even if their products aren't your favorite they have a lot of information that I have found useful. I have started using their products extensively, will just share with you my main reasons:

1) The info that I mention above. You aren't just buying a product but the knowledge to go with it. I haven't seen any company that devotes anywhere near as much effort to teaching the consumer.
2) They seem to have the best thought out way for how to combine their various products into a complete nutrition system. For example, their elctrolyte supply is separate from the energy drink, b/c electrolyte need various heavily with temperature and does not necessarily track with caloric needs.
3) Maybe not a key factor for some, but their products just mix up easy. I have found some that seem to require a blender (esp. post workout protein sources). All of Hammer's products do fine if you just throw 'em in the bottle & shake.

Full disclosure - I am not sponsored by Hammer in any way, just a happy customer.

cheers & good luck,
Karl