FEED STATIONS

The Castle Race Series will be working with fuelling partner, Precision Fuel & Hydration to provide you with comprehensive food and drink stations.

On The Bike

Each station will be preceded by a large container ready to catch your empty water bottles or litter. There will also be a large container approximately 50m after the aid station.

A feed station will be placed at 18K, 44K and 63K on the bike route.

A team of volunteers will have a selection of food and drink available for you including the following:

– PF 30 Energy Gels

– PF 30 Energy Chews

– Half bananas

– Pre-mixed bottles of water

– Pre-mixed bottles PH 1000 electrolyte drink

On The Run

A feed station will be placed at the 3.5K point of the 7K loop. You will therefore pass this three times, once at 3.5K, again at 10.5K on your second lap and finally at 17.5K on your third lap.

In addition there will be a water station at the 2K point of the 7K loop which you will pass at 2K, 9K and 16K.

A team of volunteers will have a selection of food and drink available for you including the following:

– PF 30 Energy Gels

– PF 30 Energy Chews

– Half bananas

– Pre-mixed bottles of water

– Pre-mixed bottles PH 1000 electrolyte drink

- Jelly Babies (or similar)

- Flat coca-cola (or equivalent)

On your run you may well be joined by competitors from the shorter adult races that have started after your race start time. Do not be put off by fresh legged runners overtaking you (they will have different colour numbers on their vests) and keep following the signs for the 21K race rather than just following others as they may well be on one of the shorter 4K or 5K routes!

FUELLING & HYDRATION GUIDE THE GAUNTLET

Failing to fuel and hydrate appropriately is a leading cause of underperformance in long distance triathlons.

Your plan should focus on ensuring that you take in enough carbohydrate, fluid and sodium to fuel the work required and keep you hydrated.

BEFORE THE RACE Fuel

What to do

Hydration

What to do

- Your race pack will include a packet of our strongest electrolyte drink, PH 1500

- Mix it into 500ml of water and aim to drink it about ~60-90 mins before your swim start https://visit.pfandh.com/3upJC03

- This is known as ‘preloading’ and it can significantly improve your performance

- Finish your drink ~45 mins before you start to allow your gut to absorb it https://visit.pfandh.com/355YFU1

- Aim to carb load in the day or two before your event, to top off your stored energy (glycogen) levels

- Eat an energy gel in the final 15 mins or so before you start. This'll provide additional fuel to be utilised in the early stages and increase your focus and energy levels

Why?

- Carb-loading is a well-known tactic used by endurance athletes

- Think of your glycogen stores as the fuel you have in the tank before a long journey. The more you start with, the longer you can keep going before you need to top-up

- Simple carbs taken in the last 15 mins will hit your bloodstream around the start of the race, increasing energy availability just as energy use is ramping up in your body

- Drink the electrolytes in water you’d have drunk anyway so you don’t overdo it

- DON’T just drink lots of water before a race! You can end up diluting your blood sodium levels, increasing the risk of a race-ruining condition called hyponatremia (low blood sodium levels) https://visit.pfandh.com/3JCCmnM

Why?

- It’ll boost your blood volume, a proven way to enhance performance during intense exercise, especially in the heat

- It’ll help your cardiovascular system cool you down and deliver oxygen to your working muscles. This reduces fatigue and enables you to maintain your performance for longer https://visit.pfandh.com/37Ve5vn

- PH 1500 electrolyte drink is a very effective preloader as it contains 3x more sodium than typical sports drinks

- Preloading may also help you avoid cramp, which can be triggered by sodium depletion https://visit.pfandh.com/3wwpQCx

During The Race

The bike section offers a great opportunity to fuel and hydrate proactively in order to set up a strong run as most athletes find it easier to eat and drink on the bike than when they’re running.

For this reason it's common, and considered good practice, to ‘front load’ the ride with a higher hydration and energy intake than you aim for on the run.

Fuel

What fuel is available at the feed stations?

- PF 30 Energy Gels. Each gel contains 30g of carbohydrate

- PF 30 Energy Chews, a mixture of Original and Mint & Lemon flavours. Each packet contains 30g of carbohydrate, delivered as 2 15g chews

- A selection of food and drink such as bananas (cut into thirds, about 9g of carb oper third), flat coca-cola (about 10g of carb per 100ml) and jelly babies (or similar, about 5g of carb per sweet)

What to do

- Use our Quick Carb Calculator to get an idea of how much carbohydrate you'll need per hour to perform at your best

- Many athletes racing The Gauntlet will benefit from higher intakes of 60 to 90 grams of carbohydrate per hour, perhaps even more than 90g, as long as the amount consumed doesn’t cause stomach problems

- An hourly intake of ~60-90+ grams per hour is not something all athletes can achieve immediately and it can take a bit of time to build up to this rate of consumption, especially if you’ve been prone to suffering from GI issues in the past

Why?

- When it comes to powering high intensity endurance exercise, carbohydrate is the main source of fuel used by your body

- Glycogen (stored carbohydrate) is a finite resource. 90-120 minutes of hard activity will generally deplete your stores enough to significantly compromise your performance. So, at some point, taking in carbs is necessary to maintain a high level of performance

Pro tips

- Time your intake of fuel on the bike to coincide with straight stretches of road or on a gentle downhill. This makes it easier to eat comfortably https://visit.pfandh.com/3JzD2u8

- If you prefer liquid calories on the bike, consider using PF 30 Energy Drink Mix in your bike bottles. It contains 30g of carb and 500mg of sodium per 500ml serving, so can provide some or all of your carb requirements, depending on the total amount that you drink

- Carry your own fuel on the run if possible. Gels/chews weigh very little and this approach allows you to use some you’ve properly tested in training. It also means you won’t accidentally miss picking one at a busy feed station and can eat them whenever you like

- Generally speaking, the more energy you can consume in the early stages of the run, the stronger you’ll be able to finish, so don’t restrict your carb intake if you’re tolerating it well https://visit.pfandh.com/3itxJRh

- The higher the amount of carbohydrate you’re aiming to ingest, the more crucial ‘training your gut’ in the lead up to your race becomes

Hydration

What hydration products are available at the feed stations?

- PH 1000, a low-carb electrolyte drink containing 1,000mg of sodium per litre (~2x the sodium found in typical sports drinks)

- Water

What to do

- A middle distance race is too long to go without drinking, so you’re going to need to be knocking back a reasonable amount of fluids and electrolytes during the ride/run

- The aim is to try to avoid under-drinking to the point that dehydration hampers your performance, whilst avoiding over-drinking, which can lead to hyponatremia (low blood sodium levels)

- Your fluid/electrolyte intake on the bike needs to be adequate enough to set up a good run, not just to survive the ride!

- Most athletes will need to take in between 500ml and 1L per hour during The Gauntlet. The exact amount depends on the conditions, your own sweat rate and past experiences

- Most athletes find they can take in less fluid per hour on the run than they can on the bike, which should give you an idea of the kind of volumes you might be able to tolerate

- Experimenting within these guidelines, whilst learning to listen to your body, is the best way to work out how much you need to drink during a race

- On the day, factors such as your pace and the weather will influence what you actually need and you should adjust your intake according to how you feel as the race unfolds

Why

- Taking on board an appropriate amount of fluid and electrolytes is essential to maintaining your blood volume and supporting the cardiovascular effort you’ll be putting in https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/03/150304075220.htm

- A 2015 study found that athletes who adequately replaced the sodium lost in their sweat finished a middle distance triathlon an average of 26 minutes faster than those who didn’t

- As well as maintaining fluid balance, sodium plays an important role in the absorption of nutrients in the gut, maintaining cognitive function, nerve impulse transmission and in muscle contraction.

- Hydration is, of course, particularly important during longer events, when your net sweat losses can really mount up. That's especially the case if it'll be hot on the day

Pro tips

- Drinking from cups at feed stations can make it tricky to work out exactly how much fluid you’re consuming. As a rough guide, half a standard paper cup will give you ~100ml of water

- Squeeze aid station cups across the top to form a slit to pour water out of. This’ll reduce the amount that gets spilled

- It’s often faster overall to walk a few paces through feed stations to ensure you get enough fluids on board, rather than trying to drink from cups whilst running at full speed

- Consider carrying some blister-packed Electrolyte Capsules in case you run out of sports drink during the latter stages of the bike or run. Swallowing 2 capsules per 500ml of water you consume would deliver the same ratio of electrolytes to fluid as a bottle of PH 1000 from the feed stations https://visit.pfandh.com/3NgnhKY

Checklist For Adjusting Your Intake

Signs you may need to drink more include:

- Feeling thirsty/dry mouth

- Heart rate drifting upwards when compared to power output or effort

- Tight, twitchy or crampy muscles Signs you may need to drink less include:

- Feeling bloated

- Feeling water ‘sloshing’ in your stomach

- Peeing too frequently

Signs you may need to increase your energy intake include:

- Hunger

- Attitude or mood deteriorating

- Craving sugar

Signs you may need to decrease your energy intake include:

- Feeling/being sick

- Bloating

- Upset stomach

TRY THE ON-COURSE FUEL/HYDRATION IN TRAINING

"Nothing new on race day" has always been solid advice.

https://visit.pfandh.com/3iz4IDH

Grab a Castle Race Series Taster Pack to thoroughly road-test the on-course fuel and hydration before your race.

Don't forget to use the code CASTLE to get 15% off your first order.

QUESTIONS?

https://visit.pfandh.com/3D6Y5Sj https://visit.pfandh.com/3D6Y5Sj hello@pfandh.com

Book a free one-to-one video call with a fuelling expert at Precision Fuel & Hydration or email hello@pfandh.com