Your fueling and hydration on race day will make or break your day. Race reports across the internet are full of stories of what could have been if I had only done XYZ with my fueling and hydration.
Indeed, nutrition before, during and after racing is an important pre-occupation for many runners and triathletes. I suppose that is so because nutrition is so darn tricky–and it can ultimately lead you to your best performance or throw your day off the ledge. To make matters trickier: what works for one person may or may not work for another, so there isn’t a simple formula we can all follow.
But, don’t throw up your lunch just yet! There are some general principles you can apply to help you find your race-day fueling sweet spot. I’ll share some of them here. Note: These tips are geared toward race-day fueling for long distance events: marathons, ultramarathons, and half and full ironmans.
It is important to note that proper race fueling requires good nutrition throughout training and in the days leading to the race. However, pre-race nutrition and “every day nutrition” are not considered in this article. (You can read about daily nutrition here.)
What’s inside of us already
Your body does NOT contain enough stored carbohydrates (via glycogen or glucose) to carry you through a marathon or beyond. At 80-90% of max intensity, we have about 2 hours worth of fuel stored in our muscles (glyocogen) and blood (glucose). But, for most athletes, performance will begin to decline before you get to that two hour mark—unless you restock.
And so was born the gel and sports drink industry.
So, it should be easy right? Just eat a gel, grab some aid station cookies and pretzels, drink some fluids and be on our merry way. Ha! Ha! Not quite so fast, you epicurean daredevil, you!
If you’ve been at this long enough, you’ve likely had at least one nutritional mishap–more likely, you’ve had several. If you’ve ever felt apathetic, anxious, extremely fatigued and so on, you’ve “under” fueled. If you’ve ever experienced stomach cramps, bloating, or vomiting, you may have “over” fueled.
The trouble is that the human GI system is quite variable in terms of the amount and type of fuel it can handle. Some of us treat aid stations like an all you can eat buffet, eating whatever we like with little consequence. While others must carefully learn through trial and error what their stomach will and will not accept during racing. In addition to the individual variability, intensity, duration, climate, and race conditions can also switch up nutritional needs.
So, what to do? You have to train your digestive system just like the rest of your body. The stomach is very jealous of the attention that the heart and the muscles get. It just wants a little bit of love and attention – is that so wrong?
How much and what type of calories depends upon the duration and intensity of your race. Marathons and half ironmans are typically run at a higher intensity than ultra marathons or full ironmans. Therefore, how much you can eat, as well as the type of foods the body will be able to digest easily, will differ to some extent. No matter what the distance: endurance athletes need carbohydrates on race day. So, let’s start there.
Carbs
In general, carbohydrates are the primary energy source for endurance athletes. Carbohydrates are such an excellent source for athletes because they can be easily broken down and used by our bodies – without the need for much oxygen, which is good because we are using oxygen for other important stuff in the middle of a race ;).
The body stores carbohydrates in the form of glycogen (muscles) and glucose (blood). Glycogen is the main source for endurance energy, while glucose is most useful for helping to keep our mental facilities sharp and for supplying quick bursts of energy (like when you want to pass that person in right front of you).
Athletes have a limited amount of stored carbohydrate energy, as I mentioned earlier. This is why proper recovery nutrition is so important: it ensures that you restock the used stores after each workout. This is also why many tout the benefits of pre-race carb loading: it ensures that those glycogen stores are filled to the top. And finally, this is why we must consume gels, chomps, sports drink and the like throughout our endurance endeavors. We will run out of energy if we don’t.
When some runners talk about hitting the wall, what they might really be referring to is hitting the end of their glycogen stores.
Knowing how much to restock depends, at least in part, on how much carbohydrate you can and need to digest, given the intensity and duration of your specific race. Studies have found that, on average, we can process about 1 gram of carbohydrate per minute, working at about 80% of max intensity. To put this number in perspective, sports gels contain about 30 grams of carbohydrates. Research has found that a minimum of 10 grams per hour is necessary to stave off the bonk.
The consumption of more carbohydrate and calories than the stomach can process will lead to GI issues because the stomach will not be able to process the calories and empty the stomach. The outcome? Bloating, cramps, vomiting and so on.
Additionally, 1 gram per minute is not a “magic” number for everyone. It’s an average, which means most people will need slightly less or slightly more. If you are a smaller female, it is likely you will need less; for a larger male, it is likely you will need more. It is important to note that these numbers are statistical averages and every individual body will need it’s own “sweet spot” of carbs.
How do you know what your sweet spot is? Experiment during training! Find what works and then do it every training session.
Our friend and nutritionist Chris Draper recommends adding and subtracting calorie amounts in small increments. I’ll use myself as an example. I am a 127 pound, 5’3” female. During an Ironman bike, I will consume approximately 300 calories per hour, which includes mostly carbohydrates, but some protein and fat, from a concentrated bottle of Hammer Perpetuum with 2 tablespoons of honey. I will consume approximately 125 calories per hour while running, through carbohydrate sources, including Clif Shot Bloks and sips of cola from the aid stations.
I found this “magic” number through testing in my training. I used to consume only 200 calories/hour while cycling. That led to bonking. I fiddled around with my calorie counts in small increments (adding and/or subtracting 25-50 calories per hour) until I found this magic number for fueling. I will go through the same process again next year, as it is likely my body physiology will change.
The takeaway: practice your nutrition!
To aid with gastric emptying, it is important to drink fluids with your calories. This fluid SHOULD NOT contain any calories – so water or water w/ electrolytes. Water helps the stomach process the fuel, get the energy where it needs to go, and empty the stomach more quickly. If your hydrating fluid contains calories – you could actually be dehydrating yourself because the GI system will draw in fluid from the bloodstream to help digest calories. So, keep your hydration SEPARATE from your calories.
To further aid with digestion, eat regular, small amounts of calories. I will consume some type of calories every 15 minutes. So, if my total calories for the hour is 125, then I will break this up into 4 feedings. I set my watch to beep every 15 minutes so I don’t forget.
On the run, I’m sure to consume calories every 2 miles/15-20 minutes. I will sometimes use miles on the run since aid stations are typically spaced by about a mile in most marathons. For ultras, I carry a hand held water bottle or wear a hydration vest, filled with water and with NUUN tabs. I sip that regularly, and then eat solid food at the aid stations. But, again, not huge amounts – small, regular feedings have been found to be most effective.
The higher the intensity, the more important portion control becomes if you want to keep your stomach from turning into the big nasty.
Different types of carbohydrates
There are different types of sugars some of which digest more quickly than others. Slower digesting sugars, such as maltodextrin, have been found to cause cramping at higher intensities for some people. Yet, at lower intensities (such as you may be exerting for long course events), this may not be as much of a problem. Furthermore, many runners and triathletes report stomach issues with high fructose concentrations. For example, I tend to have problems with Gatorade, which has high fructose concentration. Identify products that offer a mix of different sugars, which give the body different pathways to digest the energy.
While carbohydrates clearly reign supreme for endurance fueling and recovery, they are not the only macronutrient that benefits endurance athletes.
Fat is Fuel Too
Unlike muscular glycogen, our bodies can store enough fat to fuel up to 2000 hours of activity. The trouble is, this energy is not readily usable because fat doesn’t process as easily or quickly as carbohydrates. And, in order to burn fat, our bodies need both carbohydrates and oxygen to keep the fire burning.
Even so, for endurance events run at about 75% of our max, our body does rely upon its fat stores. Some studies have found that at moderate intensities, we can get up to 50% of our energy from our existing fat stores. It’s better than liposuction!
The higher the intensity, however, the less ability the body has to metabolize fat, mostly because there is oxygen deprivation. At anaerobic intensity, the body is burning virtually no fat, and all carbohydrate. But, if you are anaerobic in an endurance event, you have bigger troubles than whether or not your body is burning fat. 😉
Given this chemisty, the endurance athlete will use a mix of both carbohydrate and fat as fuel during racing. Over time, endurance training teaches the body learn to burn fat for fuel more efficiently. This is another good reason why you should practice carbohydrate intake during training. In addition to learning what types and amounts of calories you can consume, it will be an integral part of teaching your body to become a fat-burning machine.
While training or racing, there is no need to consume fat calories. You simply consume an appropriate amount of carbohydrates, and the body will take care of eating into your fat stores.
Power in Protein
Of late, attention has been focused on the performance benefits of combining carbohydrate and protein during training and racing. The question is: does this really make a difference over products that only contain carbohydrate?
The research does not seem to think so, and in fact, the consumption of protein while racing (or training) may actually impede the body’s ability to burn fat for energy. This inhibition of fat burning is especially problematic for long distance events. On the other hand, for longer distance, lower intensity events, and for cycling, the research has found that small amounts of protein may help the body maintain its glycogen stores for a longer period of time.
It takes the body a very long time to digest protein, and it may not even be able to do so effectively at race intensities. So, if we are going to take the advice of the scientists, it looks like protein should not be a primary race fuel for most distances. For recovery, however, the consumption of protein following exercise can be quite beneficial to help muscles repair and strengthen following training and racing adaptations.
You are probably getting the sense at this point that race fueling is anything but an exact science. This is why so many of us have been doubled over, fighting nausea and cramping, or feeling light headed and overly fatigued. However, I hope these general principles help you as you prepare your race fueling strategy.
We spend too much time training our muscles and our hearts to let our stomachs get in the way.
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