Black Canyon 100km

Cat had been training her gut to tolerate an intended 90 grams of carb per hour during the race, but she mentioned her stomach felt off from when she first woke up that morning which hindered her fueling strategy. As a result, Cat didn’t feel like she could eat until over an hour into the race. And that’s after a two-and-a-half hour delay to the race start meant that she was already playing catch-up with her fueling. She began to incorporate PF 30 Gels and PF 30 Chews as planned, but waves of nausea continued until mile 50 (80km) where she was continually sick and couldn’t keep anything down. As her stomach was unsettled even before the race started and her gastrointestinal (GI) issues began almost immediately, Cat thinks she may have had a stomach bug or Celiac flare. Taking smaller, consistent doses of carb to keep her energy levels up may have been a better tactic at the early signs of GI discomfort, instead of jumping from close to nothing to large amounts in a short period of time, which may have overloaded and worsened the gut symptoms.

While Cat’s average intake across the race may appear suitable at first glance, she actually swung from extreme ends of the spectrum between checkpoints. With a chaotic start to the race caused by the delay, Cat drank very little for the first 13 miles. Although she carried two 500ml flasks, she only sipped occasionally on the go and chugged more at a couple of aid stations. Having these peaks and troughs in fluid intake including downing large quantities at once is harder on the gut and could lead to GI distress. Similarly, Cat’s overall sodium intake averaged out to be an appropriate amount, but she went from having almost no sodium early on to consuming most of her Electrolyte Capsules once cramps started to kick in. She stopped consuming anything as the extreme GI issues took their toll toward the end of the race. We’re working with Cat to practise a more consistent, planned sodium and fluid intake, to achieve a better balance of the two and replace a greater proportion of her sweat losses throughout races.

Considering the issues she faced during the race, Cat did well to meet the general caffeine guidelines for endurance performance. She is a big coffee drinker with a high tolerance to the stimulant, so she used three PF 30 Caffeine Gels spread over the course of the race in an attempt to reduce her perceived effort levels.