Sam's headline numbers
Sam's strategy
Fueling
T - 1-4hrs: Ate a carb rich meal (Low in fat & fibre)
T - 15mins: Took in a final dose of carb
"My energy levels were through the roof during the first 100 miles. I feel like I nailed my nutrition strategy, ensuring I stayed fueled and ready to tackle the challenging terrain. However, as the race progressed, I could feel the strain of pushing slightly too hard early on. The only things I’d change going forwards would be to take some short naps and pace myself a bit better, rather than adapting anything in my nutrition strategy."
Sam used a wide variety of ‘real foods’ and sports products to achieve a carb intake within 10% of our recommendations, essentially nailing his fueling. He prepared plenty of energy rich options which could be requested based on what he craved at the time by phoning ahead to his crew at the next checkpoint. As the race wore on, Sam’s wife, Amanda, also took the executive decision to change the flavour profile of his favoured PF Carb Only Drink Mix on a couple of occasions by changing it to a different energy drink mix to help prevent flavour fatigue. Sam’s crew also used lessons learnt at the Arc of Attrition at the start of 2023, to offer Sam’s personal favourite, rice pudding, to provide a warm yet almost flavourless fuel source when he thought he didn’t want to eat anything at all.
Hydration
Taking on board an appropriate amount of fluid and sodium is essential to maintaining blood volume and supporting the cardiovascular effort needed to perform on race day.
Whilst the absolute amount of sodium and fluid consumed per hour is important, it’s critical to consider these in relation to each other. This is known as 'relative sodium concentration' and it’s expressed in milligrams per litre (mg/L). How much sodium you’re taking in per litre of fluid is more important than the absolute amount taken in per hour.
Sam819mg/L
Sam has been Sweat Tested to dial in his hydration plan
Sweat sodium concentration (mg/L) is largely genetically determined and remains relatively stable. Knowing how salty your sweat is enables you to replace a good proportion of your sweat losses, which can range from 200-2,000mg/L.
Whilst Sam's losses are on the moderate side, getting his hydration strategy right is still important if he wants to perform at his best.
Learn moreDrinking a strong electrolyte drink before the race could have helped Sam start optimally hydrated
"Pretty much the only thing I never turned my nose up at were fluids, and the Carb Only Drink Mix played a significant role. It was a massive win-win for me, and I stayed well-hydrated throughout the race. Although I was peeing really frequently, it didn’t bother me too much."
Sam’s ability to maintain a regular fluid intake was the one thing that never wavered according to his crew. In the cold and wet conditions, an average of ~340ml per hour likely replaced a good enough proportion of his sweat losses to avoid dehydration. Sam peed relatively frequently though, which is often thought of as a sign of being well hydrated. Sam was consuming drinks with a little over half his sweat sodium concentration on average, and combined with the diuretic effects of a large caffeine intake it’s likely this led to him peeing more frequently than would be considered ‘normal’. That said, he was erring on the side of caution this race, as he ‘oversalted’ at the Arc and finished ~3kg heavier than he started, having experienced a lot of swelling. His strategy this time appeared to do the trick, as he happily didn’t experience any cramping or other side effects.
Caffeine
Beyond the Three Levers of Performance (carb, sodium and fluid), caffeine is one of only a few substances that is proven to improve performance for most endurance athletes as it can help stave off mental and physical fatigue.
T - 0-4hrs: Had a final hit of caffeine
Sam had thirteen coffees *during* the race (*mainly during the nighttime hours*), some caffeine chews and ~1.2L of cola, which resulted in over 1800mg of caffeine being consumed in total. The scientific literature around optimal usage of caffeine during exercise is based on far shorter events than this one, and our observations and practical experience suggest that Sam’s intake was appropriate here. He successfully fought against two full sleep cycles, with just one 30 minute nap across nearly 54 hours, though he was quite delirious as a result of his sleep deprivation towards the end of the race. He even reportedly asked a tree for directions and hallucinated that hooded figures were following him (*thankfully, they weren’t!*). For future multi-day events with minimal rest, Sam is going to trial ‘micro-napping’, and abstaining from caffeine on race morning until he needs it most and will get the biggest ‘stimulus’ sensation, rather than drip feeding throughout.
How Sam hit his numbers
Here's everything that Sam ate and drank on the day...
Final thoughts
“I took some risks, rolled the dice and really took the race to some experienced runners. While it didn't quite work out for the win, it's all part of the journey. Hindsight is a great thing, and maybe I could have tracked my competitors more closely instead of feeling like a sitting duck out in front. It was a painful and lonely place at the time, but I know I'll learn from this experience and only get better. The satisfaction isn't just about the outcome; it's about the lessons I've gained along the way.”
“Sam and his crew managed the sizable task of getting in his fueling and hydration incredibly well across nearly 54 hours of racing. Having spent over 160 miles in the lead at the inaugural Centurion Winter Downs 200, Sam was still over the moon with his end result of 2nd. The one thing that was suboptimal in Sam’s strategy was how frequently he had to pee. Going forwards, a small increase in relative sodium concentration and perhaps reducing the quantity of liquid caffeine should help alleviate this. From a fueling perspective Sam knocked it out of the park, and having taken over 12,000 calories worth of carbohydrates during the race, Sam still felt he was able to conquer a full English breakfast in celebration of his podium performance at the finish line.”
PF&HSam's full stats
Data Confidence
We rate each of our case studies from 1-5 based on the level of accuracy, and our confidence in the data.
There is an adequate level of accuracy in the data collected and the numbers reported. The athlete manages to recall what they ate and drank including most specifics (brands flavours quantities plausible estimations of volumes). However there are estimations made within the data which affect the overall confidence level in the data reported.