The RAT 50km

Kate did extremely well to average ~115g of carb per hour across her seven hour race. She used a combination of carbohydrate in her bottles and gels to hit a target intake that many competitors would struggle to match. This is testament to the gut training Kate has undertaken in the two years prior to this race. The impressive carbohydrate intake during this race will have contributed to her lack of DOMS post race too, which is why we suggest fueling adequately during training sessions when you need to recover quickly.

The fact that Kate didn’t feel the need to pee, but also reported no cramping or dehydration related issues (i.e. headaches or performance decline), highlights that she all but nailed her intake here. Kate’s perception of her hydration strategy being a 9 (out of 10) gives us confidence that she can take a similar approach going forwards to her future races, while considering any variance in environmental conditions. For example, she’d need to drink a greater volume of fluid if her sweat rate increases due to warmer temperatures.

While Kate didn’t report any caffeine intake before the race, she did still hit the recommended 6 mg of caffeine per kilo of bodyweight through the four PF 30 Caffeine Gels she took at even intervals throughout the race. Because caffeine has a half life of four to five hours (meaning half is still left in your system after this time), Kate will have felt the performance enhancing effects of reduced perceived effort and enhanced focus right through to the finish line.