We have found the following nutrition
documents from our E-caps sponsor very helpful
Race
Day Fueling Strategy for Adventure Racings
The
10 Biggest Mistakes Endurance Athletes Make
Proper
Caloric Intake During Endurance Events
Endurolyte
Usage Instructions
Hammer
Gel Usage Instructions
|
|
|
Quality
Energy Foods come in all
shapes and sizes. Every
Adventure Racer has different caloried needs and taste buds.
We have tried various products and have found Powerbar and
E-Caps/Hammer nutrition to be the best. Commercial energy
drinks like Gatorade and Powerade are seldom used because they
actually give you a "spike" in energy and not sustained
energy because they are high in simple sugars and
carbohydrates. Instead we use Endurolytes from E-Caps.
We simply break capsules open and pour them into our water
bottles. This provides excellent hydration during the
race. Sometimes we add raspberry Hammer Gel to the water to
provide taste and calories from complex carbohydrates. Our
primary source of fuel is from Sustained Energy by E-Caps.
Sustained energy comes in powder form and is mixed with water to
provide a constant source of energy for the entire race. We
typically consume about 200 calories per hour. We typically
put the Endurolyte electrolyte water mixture in our internal
bladders and mix Sustained Energy into our shoulder mounted water
bottles. Keep in mind once you add water to Sustained Energy
you must consume within several hours or it will spoil and create
havic with your stomache. Therefore we keep pre-measured
baggies of Sustained Energy in our packs so we can quickly pour it
into our water bottles, add water. Sometimes our taste buds
get the urge for food with "substance". That's why
we carry 1 or 2 Powerbars per stage. Keep in mind you must
practice with these products before racing and everyone has
different caloric and hydration needs. |
|
Visit www.e-caps.com
to purchase the above products. Mention "Adventureheads"
and receive 15% off your first purchase. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Water
bottles vs water bladders is a constant debate. Many
racers and even teammates often debate about what will be used to
carry water. Camelbak and other vendors have made hands free
hydration systems popular. These bladder style systems have
a tube which extends from the pack and is used to drink
water. We have found some limitations with internal bladders
since they are hard to fill in a stream and you never know how
much water remains. Therefore we took ordinary cycling water
bottles and modified them to provide all the benefits of the hands
free bladders. The bottles themselves attach nicely to
shoulder straps and are positioned high enough to provide full
visibility and range of motion of your arms. We drilled the
top mouthpiece slightly larger to accept flexible tubing which you
can get at the hardware store. Then we used a combination of
cinch cord and velcro to keep the bottles secure on the shoulder
straps. Last we but cheap carabiner style clips below the
bottles to keep the drinking tubes from getting in the way.
This setup gives you all the advantages of hands free bladders
plus the added bonus of always knowing how much liquid remains and
they are very easy to remove and fill at a small stream during the
race. |
|
|
Water
bladders as part of a hands free hydration system were made
popular by Camelbak. Now several other vendors have entered
the market with similar products. We find bladders work
great when you can complete an entire stage without having to
refill the bladder. Trying to fill bladders in a small
stream or even a lake can be time consuming and difficult.
The biggest drawback we experience is that you never know how much
liquid you have left. Other than that they are truly a great
invention. During races we use them in combination with
shoulder strap mounted water bottles. We use the water
bottle to get water from the stream and pour into the
bladder. The custom permanent marker markings on the
bladder help us know how much water remains and how much water
purification we must add. |
|
|
Water
purification is vital to have during a race. Often the water
supply you start a stage with is not enough to hold you until the
next transition area, especially if it is hot. There are
many choices when it comes to water purification. We have
looked at many and have found Pristine to work the best. It
is a simple 2 vial chemical process. Pristine does not
effect the odor or taste of water like iodine. The 2 vials
are enough for a multi-day race for the entire team.
The process works be putting equal drops of both vials into a
container. Some use the cap but we prefer a 35mm film
canister. This allows us to pre mix the chemicals as we
approach a water supply. The chemical reaction takes several
minutes before you can add it to the water. When we reach
the water we simply pour the chemicals from the canister directly
into a water bottle or bladder. Everyone on the team carries
a canister. Once added to water you wait about 5 - 10
minutes and then the water is drinkable. Pristine claims
their chemicals will even make stagnant jungle water drinkable,
but we have not tried that yet. |
