Gorge Waterfalls 50km

Chris’ intake over this 50km race demonstrates his ability to tolerate high volumes of carbohydrate without experiencing any GI issues. Consuming over 90g/h helped Chris fuel his course record-breaking performance for this ‘training race’ and he even noted that he could’ve consumed more gels if he'd needed to later on in the race. As is common for many athletes, Chris doesn’t like to eat too much the morning of a race, but having some carbohydrates is important to top up glycogen levels (the body's carb stores). Although Chris consumed a bit of carb for breakfast, he could benefit from adding a PF 30 Chew in the last ~15-20 minutes to spike his blood glucose levels as the race starts, sparing stored glycogen for use later on during the race.

Despite high humidity levels, the temperatures were mild so overall fluid requirements were manageable for Chris throughout this race. Since he'd been collecting sweat rate data and even weighed himself pre- and post-race (detailing a ~2.8% change in body weight; sweat rate of ~1.2L/h), Chris was able to manage his fluid requirements appropriately and avoid too great a level of dehydration. The level of dehydration an athlete can tolerate is somewhat individualised, but the science suggests that a 2-4% change in body weight can negatively impact performance so it may be beneficial for Chris to consider increasing his fluid intake slightly. He also used some simple cooling strategies throughout to keep his body temperature in check. Since Chris started to feel as though his bottles weren’t providing enough hydration toward the end, he could try having some hydration-focused bottles incorporated throughout his intake (such as plain water with Electrolyte Capsules or PH 1000 (Tablets)) to replace his sweat losses without overloading his gut with carb-rich mixes.

Chris doesn’t usually drink much caffeine day-to-day, and although he has a red bull now and then before some of his longer runs, he doesn't think he is very responsive to caffeine. We would encourage Chris to test using some caffeine, such as PF 30 Caffeine Gels in his strategy to see how he responds and if he feels its ergogenic effects including it positively affecting his rate of perceived exertion. However, we know that caffeine isn't for everyone.