Fueling an Ultramarathon

If you’re reading this blog, it’s probably no surprise that fueling during an endurance event is essential to keep things ticking. Over the past couple years, there has been more and more evidence to prove the effectiveness of intaking a certain amount calories and carbohydratess to limit fatigue onset (commonly known as the “bonk”). As you exercise, your glycogen stores become depleted so in order to maintain energy, you must restore the glycogen with fast-acting fuel. Technology and research seem to be exponentially improving by the day and while there is still lots of unknown, the bottom line is this: replenish depleted calories during exercise when the duration lasts longer than 60 minutes.

Easier said than done, fueling on the run can often lead to feelings of nausea or the urge to go to the bathroom. Not to mention palate fatigue after hours of intaking highly sweet carbohydrates. Nonetheless, it’s essential to fuel properly to ensure you make it to the finish line.

Dialing in your personal fueling strategy isn’t an easy feat. It is recommended to practice with different types of fueling options during training runs so that you know what works best for your stomach. Recently, studies are proving the effectiveness of counting carbohydrates per hour rather than simply calories per hour. A tool like this from Precision Fuel can be a helpful starting point to know approximately how many carbs per hour you should be aiming for based on your body weight and race goals.

I would recommend trying a variety of different brands and types of nutrition to experiment with different flavours, textures, and quantities. Nutrition comes in many different formats such as gels, liquid calories, bars, chews, and waffles. I find that the higher the intensity (ie. shorter, faster efforts), I can only consume liquid calories and gels. If the effort is longer and less intense (say 6+ hours), I prefer to mix in some solid food in attempt to balance out the extreme sweetness of gels. 

Websites like The Feed offer a great selection of different types of nutrition. This website is a great starting point to explore different varieties, and you can order individual items which allows you to try multiple different brands and types in one go. Some of my personal favourites are Skratch Labs drink mix, Maurten gels, and Precision Fuel chews.

I always like trying new items from The Feed to fine-tune my nutrition strategy. I’m curious - what are some of your favourite things to consume on the run? Do you feel like you have your nutrition strategy dialed in, or do you have room for improvement? Drop me a line if you have any questions about fueling on the run or if you want to share your hot tips of your finely tuned strategy!