Portsmouth Coastal Waterside Ultra

Joe averaged just under 60g/h of carbohydrate during the race, which kept his energy levels stable up until the last stretch. His intake falls below the recommended carb dose for a race of this duration and intensity (ideally 90g/h), so increasing his fueling in future events could help optimize his performance. Research, as well as anecdotal evidence from our case study database, suggests that higher carb consumption enhances endurance performance, provided it doesn’t cause stomach discomfort. To improve tolerance, Joe may benefit from training his gut by gradually increasing his intake in key training sessions. He used a mix of gels and bars to fuel, with a goal of eating at least every 10km to help prevent prolonged gaps in fueling. However, around 42km into the race, Joe was sick and attributed this to a sudden increase in pace while chasing a marathon PB. Though he recovered quickly, vomiting may have contributed to his late-race energy dip by reducing the amount of carbohydrate available for absorption.

Joe finished the race with a -2.88% change in body weight, reinforcing the widely accepted view that most endurance athletes can tolerate 2-4% dehydration without major performance decline. Considering his average sweat rate of ~1L per hour during the race, increasing his fluid intake closer to 500ml/h may have been beneficial, though he felt no problems pushing over 2% body weight change. The relative sodium concentration of his drinks was lower than his sweat sodium concentration, so we’d recommend slightly increasing this to be more in line with his losses for warmer races. With the cooler conditions though, Joe was able to adjust his intake on the go, skipping planned Electrolyte Capsules as he felt adequately hydrated and experienced no cramping, indicating this strategy worked well for him on the day.