| Brad Hosking Nutrition / Hydration tips |
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Brad Hosking was Painathlon 07's winner by an amazing margin of 1hr 34mins. Although unable to defend the title this year because of injury, he has put together some great tips for nutrition and hydration during the event. Definitely info worth taking on board in your Painathlon preparation. Finding a nutrition / hydration plan that's right for you is a very individual thing. What may work for someone else may not necessarily work for you. But there are a few simple rules to follow regards providing your body with the fuel it requires to see it's way through a particular (endurance) event. Not adhered to religiously will almost certainly result in an inability to either finish the race or at the very least, a failure to reach goals that would have otherwise been attainable had a good nutrition / hydration regimen been followed. Finding an energy source that sits well with you and is palatable is vital. My choice of energy supply has always been Carbo Shotz. These guys really have it squared away now with their revised menu. Gels and cookies to give you the carbs and a new electrolyte effervescent tablet to provide you with that all important sodium as well as other essential elements. Getting the balance of carbs and sodium is absolutely vital. Skimp on either and you WILL pay the price in performance. Make no mistake, Painathlon is no walk in the park, it is an endurance event that will ask alot from your body (and mind); look after it and it will look after you. The strategy or plan is simple and one I have adhered to strictly in each of the endurance events I have competed in, from Anaconda, to Ironman to Painathlon. I have yet to bonk, cramp or ever needed toilet stops, so as far as I'm concerned the process works for me and I will continue to work to much the same formula. That's not to say however that I won't be open to continuing professional advice and ideas from trusted sources. Ongoing fine tuning and re-evaluation of every element of your training and racing is a must, and that includes how you fuel the engine. Whilst there are important pre-race nutrition and hydration considerations, I'll just focus on the plan I go by during the actual racing phase. The formula I adopt is: 1.1-1.4 grams of carbohydrate per kilo of body weight per hour. For something like Painathlon you would probably work at the upper end of the scale ie 1.3-1.4 grams of carbs. eg: a 70kg person working on the 1.4g model would require 1.4 times 70 equals 98 grams of carbs per hour. This can be consumed across both fluids and solids and is very easy to work out given everything carries that kind of info on the packaging now days. Assuming (rightly) that you consume 1 / 750ml bidon of carb drink an hour which should contain somewhere between 45 and 50gms of carbs, that leaves (based on the above example) the athlete to consume an additional 48-53 gms of carbs per hour, which can be very easily achieved via a combination of gels, powerbars, cookies, lollies etc. It doesn't necessarily have to be an expensive named brand. As well as carboshotz, I churn through chock coated nutrigrain and yoghurt topped muesli bars. It's just a matter of, as I said, finding something that sits well with your gut, but actually does provide a sufficient supply of carbs as you don't want to be over consuming to try and reach those targets. It's important that the quota of carbs is divided up between solids and liquids / gels as your stomach will have problems processing solids whilst under the demands of such a race. Also, don't try to slam those 98 grams down in one sitting; work at a nice balanced consumption rate over the hour and try and wash the gels down with water and not a carb solution. Too much carbs in the gut and you will have issues. The sodium side of things is a bit trickier and is influenced to a large degree by the temp on the day. Conditions in August will almost undoubtedly be mild but you will sweat and replacing those lost electrolytes will be vital. Aim for between 800-1000ml gms of sodium per hour and you should be right. This is where the Carboshotz electrolyte tabs come in very handy. One and a half to two of these babies in your bidon per hour and you will have all the electrolytes you'll need. They are mildly flavoured very easy to drink and obviously being a tablet - very portable. Just be aware that they are effervescent, so keep them dry. In imparting all this however, let it be said that I do not have any qualifications in the field of nutrition and everything I have mentioned here has been acquired through good professional advice and alot of trial and error. Perhaps Doctor Hague could assess the article for accuracy or otherwise. (go easy Jono) Anyway, chances are if you're tackling something like Painathlon, then you're probably already aware of this. If not, then I hope it in someway helps you get to that finish line before sundown...where I'll definitely be waiting to cheer you home. All the best with your preparation and good luck on the day. Cheers Brad Hosking
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