The Spine Race

Ahead of Race Day: With limited research available on optimal food intake for races of such extreme lengths and with numerous factors to consider, Robyn had to rely largely on her experience from past 100-milers and multi-day ultras to develop a fueling plan. After plenty of gut training in recent years and testing foods at her estimated race pace, she aimed for ~60g/h of carb while on the move. Compared to other races, she incorporated more ‘real food’ to ensure she was also consuming other essential macronutrients that become more of a factor over multiple days of exercise to support sustained energy, skeletal muscle maintenance and general health. Robyn divided her intake into six ‘legs’ across the ~268-mile course, using a variety of products, flavours and foods in each leg to hit her carb and calorie targets. Her fueling plan included: PF Carb & Electrolyte Drink Mix, PF 90 Gels, PF 30 Caffeine Gels, PF 30 Chews, coca cola, energy bars, chocolate bars, sweets, sandwiches, trail mix, checkpoint meals, and even pork pies (see the menu below for quantities).

Race Fueling: Robyn relied mostly on sports nutrition products in the early legs, before transitioning to more real foods, including checkpoint meals, in the middle and later days. In hindsight, she feels a more balanced approach early on might have helped prevent the flavour fatigue she experienced when trying to consume sweet foods later in the race. However, front-loading sports nutrition allowed her to achieve higher carb intakes early on; across legs one to six, Robyn consumed ~75g/h, ~42g/h, ~46g/h, ~48g/h, ~34g/h and ~29g/h of carbs. Her decreasing carb intake over the four days aligns with anecdotal evidence that with time, an individual's willingness and ability to take on more food declines, likely a result of flavour fatigue and general tiredness. But, since these figures include her non-moving time and overnight hours, maintaining such a high intake was impressive and key to keeping her moving over such a long duration. The only major deviation from the plan was a dip in intake and subsequent energy during the second leg. Just as impressive, Robyn experienced no stomach issues, sickness or bloating across the race; a very common problem for individuals partaking in similar or even shorter endurance races. This is testament to her specific gut training and well-executed hydration strategy…

Throughout the 94 hours of racing, Robyn continually used two 500ml soft flasks filled with PF Carb & Electrolyte Drink Mix, consuming three or four of these flasks every leg. She occasionally added plain water or cola, as well as cups of tea or coffee during the late hours or at checkpoints. Robyn’s hydration strategy totaled an estimated ~16.5L (~580oz) over the race. While this averages just under 200ml per hour, it’s important to note that this is an average across the entire 94-hour period, much of which took place in very cold conditions, including snow and temperatures as low as 0℃ / 32°F. Robyn felt at times she was ‘dehydrated’, going for extended periods without urinating. She recognised that she could have been more proactive with her fluid intake, especially when she lost her rhythm of fueling and hydrating during leg two. As expected in an event of this length, there were times when her hydration strategy felt subjectively better than at other sections, but she managed well by adjusting on the go, listening to her body’s demands and using her past experience and well-versed knowledge of her sweat rate and sodium losses. Robyn consumed a relative sodium concentration higher than her losses, as most of her drinks contained ~1000mg/L, which will hopefully have helped her retain the small amounts of fluid she was drinking. She felt this was sufficient, reporting no cramping, craving of plain water or swelling (which she has experienced previously during races).

The recommended caffeine dosing for endurance events does not account for extreme durations, so it was no surprise that Robyn surpassed the general guidelines over the course of the four-day race, taking six times the top end of the recommended dose in total! She stretched this intake across legs two to six, using PF 30 Caffeine Gels and small amounts of cola, tea and coffee, averaging ~6mg/kg per leg. Sticking to her strategy, she kept caffeine to a minimum during the first part of the race, before consistently dosing every few hours until the end in an attempt to boost her perceived energy levels and mental focus. It also would’ve helped to fight her body’s natural circadian rhythm, an especially important benefit as she only slept for a few hours across the entire event.