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So plan to do the 4hr BM coming up. Not got a great deal of experience in longer races, typically I've started out drinking a couple of bottles of sis go, a couple of gels then can't take any more in without feleling sick, stop eating and drinking and basically enter a hurty crampy place for the final hour.
I'd rather not repeat this....so what do others eat / drink in a 4hr and what quantity?
I've tried several brands of gel and drinks they all seem to have similar effects after 4 gels and 1 litre drunk.
I find cliff bars and mule bars quite edible, not a big fan of gels might take one with me to give me a boost on a hill if I am flagging towards the end.
How far away is the event, tying stuff out in training is the way forward, no good changing eating habits on event day.
4hrs .....
Haribo bananas and squash.
I can easily ride 4 hours on 2 bottles of water if I just want to potter round but I want to push it and I'm sure there is better fueling strategy than squash and bananas......?
Event is a next weekend....so no time to trial a race pace 4hr.
I reckon I'll try normal food like flapjacks and pork pies rather than gels. Maybe 1-2 per hour, and aim for .5 litre water and .5 sis
I also need to do family stuff afterwards so need to not be in the usual post race collapse mess
I find the drinks with some protein in are good for longer rides, High 5's 4:1 is a good one for me, although I have been using Accelerade for the past year. For four hours in the cold I would probably have a bottle of 4:1 on my bike at the start and then a bottle of something with just carbohydrate in at the end. I doubt I would get through more than 2-3 bottles. Maybe leaving a spare bottle of water in the pits in case I fancy something plain. I wouldn't bother with gels unless I was just drinking water, although will keep a caffeinated one on my back pocket in case I need a lift.
I have found in long rides (usually at about 10hrs) that I can get a sick feeling from just taking on board liquids and gels, a bit of energy bar (or banana) helps settle everything down.
Normal energy drink (1 scoop of Torq in a 750ml bottle plus a few Elete drops).
A gel every hour or so.
Bars of some description
A banana
A few Haribo
GB
I also quite like a muller rice in the 20mins before the start.
Check out feed zone portables, just got it this week, not tried any of the recipes yet but looks good.
As per trail rat, for 4 hours, just a snack really. You should have plenty fuel in reserve for that.
What is the max no of calories you can take on effectively in an hour?
Lots of porridge 1/12hrs before. 1L camelbak and a snickers bar for the race 🙂
This is quite a good read if anyone is trying to be a bit more scientific about this:
http://forums.mtbr.com/xc-racing-training/calories-per-hour-717545.html
I burn around 800 calories per hour at fast pace, so I'd be out of glycogen stores in around 2 hours. I probably take on too many calories too quickly then get a dodgy stomach. The extra calories and glycogen stores will be empty around the 3 hour mark. Then I suffer with cramp etc.. and limp the last hour.
Max intake appears to be around 320 calories per hour. So 1 mini pork pie / flap jack and a gel per hour should cover it...
When I was training this summer, I did a 4h non stop ride as a tester and ate one rice-crispie cereal bar every 30mins with a small snickers as well every hour. I drunk water every half hour too and Lucozade sport every hour. I was able to maintain the most consistent pace ever- did 61 miles off road at 15mph.
In the event itself of course, it all went out the window. All I could get down on the day was 600ml of water and 1 snickers! Adrenalin is a pretty good stimulant 🙂
My Strategy is always, 1 bar, 1 gel, 1 serving energy drink (30grams carb) in 500ml of water winter/ 750ml water summer. In my opinion Torq are streets ahead of the competition.
By the last hour or two may replace the bar with another gel as eating becomes harder.
Racing is not like normal riding, it's about pushing your body to the ragged edge and holding it there. A bit of nausea is nothing compared to the barrage of other hurt signals coming from all over your body.
Btw BM often can last for almost 5hrs as it's a 'long' 4hr race. Allow for this.
True, the few I've done I have usually finished around 4.5hrs.
Thanks for that book recommmendation - its on the xmas list now, looks spot on.
I've tried torq gels but not powders/drink yet (mainly as I have a giant tub of SIS)
What gee said. Don't have pork pies etc. best wait till after the race for that kind of food.
Personally the best thing you could do with sis is throw it n the bin too much garbage in that
Torqs far kinder on your stomach.
[i]I also need to do family stuff afterwards so need to not be in the usual post race collapse mess [/i]
If you can still walk/talk/think at the end... 😉
It's only 4 hrs applies if you are out for a pootle for 4 rs, racing for 4 hrs is a different prospect....
I use Torq as it's a good way to drip feed some energy as I go and easy to drink
Cliff bars are good, Torq ones are a bit chewy -I prefer bars to homemade stuff as it's packaged nicely in a way that makes it easy to put in pockets/bags and then eat 🙂
Is there a feed station? Found the gel in the threads of the drink bottle trick a while back which was clever.
Mike, what is this "gel in the threads of a drink bottle" trick you speak of???
For 4 hours I use high 5 2/1, flapjacks or banana and some haribo, I too carry the odd gel in case of emergencies
Trap the tear off bit of the gel package in the thread of the (screw top) lid of a drink bottle. Makes it easier / faster to pick up and tear off to access the gel. Frankly in a race expected to last 4 hours and some, are those seconds vital? You'll have to decide that.
Is it an Enduro or a XC Marathon? I would never eat sport specific crap in an Enduro when you have all that time in the transfers to eat real food. Take some carrot cake or a moist fruity muffins. Something that you'll actually want to eat rather than gunk in packets.
Trial and error has lead me to a situation where I get some sainsburys chewy granola slices, cut them in half and have one every 45 minutes. This combined with porridge or egg on toast for breakfast seems to do the trick.
I really don't like gels. The granola slice tastes like real food and for me, it's good for my mood as well as my stomach.
It's an xc marathon so barely time to wipe the snot from your chin let alone tuck into 'real' food.
For me 1.5l of water would be enough unless it was ridiculously hot. I'd eat a normal sized breakfast of muesli/porridge etc. Depending on the start time I would have a banana and cereal bar at some point before the race. I'd then aim to eat 3 cereal bars during the race or maybe 2 cereal bars in the first half and some wine gums in the second. I find my ability to digest/eat more solid food deminishes during races.
If I was going to use an energy drink it would be torq but at 3/4 the recommended level.
This is more xc stuff though. Marathon races like kielder, nationals or 3 peaks cx.
For an enduro are there not physically easy bits, I didn't,t think you were always on the rivet?
In that case I would go with dried figs and dates.
Trap the tear off bit of the gel package in the thread of the (screw top) lid of a drink bottle. Makes it easier / faster to pick up and tear off to access the gel. Frankly in a race expected to last 4 hours and some, are those seconds vital? You'll have to decide that.
More that there was a limit of 2 bottles in the feed station boxes and it kept them with the drink bottles.
Take some carrot cake or a moist fruity muffins. Something that you'll actually want to eat rather than gunk in packets.
Which will look like the bars once it's been mushed in the bag for 2 hrs.