“I qualified as an elite!”
When my former student proudly told me this, and gleefully said that he had been asked to compete in The North Face Endurance Challenge Championship Race in the Marin Headlands, the sports nutritionist in me saw a unique opportunity. I’d study him while he prepares for and runs his race, and see how well he keeps up with the extreme nutrition challenges this requires.
Endurance sports are taking off as those who want to push themselves harder and harder jump to the challenge. These athletes have nutrition challenges that make a mere marathon seem like a walk in the park. The lead runners in a marathon often streak to the finish line with no more than sips of water, finishing in a little over 2 hours. The winning time in a 50 mile race, though, may be about 7-8 hours depending on terrain. Attempting this without nutrition is simply not an option.
While all nutrients are essential, the key nutrients here are carbohydrates and fluids. Science-based nutrition guidelines recommend 60 to 90 grams of carbohydrate each hour. Carbohydrates fuel working muscles and also help keep fatigue at bay by fueling the brain. Fluids are essential so that blood can continue to provide nutrients and oxygen to working muscles and remove carbon dioxide and heat. Dehydration impairs this ability, causing the body to heat up and ultimately slow down. If not reversed, this can result in heat stroke. Finally, runners need calories. Depending on gender, size, speed and terrain, this could amount to 600-1000 calories an hour. Assuming an 8 hour race, the energy demands of this event run from 4800 to 8000 calories! While impossible to keep up with this demand, maximizing energy intake is the third key component in a successful nutrition plan.
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During the preparation stage, an athlete needs to evaluate his or her tolerance to specific foods and fluids and to determine fluid needs. Measuring weight before and after a run provides an estimate of sweat loss and the amount of fluid that must be ingested to avoid dehydration. Just as important in ultra-endurance races is prevention of over-hydration which can lead to hyponatremia, a condition where the blood becomes diluted from too much fluid. Hyponatremia is potentially fatal.
The North Face Endurance Challenge Championship Race takes place on December 6. This week my runner will be fine tuning his nutrition and hydration plan. Stay tuned – I’ll keep you posted!