( click to enlarge )
These simple concepts should work:
1. Fluid: < 1 liter/hour
- weigh yourself before and after practice - that's what you need.
- fluid passage rate through the stomach is up to 1 l/hour
- more volume will sit in your stomach and bother you.
2. Carbohydrates: < 80 grams/hour
- your body has a maximum consumption of carbohydrates that is up to 80 grams/hour - no need to eat more.
- carbohydrates are short chain = sweet sugars ( fruit cup, juice ) or long chain = not so sweet sugars ( cereal, grain etc.).
Short chain sugars are taken up quickly and raise your blood sugar quickly. For long chain sugars this is more delayed.
In response to your rising bloodsugar level your insulin levels will rise. This is necessary to transport and process the sugars.
There is one caveat: the insulin 'digests' your bloodsugar, iow it will lower your bloodsugar level. Too low and your performance suffers. Solution: when you eat sweet stuff, also eat some not so sweet stuff; the latter is taken up slower and will give the insulin something to work with: your bloodsugar level will not be too low.
- eat early on. The carbohydrate stores that you have available for performance is used up after 15 minutes of heavy labor. After that your body starts using different pathways/sources.
3. Salt: 0.5 - 1.0 grams/hour
- Salt loss = sweating differs quite a bit between individuals.
- don't take up fluid without sufficient amounts of salt during endurance performance. Salt is needed to retain fluid in your body ( termed: osmotic pressure )
- judge you salt levels: do you still pee, if not = more salt. Does a skin fold stand on the back of your hand ( pinch your skin ) in stead of flattening out, if so = more salt.
4. Potassium and Magnesium:
I don't remember the exact amounts, so please google for this.
- potassium is lost rather quickly, thus you need to know how much you need per hour and replace it.
- magnesium is not lost quickly and you likely have enough storage if you eat a daily vitamin pill. If concerned you can eat a few magnesium pills. Just look up what the limit should be. There is no 'bigger is better' here.
5. Everything else:
- normal nutrition. At the level that most OC paddlers train nothing else is needed. Use common sense, it's enough. If you don't lose weight, you don't need to eat more.
- in case you eat little to lose weight, eat 'healthy', that is non processed and fresh food.
6. Summary for Molokai Hoe
- prepare one bottle to drink for each hour that you race. Mix nutritional powders into your drinks following the suggestions above.
Mix one extra bottle with water and add salt, a few teepoons (make sure that you can still drink it :)).
Make sure to drink with discipline: 1 bottle/hour. Don't drop this schedule when you see Portlock - you will regret it two miles later.
- if you prefer solid food, still ensure that you get between 1/2 to 1 teespoon of salt into your body in your drinks.
- solid food: find out how many carbohydrates are in your food/weigh unit and make sure that you eat up to 80 grams/hour
- when you eat sweet stuff -this includes gel in my opinion - make sure you eat some unsweetened carbohydrates at the same time.
Proteins: Personally I add proteins towards the second half of the race with the idea to limit muscle breakdown a little bit. That is just my own concept, not sure that there is any science behind it.
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