Tarawera Ultra-Trail 50k

Maddy has admitted that she’s struggled to hit the recommended carbohydrate intake during exercise. But even though she’s still early in her trail running career, she has already been consistently practicing gut training over the past few months and modifying her approach to enable higher carb intakes from both a physiological and psychological perspective. It paid off on race day, enabling her to hit a carb number within the recommendations. She based her intake on PF 30 Gels, PF 30 Caffeine Gels, and also carried PF Carb Only Drink Mix in her soft flasks. Given the longer race duration, Maddy strategically placed flasks filled with PH 1500 and Carb Only Drink Mix at multiple aid stations, ensuring she could top up as needed with her preferred options. Despite this relatively high carb intake, she experienced no GI distress and even regretted not taking that last gel she had on her. This well-executed fueling strategy may explain why Maddy reported feeling stronger at the end of this race than ever before, and it’s a testament to her concerted effort to train her gut ahead of time.

​​Maddy suspects she’s a salty sweater after severely cramping during a race where she consumed little sodium. To mitigate this, she regularly uses PH 1500 during training and races. In a recent PF&H video call with Sports Scientist Lindsey, they discussed separating ('decoupling') each key performance nutrition lever of carbs, fluid, and sodium, to manage them independently. Maddy now keeps her sodium in one flask and her carbs in another (supplemented by Gels. This approach allows her to hit specific targets for each lever without overconsuming in one area just to meet needs in another. As she progresses toward longer and/or hotter events, Maddy will likely need to increase her fluid and sodium intake, as replacing a greater proportion of sweat losses over time can help sustain performance in endurance efforts, especially for salty sweaters like Maddy may be.

Maddy consumed ~7.7g/kg of caffeine during the race, primarily from four PF 30 Caffeine Gels in addition to her morning coffee, bringing her total slightly above the recommended dosages. During the post-race debrief, Maddy noted that she typically doesn't feel the effects of caffeine. Since some individuals don't respond well to caffeine, and she hasn’t experienced noticeable benefits either, such as reduced perceived effort or increased motivation, she may consider reducing her intake more in line with the recomendations.