Races lasting one to four hours: fueling without overdoing it or running on empty
Understand why duration, intensity and opportunities to eat matter more than labeling a race “short.”
A competition can be short compared to an ultramarathon and still require hours of effort. Chapter 9 gathers events from approximately one to four hours to apply nutritional bases to this range.
The teaching is that the name of the distance is not enough. The strategy needs to consider how long that person will be in motion, the intensity and the opportunities to eat and drink.
Short is relative to the athlete and the sport
A running distance can take very different times between participants. The same happens in a cycling competition with climbs or in a triathlon with transitions.
A plane based only on mileage can leave an athlete with less fuel than expected. The problem increases when he copies someone who will complete the event much faster.
Start with the estimated duration realistically. Then consider effort, climate, race start, heating and commuting. Not every time out of the house is exercise, but it can change when it will be possible to eat.
A shorter competition also depends on the previous days
The author highlights the risk of arriving with impaired reserves after intense training or restricted feeding. The athlete may be rested that morning and continue without having properly reorganized the fueling.
The last meal does not automatically correct the entire sequence. Its function is to complement a preparation that has already been going on.
Practical learning is to avoid treating the week of competition as a time to reduce food just because the training volume has fallen. Reducing activity and availability of reservations need to be evaluated according to the competition.
It is also not concluded that all events of this broad range require the same load protocol of carbohydrates. The duration and context remain different.
Breakfast: choose an executable window
The author pays attention to the meal before race start, including simple options for very early hours. The important thing is to reconcile food, digestion time and logistics.
Make the bill back to front: competition time, shifting, item withdrawal, heating and bathroom opportunity. A meal that looks easy at home can get very close to the exercise when these appointments are included.
Use training experiences to identify a family combination. It is not necessary to repeat an elite food for the meal to fulfill its function.
If anxiety makes it hard to keep solid, the plan needs to consider this before the main day.
During: fuel and consumption practice
At events of this range, needs vary greatly. The current orientation of AIS differentiates durations, including 30–60 g/h in 1 to 2.5 hours. The full reference was presented in the fueling article of this series.
The point here is to transform a defined amount into running. How much of what has been taken will be consumed? Is there water? Can the packaging be opened in motion? Does the participant know the drink offered?
It is not enough to put products in your pocket. The strategy only happens when the nutrient is ingested in a way compatible with the effort.
Editorial example: contain portions, not just packaging
Imagine a hypothetical 45 g strategy of carbohydrates per hour for a two-hour event. The planned total would be 90 g, without that representing a personal goal for the reader.
If each gel has 30 g, three units provide this total. If the athlete also uses a drink with carbohydrates, it needs to enter the sum to not duplicate the planned.
The goal is not to ingest everything at once or automatically compensate for a delay with a large dose. The total calculation needs to be organized in the opportunities that the person has already tested.
If the estimated time changes, the quantity and distribution also need to be reviewed.
Running, cycling and making triathlon offer different windows
In the race, a glass can be small and part of the liquid can be poured out. It is useful to practice the way to hold and drink, without assuming that catching the glass amounts to consuming it whole.
On the bike, terrain, traffic and driving domain define safe times to handle food and bottles. A strategy that requires eating in a technical descent is not good just because the sum is correct.
In triathlon, the power needs to respect the segments. The bike step usually offers different opportunities than swimming or running. The strategy should be tested as a sequence, including transitions.
The cost of loading less needs to be examined
An athlete can stop carrying water or fuel to reduce weight and discover that support does not occur when he imagined it. Before the decision, check distances between posts, content offered and autonomy required.
The amount transported must respond to the real plan, with a reasonable logistic margin. The book draws attention not to sacrifice needs just by trying to save a few seconds.
At the same time, it is not necessary to load products without function. The best plan has clear reasons for its components.
After arrival, there is still a sequence
Recovery does not need to be delayed until you return home, especially when there will be travel or other nearby activity. A meal or snack available can avoid a long gap.
The chapter relates carbohydrates, protein and liquids to the later period. The combination depends on the conditions and what will happen next.
The main concern is not to treat the finish line as if it would end all the needs of the day.
Editorial application: a useful essay
Choose an appropriate session and play the logistics: time, meal, products, access to water and how to load. Register what you consumed, rather than just what you took.
Then adjust a concrete difficulty. If opening the package required stopping every time, the presentation of the product may need to change. If the flavor became intolerable, the choice needed alternative.
The teaching of the chapter is that a simple and practiced strategy is worth more than a perfect calculation that is never executed.
Primary reference: EBERLE, Suzanne Girard. Endurance Sports Nutrition. 2nd ed. Human Kinetics, 2007. Cap. 9, “Shorter-Range Events”. Explanatory summary in our own words. Numerical examples and situations identified as editorials are from Enduran-se.
Sources for editorial updates:
Cada um no seu ritmo. Juntos no caminho.