Mesquite Canyon 50km

Eric fueled his first race of 2025 with a combination of PF Carb Only Drink Mix, PF Carb & Electrolyte Drink Mix and PF 30 Gels to achieve an average carb intake of ~97g/h. This is a deviation from his favourite strategy of using predominantly PF 90 Gels, but demonstrates how many options there are to hit your fuel targets within the PF&H carbohydrate range. Research also shows that exogenous carbohydrate oxidation rates (in other words, how much of the carbohydrate from sports nutrition products is burned for energy) are similar between gels, chews or drinks, meaning that Eric will experience a benefit to performance because of the carbohydrate vs. the specific fuel format. His rate of intake aligns with the recommendations, as well as his last race at CCC by UTMB in 2024, showing that despite his lack of racing in the last 6 months he is still able to tolerate a high volume of carb.

This was the first time that the majority of Eric’s fluid came through PF Carb Only Drink Mix and PF Carb & Electrolyte Drink Mix, meaning that some of his carb was intertwined with his fluid intake. Decoupling his fuel from his hydration might be a better option for longer, hotter races, enabling more flexibility to account for his sweat losses, but over the shorter distances combining some fluid and fuel can be a sensible approach. Eric also had some plain water, and while he considered his overall fluid intake to be adequate for this race, he acknowledged that skipping an aid station may have been a mistake. To ensure that the relative sodium concentration of his intake was closely aligned with his sweat sodium losses, Eric used Electrolyte Capsules alongside PF Carb & Electrolyte Drink Mix, successfully hitting within his target range.

Eric decided not to use caffeine during this race given the shorter distance and because he has previously had some issues using caffeine in races. That being said, he acknowledges that during longer races he would certainly benefit from the ergogenic effects of this stimulant. Swapping two of his PF 30 Gels for PF 30 Caffeine Gels would be an easy and practical adjustment for similar races in the future. This strategy would deliver ~3mg/kg which is in line with the recommendations for caffeine intake during races.