USA 24 Hour National Championships

As an experienced long distance runner, Don is well versed in the art of fueling and hydration for hours on end. As such, he’s developed a strategy which not only provides him with the basic energy requirements to meet the demands of the event, but Don’s preferred snacks also make it into his plan to avoid developing the dreaded taste fatigue. Avocado and peanut butter tortillas, with the occasional peanut butter and jelly sandwich seemed to do the trick, and he never felt any stomach issues. His only energetic ‘low points’ came when he stopped briefly to stretch his glutes which began to tighten up after getting a blister on his foot. This energy dip will have been caused by the reduced demand for glucose in his blood, and his body beginning to adjust it back to non-exercise levels via insulin release. Thankfully, as Don was comfortably ahead of the field by this point it didn’t negatively impact his race.

Don’s pre-race plan was to average a consistent fluid intake throughout the 24 hour period, and this only faltered slightly during cold patches in the first half as it was raining heavily. By alternating between bottles of PF Carb & Electrolyte Drink Mix and PH 1500 every ~2km loop, with some plain water interspersed, Don kept on top of his higher-than-average sweat losses. Whilst we don’t know his exact sweat sodium concentration, his subjective cravings for salt and white marks on his kit after long training sessions suggest he has a moderate-to-high sodium concentration. For this reason, combined with his excellent subjective rating of his hydration strategy during this race, it’s likely Don was balancing his losses with his intake well. This said we wouldn’t recommend that everyone takes nearly 1500 milligrams per litre, so this is rated amber until we can confirm his exact sweat sodium concentration with a Sweat Test.

Don chose to delay his caffeine intake until ~16 hours into this 24 hour race, as he felt it would help him combat the drowsiness associated with his natural circadian rhythm. He actually began to feel this tiredness earlier than planned, so chose to take his first PF 30 Caffeine Gel two hours ahead of schedule. He also felt some jitteriness and a slight headache after taking the whole 100mg gel in one go. For his next race, we’d recommend Don takes smaller sips of the gel over a greater period of time, so when he’s abstained from it for several hours, it isn’t a shock to his system, but he can reap the ergogenic benefits from it instead. Furthermore, increasing his dosage slightly could help him benefit maximally, but this will require some more trial and error from Don.