I am going to jump forward a bit in regards to the info that I have been posting on this blog. My idea was to start very simple and then work toward more complicated things later. Well, that is still my plan, but I have had a couple of requests on blog subjects recently. Rather than ignore those, I thought I would just simply address them as they are asked. In the mean time when I have no questions asked from others, I will just continue to answer some FAQs that are asked of me.
One question that some one asked me recently is what should I eat for canoe race?
I will take on this question with three types of races in mind. A race between 1 to 3 hours, a race from 3 to 8 hours, and a race over 8 hours.
A 1 to 3 hour race:
Generally, I do not eat during a race that is 1 to 3 hours. During the race, I carry gel packs such as Hammer Gel, or Power Gel and use them about once every hour, or if I am feeling a bit fatigued. As with all races, it is important that you eat right prior to the race and that is the key to eating for a 1 to 3 hour race. I eat tons of carbs the night before a race. The day of the race, I eat a light breakfast with some protien. Since races are generally in the morning, usually your body does not break down your breakfast into energy prior to the race. I breakfast in the morning helps, but should not be relied on to give you the energy you need for a race. In an emergency, a nutritional drink such as Ensure, Boost, or Slimfast can be drank. The nutrients in those drinks are more easily absorbed by your body and can be more easily turned into energy if your body needs it.
A 3 to 8 hour race:
As I said before, eating before the race is very important. I will not get into that too much here as there are a lot of very good articles on the internet that cover the subject of the proper things to eat before an athletic event. Check out ones that cover what to eat before a marathon or a triathlon. I like those best. Before the race I carb up eating loads of carbs one to two days before the race. I know that there are other techniques out there in terms of what to eat, but carbo loading is what I do. Before the race, I make sure that I eat a good breakfast with fruit and protien. Oranges are a good food to eat because it provides your body with sugars that can be broken down and used as quick fuel. Also, I make sure that I drink one or perhaps two Boosts. During the race, it is very important to make sure that your body is well fueled. Otherwise you will bonk. If the race is closer to 3 or 4 hours, you can rely more solely on power gels. If the race is longer than 4 hours, it is important that you make sure that your body has the fuel necessary to finish the race. Also, you need to make sure that your body is spending the least amount of energy possible on breaking down food. You want your body to spend its energy on racing. Generally, in a 3 to 8 hour race, I will try to start eating at about hour 2 or 3. In addition to my fluids and gels (which I try to eat about every hour or hour and a half), I generally will eat 5 things. I like to eat oranges, apples, bananas, peanut butter and honey sandwiches, and Boost/Ensure. I eat these things because generally, they provide the nutrients you need during the race, they are quick to eat, and they go down easy. Generally the Boost/Ensure is the staple of the group and I try to make sure I get one down every one to two hours. Oranges and bananas are easy to stuff in your mouth and they slide down easy. PB&H sandwiches give me a little variety and a bit of a boost at times. Oh and one last LHP tip here on this, if you do not like the fruits above, or if you want to take an additional fruit that goes down quick as a pick me up. Try the fruit drinks made for babys. They are easier for your body to process and usually go down quick and easy. My favorite is pear. :-)
A race over 8 hours
A race over 8 hours is where things get a bit more complicated. Generally in a race your body will burn more calories than it you can consume and process. With this inmind, that is what makes a longer race more tricky. You have to keep your body running as long as possible without falling to far into a calorie deficit and thus bonking. The longer the race, the harder this is to do. Here is what I try to do to put my body in the best position in terms of caloric energy before a race over 8 hours. The week before the race, I EAT EAT EAT! Specifically, beginning 3 days before the race, I try to eat a balanced diet with a ton of carbs. My carbo load increases until the night before the race. The day of the race, I try to eat a hardy breakfast with a large amount of protien. I throw some Boost/Ensure into the system too. When the race starts, I start eating about an hour into the race. I do this even if I am not hungry. In my opinion, this is one of the most important things I do in an ultra marathon. You need to provide fuel that is going to keep your body going. In my opinion, the earlier you do it, the better. I really do not have a firm nutritional basis for what I do when I start eating in an ultra, my main goal is to provide my body with fuel. At the beginning of the race, it is easier as your body is not as fatigued. I eat my staple I talked about in the 3 to 8 hour races. In addition, I throw in other things such as power bars, trail mix, m&ms, jerkey, and chicken noodle soup. The longer and harder the race is, the harder it is to continue to eat. When it gets hard to eat, I will eat whatever my body will accept (I will not go into what my body does when it is rejected-you can use your imagination). Things that work best are bananas, Boost/Ensure, chicken noodle soup, oranges, apples, and baby juices. Apples are great in an ultra, but I will get more specific on that in a later blog post. Just get down what ever you can. In my opinion, the Boost/Ensure is very important because it provides your body with quick calories that are easy to break down and chicken noodle soup is also important because it helps your body replenish salt that it has lost. Both Boost/Ensure and chicken noodle soup always seem like they can go down OK, even in the worst of conditions. One other important note, do not rely on gel packs for sustained energy. You can use them for an energy boost, but do not rely on them for sustained energy. If used as your main source of energy, gel packs will work for a while, but ultimately, the energy provided by them will not be sustained and you will go into a caloric energy deficit. They are like fools gold. Be especially careful of this, because it is easy to rely on gel packs when your body starts rejecting food. At first it seems OK, but it will end up hurting you in the long run *The most critical thing to remember is to eat eat eat, both before and during an ultra race. Not eating well for an ultra will hinder your efforts every time.*
Please note, that there are many different strategies out there in terms of eating and racing. The above is just my thoughts on the subject gained through years of racing and practical experience. Every year I learn more and more on this subject.
