My race food pack for Comrades 2014
What am I going to eat and drink during a 9h+ race like the 89 km Comrades 2014 Ultra Marathon?
In the past I very much relied on Peanutbutter-Sandwiches (I took 2 slices of toast put peanutbutter with salt in between and cut that into 4 pieces).
But over the years I noticed, at later stages in a race I just did not like to eat them any more. At the 2012 Comrades I had only a few peanutbutter sandwiches (2 or 3) and for later stages I used ham sandwiches instead. Something savoury was more on my wish list.
During such a race you usually consume lots of sugar in different forms, like Coke, energy drinks, energy gels, etc. Something not-sweet felt better. That’s what I enjoyed in 2012 and will prepare for 2014 again.
In all of my races, the longer I ran, the harder it got to eat. Often I could not eat during the last maybe 20% of the race. Which is a long way at Comrades.
This year I want to be more strict with my eating in the early stages and consume the recommended amount of 50 – 60 g of carbohydrates per hour. I believe if I can do that consistently in the beginning, my body will have more energy left when I enter the stage where eating is not so popular for me any more.
On the above picture you can see the complete food package I am going to take with me.
I can say upfront: I will not be able to eat all of this stuff!
Due to the fact, that I am extremely lucky for my beloved wife Silke, who is always there to support me and who participates in Comrades as my supporter, we will have 2 meeting points on the route. She’ll be driving from spot to spot and wait for me.
The points will be after some 30 km and 56 km – so an almost perfect split after 1/3 and 2/3 of the race.
My wife can give me the food package I want to have during that phase of the race. This makes it easy for me to have lots of food waiting for me I can choose from.
For the first time during Comrades (but I used them at other races including Two Oceans 2014) I’ll eat “High5 Energy Bars”. Interesting detail: The bar made of berries has more carbs than the one with peanuts. It’s obvious when you think about the sugar in fruits, but don’t we usually think a fruit is perfect no matter what? Anyway, for the purpose of my race nutrition it is great, because they taste delicious.
High 5 Bar “Berry” Nutrition
High 5 Bar “Peanuts” Nutrition
The are very easy digestible, not sweet, and each bar gives me 31 – 42 g of carbohydrates.
My plan: to eat one of those bars the moment I get to the point where I meet my wife and carry this bar with me for another 1-2 km where I consume it fully.
If I can eat one of those bars per hour, add a “Racefood” bar (16g of carbohydrates) and some Power Gel Shots I will be in the 50 – 60g carbs/hour range easily. Taking the Coke and energy drinks into the equation, I will be perfectly nourished 🙂 And don’t forget the maybe 2-3 peanutbutter and 2-3 ham sandwiches I wil have as alternatives as well!
Racefood Nutrition
Power Shot Nutrition (60g = 9 little “Shots” = gums)
The Powerbar Energy Gels (and any other brand) are not my preferred way of getting energy during the race. 2 or 3 of them over 9+ hours are ok. I’m happy to have found alternatives which taste better and I know I can handle on a racing stomach.
That’s the plan.
I hope the “GAME”-team serves burgers again during the race. I can’t wait to get to their water table/food station, because they are just outstanding. It’s more like a grocery store (and everything is for free), where you get all kinds of food. So, if they serve burgers, I’ll have one 🙂
Lekker!
Finally the Saltabs: I will use every opportunity during the race when salt will be shared to get some. Especially thinking about the heat, getting salt will be very important. I do have a few own salt tablets with me, in case I miss the folks with the salt.
