fueling and hydration on longer running efforts

Ultras are in a lot of ways eating and drinking contests. If you can optimize your fueling and hydration during training, you increase the likelihood of finishing your race. Use training runs as a way to practice when and what you'll drink and eat during an ultra.

I found out very early on that I can't eat traditional gels. The first time I tried one, I immediately got a cramp and felt queasy. I guess the sudden sugar rush was just too much for me to handle. I played around with baby food pouches and made my own "power balls" with dates, hemp seeds, cacao powder and chocolate chips before I found what became my perfect racing and training fuel, Spring Energy gels. I liked the baby food pouches, but I had a hard time find a small enough pouch to stuff into my pack and also, many were not a round number of calories. The power balls were great, and I'd still make them if I had the time. I love the Canaberry Spring Energy Gels. They're exactly 100 calories each and they taste like a banana-strawberry smoothie.

For hydration, I love the Nuun Sport effervescent tablets. My Salomon running vest holds 2 x 500 ml soft flasks. I just fill up each flask and drop a tablet in. I've used the tablets with caffeine, and still will on longer efforts past 20 miles, but for runs in between 10-20 miles long, the regular Nuun Sport tablets are great. They have a wide variety of flavors to choose from too so you won't get bored.

For efforts 10-20 miles long, I'll try to get in 100 calories per hour. For efforts longer than 20 miles, I'll try to get in 150-200 calories per hour. You'll always be at a deficit in calories during a race, so it's smart to try to get in a steady drip of calories, if you can stomach it. If I get tired of the Spring Energy Gels, I'll also sometimes add in those mini Clif bars that are exactly 100 calories. It's really important to practice fueling during training. If you think you'll maybe grab a PB&J at an aid station at a race, then pack one during your training run and try it out.

Hydration is a little trickier. I find that it's very weather-dependent. In the summer months with heat and high humidity, I probably drink double the amount that I would drink in the cooler months. If it's hot out, for me, the rule of thumb is to try to empty one 500 ml soft flask every hour. The plan is to try to replace all of the electrolytes that I'm losing through sweating. There have been times (usually with heat and humidity) when I can't replace the electrolytes quickly enough. This usually manifests as cramping in the legs. As soon as I start to feel cramping, I'll take a salt tab with a few big slugs of plain water. I love these Salt Stick Fast Chews. They truly feel magical. You can feel cramps just melt away moments after having these. In cold weather running, make sure you hydrate even if you don't feel thirsty. You will typically lose more moisture with colder, humid weather and you won't feel as thirsty, but you will feel the deficit of hydration in that recovery time will be longer between runs.

If you have the time and you want to make your own fuel, this recipe is great. I like making these Rich Roll energy bars into little energy balls and rolling them in hemp seeds. I found that the bars were a little more difficult to roll out and store.