Carb storage for unsupported ultra races

Just need to have low-flavor beverages, and you won’t get palate fatigue.

My wife and I disagree. We use almost exclusively sucrose, sodium citrate, and a very small addition of Gatorade powder for flavor. It has worked for 8+ hr rides for me. It has worked for up to a 310-mi ride for Michelle, at a rate of approaching 90g/hr for 20hrs of riding.

She plans to attempt a trenching within the week, maybe on Mt. Lemmon. No solid food will be consumed. I posit that avoiding solid food and doing purely liquid nutrition is most optimal and tolerable on the gut. Primary reasons folks crave solid food:

  1. Hunger
  2. Palate fatigue
  3. Lack of sodium in their fluids.

If hunger occurs, you’re way behind on optimal fueling.

If palate fatigue occurs, you’re probably way behind on sodium and may have chosen a beverage with too high of flavor intensity.

If craving salty foods as below:

It’s almost guaranteed to be because of insufficient sodium consumption in the fluid mix. Targeting 1000mg/L/hr is a good start. Consider bumping to 1500mg/L/hr if cravings persist.

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