100k Fueling Plan

 As with most ultras that I do, I like to use my own foods and drink over what's provided at most races. There is nothing wrong with what they provide, but I have my favorites. These favorites are tried and tested during my training so I know that my tummy handles them and how well it handles them. Of course, there is always the fallback of eating something their table if I get in to a pinch.

Going in this 100k, there were a few factors that I took in to account. First, this was a multiple lap race, and the laps were relative short at 6.2 miles. With such short laps, I have less that I need to carry during each lap. Less to carry means less weight being supported my ever tiring legs over the course of the race. That's a good thing. The other major factor was the temperature. The forecast was for 37 degrees at the start of the day getting up to maybe 55 degrees by 4 or 5 pm. With a relative cool day, I can get away with less water consumption over the course of event. I will still need water make no mistake about it, but it will be nothing in the amount needed if the temperature was in the mid 90s. 

For this race, I went with many of my running staples: Sports Bean - watermelon flavor, GU - chocolate flavor, Honey Stinger - Vanilla, Peanut Butter crackers, Gatorade, Tailwind, and Sprite. 

I loaded up my CamelBak with about 1/2 liter of Tailwind and a pack of SportsBeans. The first lap was in the dark and even thou I wasn't thirsty, I pushed myself to drink for later in the day. If I get behind on fluids, I will likely never get caught up during the race. I didn't eat the Sports Beans on the first lap. Being that it was dark, I really didn't want to mess with tripping over something while trying to eat them. 

I reached behind and squeezed my Camelbak, I thought that I would have enough for a 2nd lap so I skipped my first refueling opportunity. 

Finishing the 2nd lap,  I again squeezed my CameBak, this time it felt empty. I would definitely need to refuel. I had also eaten my Sports Beans. 

It was during this stop where I really wasted some time. I didn't unclip my CamelBak until I was at my car. I had to take if off. I had to remove the cover, and then open the bladder to pour in my Tailwind. Luckily, I did have my folder chair there to act as prop to hold it up. Then, I messed with the lids for the bottle holding my Tailwind. I was rushing and couldn't get the lid screwed on correctly. I ended up just setting it back in to the cooler with no lid. This actually worked out better. With subsequent stops, I just needed to pour the Tailwind in to bladder. I also made note to remove the CamelBak before getting to my car and having the bladder open and ready. Again, this helped reduce my downtime. 

Lap 3, I picked up more Sports Beans. Lap 4, I picked up Sports Bean and loaded up with more Tailwind. Lap 5, I felt like my energy levels were dropping off so I pulled out the Sprite. However, I wished that I had opened it earlier and let the C02 bleed off. It fizzed up and over the top. My right hand was sticky the rest of the day. Also snagged a couple of crackers. 

Other than my first lap 2 debacle, my remaining pitstops went much smoother. I guess that I was just rusty. After all, I have not done much ultra racing in the last year. 

Lap 6, I refueled with more Tailwind and kept taking the Sports Beans. I was never hungry but I wasn't taking them because I was hungry, I knew that I need to keep a steady stream of energy flowing in to my system. 

Lap 7 I grabbed more Sports Bean, and opened the my cooler to drink the Tailwind directly from the bottle. 

Coming around to finish lap 8, I decided to changes my strategy just a bit. I had prepared a Nathan's handheld bottle so I had something that I could just grab and go. I dropped my CamelBak and grabbed my handheld and some Sports Beans. I was quickly off an running again. My handheld holds a little less that 1/2 liter but it was just enough to get me home. 

Lap 9 I drank from my Tailwind bottle right out of the cooler and grabbed more Sports Beans, but I didn't need to refuel my Nathan handheld bottle. 

After the race, I realized that I prepared way more Tailwind for this race than I needed. Nothing wrong with being too prepared. 

I don't know if other runners think about how they prepackage their food but I do. For instance, I take my Sports Bean out of their container and put them in to a tiny ziploc bag. Not the reseal type but the ziploc. When I am running, they can be a pain to open and then reseal. The ziploc work easy enough. zip one way to lock and one way to open. I do the same for my other foods like my peanut butter crackers. It can be utterly frustrating to tear in to package cracker packaging while running. This is just another reason that I love ziploc baggies. 

I never used any of my gels but they were always available. Nor did I drink any of the Gatorade. The Sprite did seem to do the job. I probably should have drank more of it. I have noticed that after 4 to 5 hours my blood sugar levels start to fall off. At least to me, it feels this way. Even when I am eating and drinking throughout the entire 4 to 5 hour period. But about 20 minutes after drinking several ounces of the Sprite, my energy level seemed to balance out. I feel better running which is the most important thing. 

That's pretty much it. I don't do anything too fancy. I do my best to make things as easy on me during the race as possible and have my favorites as handy for me to grab as possible. 

One of the things that I probably should do is practice a bit more refueling during my training. I still have some kinks in my system that I need to iron out. 

But every new day is a learning day for us all,

Cool Down Runner Adventures