Mammoth Trail Fest 50km

Chris doesn’t normally have a huge appetite before racing, so even with his bout of food poisoning this time, his low carb intake pre-race intake was no surprise. He usually attempts to make up for this with a high carb intake during the race, often over 90g/h. Considering he has a sensitive stomach (even when not recovering from food poisoning), he did a great job to fuel consistently and manage his energy levels, and his performance never dipped as a result of low carbohydrate availability. The combination of PF 90 Gels and carbs from drink mixes helped him hit a carb intake just above 100 grams per hour. With the known association between higher carb intakes and improved exercise performance, Chris’ strong fueling helped him get on the podium in yet another race. In future races, and hopefully with the avoidance of any further food poisoning bouts, having some more carbs both at breakfast and in the last 30 minutes before the race start will help Chris top up his energy stores even more.

Despite Chris’ sweat sodium concentration being only slightly above the average we see in athletes we’ve Sweat Tested, his sweat rate is significantly higher, losing up to three litres of fluid per hour of exercise in hot conditions. Fortunately, the climate was more moderate for this race and Chris was able to drink enough fluid to mitigate against dehydration. The combination of PF Carb & Electrolyte Drink Mix and plain water with Electrolyte Capsules helped him achieve a relative sodium concentration sufficient to support his sweat sodium losses and avoid the cramping he’s struggled with in previous years. Additionally, by preloading ahead of time, Chris put himself in a well-hydrated position going into the race. Moving forward, taking on a couple more Electrolyte Capsules would be sensible to ensure a sodium concentration even closer to his sweat losses.

Chris has always been more cautious with his use of caffeine during exercise, and given the stomach issues he had experienced in the previous week, it was sensible on this occasion to avoid it in the event it may exacerbate his issues. In future races, implementing some caffeine into his race strategy by consuming a couple of PF 30 Caffeine Gels could help support his energy levels by providing the ergogenic benefits of the stimulant.