Mallorca 5000 by UTMB - Nutrition

Mallorca 5000 – Post 2/5 Nutrition

Following on from the previous post around course analysis this post is around nutrition for the race (I could write loads more on this but I’m trying to keep it relatively simple).

When it comes to your race nutrition strategy, there are three key elements that underpin an effective plan for endurance performance: carbohydrate, water and sodium. We want to ensure all 3 of these are at optimum levels prior to competing and attempt to maintain these levels though out the race.

Pre race loading

I’m not a big fan of significant carb loading for ultras, I personally think its more important for 1.5 to 4 hour events, but I do think it is important to eat well in the days leading up to the race. A few key bits of advice I would give below…

•        We still want the ability to burn fat, and excessive amounts of sugar can inhibit fat burning. Look for low GI carbohydrate sources.

•        Instead of eating generally more, look to cut down on fat, protein and fibre intake, we don’t want to be overly bloated come race day.

•        1g of carbohydrate requires 3-4g water to store, so nearly 2kg can be gained during a carbohydrate loading phase, don’t be alarmed!

•        Proper hydration should also be maintained during carb loading phase, try to maintain electrolyte intake to ensure levels are primed come race day.

During Race

Carbs

For years the consensus is that you can absorb 70g/hr of carbohydrate an hour (with a little bit more if you mix fructose) with the theory being that if you exceed while at effort, eventually the unconsumed food will build up and you’ll just be sick. However, in recent times this has been proven to be a low value with athletes regularly hitting higher values, for context I averaged 84g/hr for 8:40 at Outlaw ironman distance tri in July.

In the Mallorca 5000 I’ll be looking to maintain around 80g/hr of carbohydrate, as a mix of sports nutrition and real food. Both sources are tried and tested during training and previous races, I generally use precision fuel and hydration gels/chews and maurten bars.

I generally eat on the descents or flat, due to not having poles in hands and heart rate being a bit lower.

Picture 1 – Labelling race food so I can easily work out what I’ve had on the fly.

Fluid

I normally just use water, and I’ll use water for this race, I generally feel water helps prevent stomach distress and doesn’t make me sick of sweet things as fast. Regarding consumption, its difficult to call so far out from the race, as it’s massively dependent on conditions and temperature, but I’ll generally try to drink both bottles (2 x 500ml) I’ll have prior to each aid station, with the intention to refill both. This will give me a total of 8 litres over the duration of the race (1 to start + 7 aid stations) 8ltrs/11 hours gives an average of 0.72lph, which is about right for me if its warm and sunny.

Electrolyte (sodium)

I’m generally pretty lax with this, but I generally try to have 2 x Precision Fuel and Hydration sodium 250 tablets an hour, typically the same time as I’m eating something, this gives me 500mg an hour, so a total of 5g of sodium throughout the whole event (11 hours minus 1st hour = 10hrs x 500mg). if this was during the night or a cold race I’d probably only do 1 tablet an hour.

Its important to note that sodium and salt aren’t equal, so 5000mg of sodium isn’t 5g of salt, it’s the equivalent of 12.5g salt.

Start Nutrition

·       2 x PF&H 90 gels –180g Carbs

·       3 x PF&H 30 chews – 90g Carbs

·       1 x Aldi cookies (200g) – 130g Carbs – See Picture 2, I had 4 sleeves of these in TDS

·       2 x Maurten 160 bars – 80g Carbs

480g total, gives 80g an hour for 6 hours, not including the 1st hour, which will be sufficient to get me to drop bag location, which I should arrive at between 7 and 8 hours. I have disregarded aid station nutrition/food, as they differ from event to event.

Drop bag pickup (28.4 miles)

This is where I’ll have a mix of food available where I can choose according to how I’m feeling and appetite. I’ll probably have a sandwich or wrap (40g carbs est.) and a bottle of flat coke (53g). All going well I’ll leave with the following for the remainder of the race.

·       1 bag of skittles – 40g Carbs

·       2 x PF&H 30 chews – 60g carbs

·       2 x Maurten bars – 80g Carbs

·       2 x PF&H caffeine gels – 60g Carbs

240g total, this will get me to around 11 hours, if it looks like I’ll go over 11 hours I can utilise aid stations as I go. Total carbs for the 11 hour race (all going as expected) will be 813g, there will be some wastage (gels not fully empty, dropping cookies etc.) so can probably round this down to 800g. not including the 1st hour gives 800g/10 hours = 80g/hr.