Ultra-Nutrition & The Importance of Being Prepared

Hi there 👋

Welcome to the first ever monthly instalment of the Keeping Pace Newsletter! 

In these monthly emails, we’ll be looking to provide valuable training or racing tidbits to help with your running. Well also be letting you know about any exciting news at High North Running, such as new articles or resources. 

In this month’s newsletter we thought we’d share some important nutrition advice for the ultra-runners among us. 

The crux of the message is the importance of keeping on top of your nutrition and hydration in an ultra-race and of being prepared for unexpected eventualities by carrying a little more food and fluid than you think you’ll need, because if you fall behind on either of these things, it’s really hard to catch up given the high fluid and energy turnover and the existing stress on your stomach. 

This point is something that I (Emma) have learnt in a couple of recent races, as I’ll describe below… 

During Lakes In A Day, I was running well and feeling good coming into Ambleside, and I picked up enough water to get to the next aid station based on my projected pace and the temperature/humidity I’d experienced so far.

However, little did I know that the paths all along Windermere were completely flooded beyond knee height for several miles, making for very slow-going. It was also far warmer and more humid down in the valley than it had been on the tops (something I probably should have realised, but in my tired state didn’t really consider!). 

It therefore took considerably longer to get to the next aid station, and I was sweating more than I had been previously. I ran out of water part way through the leg and began to get really dehydrated, to the point that I had to beg for some water from passers by! 

Being dehydrated then had a significant impact on my ability to continue eating later in the race (this is because dehydration reduces the capacity to absorb carbohydrates from the small intestine). I struggled to take food onboard, feeling quite nauseous. Had I not become dehydrated I think I’d have been able to keep these stomach problems at bay and had a much better and more enjoyable second half of the race. 

In the Trans Gran Canaria, I also made another mistake in relying too heavily on the aid stations for food. These didn’t have the foods I’d expected, and many of the options were unappealing or not suitable. As a result I under-fuelled during one of the legs, and bonked (ran very low on muscle glycogen) at around 45 miles. I should have picked up more food from Tom (my support crew) when I last saw him.

When I next met up with Tom I was able to get some better foods, and I tried to play catch-up. However, I think I then ate a little too much too quickly, and this also triggered a bout of nausea (because I ate more than my digestive system could absorb), which lasted the next 30-miles! 

The body only has a limited capacity to take on fluids and carbohydrates, and during an ultra, you’re often running right on the edge of this limit. When we fail to keep pace with these demands even for a relatively brief period, then it disrupts this fine balance, and can make things really tough, since you can’t easily redress this balance. 

The key lesson I’ve learnt is to be prepared and expect the unexpected.

Going forward, I will always carry a little more than I think I need. This obviously comes with some additional weight, but I strongly feel that this compromise is worth it in terms of reducing the risk of triggering serious stomach problems that could lead to a DNF (i.e. not finishing). 

It’s interesting to note that stomach problems have been found to be a primary cause of not finishing an ultra (see here for the study), so this is a very common risk.

News

Things are still in the early days for our new running-focussed website. However, we’ve got a couple of articles on the website you may not have yet seen:

• What to Eat on a Long Run or Ultra? Practical Tips and Real Food Ideas. 

• Should you be doing strides and sprints as a trail, fell or ultra runner?

Over the next month, we’re hoping to add some more free resources and information to the website, as well as continuing to work on a library of workouts for trail, fell and ultra runners that will be compatible with TrainingPeaks and Intervals.icu training platforms. The intention with this is to make it much easier and time-efficient to plan your own training. More on this in the next newsletter! 

We really hope you’ve found this email useful. Wishing you all the best and happy running until next month!

Emma & Tom