Lulworth Cove Trail Running Challenge

During the race Andy had his usual bottles containing PF 30 Gels, with seven gels in each 16oz bottle. In line with his high carbohydrate intake during his two previous ultras, this is a significant amount of carbs and sits right at the top of the carb recommendations. Showing he can sustain this intake over the course of each ultra with limited GI issues is great and backs up his opinion that he “can eat a lot!”.

Andy drank a slightly lower fluid intake than in previous ultras, but this is to be expected given the cooler and wetter race conditions. Without specific data on his sweat rate it's difficult to determine whether this will have adequately replaced his sweat losses in these conditions, but he peed three times during the race which suggests he didn’t under hydrate. A major positive was that Andy didn't experience any cramping, which is notable given his history of cramping and the twinges he felt in his last two ultras. The lower race intensity and the different conditions could have contributed to this, but it’s encouraging that he managed to complete the event cramp-free, despite the challenge of running three ultras in just 21 days.

Andy has previously used caffeine tablets during races but forgot to carry any on this occasion. While he didn’t feel the absence of caffeine had a significant impact on his performance, he noticed that he raced at a lower intensity compared to his previous two events. However, this was primarily due to the courses demanding elevation gain (over 2,000m), which naturally led to a slower pace. Considering the duration of the event and his familiarity with caffeine use, Andy could consider incorporating a moderate dose in future races to aid his performance and help sustain focus and energy levels over long distances.