Madeira Island Ultra Trail Discover

Rachel’s pre-race fueling fell slightly short of the scientific guidelines, to ensure her muscle and liver glycogen stores are optimised at the start line of future races, she could look to implement a more structured carb load and increase her race-day breakfast from ~0.9g of carb per kg of bodyweight, into the recommended range of 1-4g/kg. Across the ~6 hours of racing, Rachel’s carb intake averaged ~87g/h, providing her with steady energy levels and allowing her to sustain the race winning pace. Between the three crewed aid stations, Rachel’s intake was relatively consistent at ~85g/h, ~97g/h and ~82g/h; she achieved these numbers through a combination of PF 300 Flow Gel, PF 30 Gels and energy drink mix to help prevent flavour fatigue. To ensure she doesn’t find herself hoping for extra aid stations in future races, Rachel could consider carrying an extra PF 30 Gel so she has a boost on hand as a backup.

Rachel went into this race well-hydrated by preloading with a PH 1500 (Tablet) in 500ml of water the night before and ~90 minutes ahead of the gun. Her experience of ultra racing was displayed on course through the adaptability of her fluid strategy - even though she stopped to fill her flasks more than she had planned, she knew that the time it takes to fill up her flasks would almost always be worth the time saved by avoiding dehydration. Going into this race, Rachel hadn’t had a Sweat Test but implemented a more proactive sodium intake strategy than in past races using Electrolyte Capsules and plain water, plus getting some sodium from her energy drink mix. The relative sodium concentration of her intake ended up being ~537mg/L which falls below her now known losses of 819mg/L. So, increasing the number of capsules to two per 500ml of water will better replace Rachel’s losses to aid fluid retention.

Rachel took a PF 30 Caffeine Gel before the 9am start but did not have any further doses of caffeine. Adding another caffeine gel in the first half of the race would have helped get her into the recommended 3-6mg/kg range to maximise the ergogenic effects of the stimulant.