Desert Solstice 24 Hour

Don has a relatively dialled nutrition strategy for 100 mile races, opting to keep things simple and relying on sports nutrition for the majority of the race. Like clockwork, he picked up a PF 30 Gel at half-past each hour for the whole race, never missing a single one. Thankfully he never struggles with ‘flavour fatigue’, having simulated this strategy in training for several months prior to each of his races. However, like most ultra-endurance athletes, he still enjoys ‘something different’ to offer a bit more satisfaction to his palette; this time opting for a few PF 30 Chews and two peanut butter chocolate bars for some ‘real food’.

As with his fueling plan, Don’s hydration strategy was metronomic. His crew mixed three scoops of PF Carb & Electrolyte Drink Mix into a 500ml bottle, before splitting this into two 250ml soft flasks which he picked up every 30 minutes. This supplied the foundation of his hydration plan, with modest temperatures likely meaning his sweat rate was fairly low. Don is very aware of his body’s response to weather conditions, and on several occasions felt like he was falling behind on his electrolyte intake. When he perceived this, he asked his crew to mix up a bottle of PH 1500 electrolytes, which he did six times throughout the 24 hours. This on-the-fly adjustment was essential to maintaining his hydration status appropriately, especially considering a ~125ml deficit in fluid replenishment per hour would leave him >4% dehydrated by the end of the race.

Don delayed his caffeine intake until later on in this race like he’s done previously, in an attempt to really feel the ergogenic benefits when things started to feel tough during the night and his natural circadian rhythm made him increasingly drowsy. He prefers to keep his caffeine intake completely separate from the rest of his nutrition plan, opting to use low-dose caffeine mints as and when he feels the need. This stems from his previous experience of headaches and jitteriness from taking higher doses of caffeine in one hit from a gel.