Nice Côte d'Azur by UTMB

Jamie has been using the PF 300 Flow Gel as part of his strategy for training and racing as he’s found they’re an efficient way to hit his hourly carbohydrate targets, with less “faff” (compared to opening packets of smaller gels) involved. Based on his estimated finish time and intensity, he settled on an hourly target of 90g/h+ for his first 100km race, which he knew he could nail with four Flow Gels. Consistently, new scientific papers are identifying the benefits of high carbohydrate intakes during exercise to support performance through increasing exogenous carbohydrate oxidation rates. Simply put, ingesting carbohydrates above 90g/h encourages more of the exogenous (external) carbohydrates to be utilised during exercise. The ~99 grams of carb he consumed for thirteen and a half hours would’ve no doubt supported Jamie’s energy levels and performance throughout the race, ensuring that his muscles were consistently supplied with glucose. In turn, this would’ve spared some of his endogenous (internal) glycogen stores for later on in the race, where fatigue increases and the chance for a decrease in fueling becomes more of a concern.

Jamie has unfortunately suffered from cramping during his training and racing over the years, and since having a Sweat Test has increased the relative sodium concentration of the fluid he takes on board. With some practice of carrying both flasks and bottles, he decided that the best strategy was to start with two soft flasks of PH 1500 and to refill these throughout with water or more PH 1500 by carrying a tube with him to use at the aid stations. He sipped on his soft flasks regularly throughout and listened to his body to avoid any cramping or the dreaded flavour fatigue, whilst still mitigating against his higher than average sweat fluid and sodium losses.

Jamie is aware of the benefits associated with caffeine, but similarly to his previous race at the Suffolk 50km, he chose not to include it within his strategy as he’s concerned about the unwanted GI issues that some athletes experience whilst using the stimulant without practice. There’s clear evidence in the literature that caffeine can significantly support endurance performance and reduce the perception of both effort and fatigue, but the couple of cups of coffee he had on race morning would’ve only gotten him so far in such a long event. Jamie might consider using some PF 30 Caffeine Gels as part of his training to see how he gets on with them before his next race.