Yes love Dr Stacey Sims soooo important hormones impact everything and yes to talking and sharing this stuff!! Mai knows this at 15 which is amazing I didn’t until 40’s….i don’t really eat much on long rides I know i should be makes me feel sick and I don’t bonk agree re hydration being more key for me! The enduo sports pouches are fab… Loving the series :)
Damn, there really is nothing that can bring Katy down😤 I don't even do mountainbiking. Currently I'm getting into triathlons. However, I learn so much from your resilience & scientific mindset. Keep pushing Katy!🔥
For me, the race planner and products by Precision hydration is the bomb, the 1500 hydration tablets are a game changer as i sweat alot and bery salty. Week of racing in maderia and all UK events, cramps and stomach issues have disappeared. Gut training is super valuable!
Can never go wrong with sugar + salt in your water, absorbs fast and costs next to nothing in comparison to biking specific nutrition. Easy on the stomach and quite pleasant tasting, if you don't like the taste just put a dash of Vimto or whatever dilute you prefer as long as its natural fruit based. Food I usually just take a zip lock bag of nut mix.
Hey, Katy! I'm glad you're getting it all figured out! I'm hoping to figure it all out, too. I have much less dedicated training and options for consistency (my job is very non-consistent in the way it's carried out daily). It would be worth talking about how you feel when you've underfueled during and after a hard ride/training vs how you feel when you've fueled well during/after an intense ride/training.. I'm not "training" as much as I'm "riding hard as often as my life allows me to do so" and pretty regularly I feel absolutely wrecked. After some rides I'm exhausted and feel like I'm coming down with a cold (body ache/exhaustion/out of body disassociation sorts of feelings). It's not like I'm crushing huge miles or huge elevations or anything like that. I'm just riding relatively hard on narrow singletrack trails. Essentially, I'm doing intervals because all the trails around me are relatively constant ups and downs (as opposed to long ascents/long descents) and I'm often racing myself. I guess I like trying to beat my previous times all the time! I tend to have some small amount of chocolate/trail mix with me. I'll often have an electrolyte tab in a bottle. My rides are mostly between 90-120 minutes. Normally about 1.5 liters of water. Nothing too crazy. But I'm feeling wrecked sometimes. Is that "feels like I've caught a cold" thing how other people feel?
I never puked anything I drank but I used to get some stomach cramps after drinking some iso drinks on big rides. Eating or drinking would make my stomach ache so much that I avoided it and bonked every time. My solution to this was drinking fruit juice, the thicker (more pulp) the better. This helped me get more carbs in as well as coating my stomach.
Hi Katy, salted peanuts work really well for me...done a couple of ultra marathons and plenty of kms on mountain bikes and they've worked for me. Good luck for the Whaka I'm sure you'll smash it!
On the long gravel races I did, I try to avoid gels. If I use them, it's in the end of the race and if I need a boost. Mostly stick to bars and drink mix. Also a good breakfast meal before the race start.
I've not raced for 15 years, I found flapjacks to be my preference. Another find was having carb powder in the water bottle to keep consistant supply of energy that my body can digest easily. All the best for the race.
I’m terrible with nutrition, I’ve done a fair few events mainly running/hiking type stuff and always end up crashing at some point🤦🏼♂️ I changed my eating habits completely now and don’t have breakfast just eat at lunch and dinner, feel so much better never full or hungry👌🏻 but the downside is I mainly do exercise in the mornings without any food just water! Generally I don’t feel completely terrible but it’s never consistent, it’s generally a win if I’m not dead after a session👍🏻😂 but I can’t train anywhere near when I’ve eaten, feel awful🤢 it’s good to see how it should be done👍🏻
So much emphasis on carbs but i didn't see much about protein, maybe i missed it. Also caffeine too at every opportunity, this can be a diuretic if you're not careful. Have you thought about super fine oats ,they are drinkable maybe mixed with vegan protein powder. All those sugars it's nice to get something spicy in between as they get sickly. Ultimately you know your body but on the day it can be totally different,with adrenaline and tiredness. Good luck though and don't put too much pressure on yourself. 👍
I try to have real food (not packaged stuff) as much as possible. I've found stopping for two minutes to eat allows me to go faster than eating on the go.
Rough times trying to train while you feel sick. My guess is possible microbiome issues? Or possible allergies or sensitivities? If you know of a probiotic that works for you, get back on it. If nothing else try working in Kefir servings each day. Heard once that heavy endurance efforts can wreck your microbiome. After a medical issue, it took me two years to find the right probiotic, but so much better since. Sugar can for sure cause issues in the gut. Too late to sort all of this out, but some ideas to explore for after your race. For electrolytes I find that Salt Sticks capsules are the lightest and most complete set of salts during long endurance, I use them during long distance backpacking. Rotorua is the only place I have ever considered moving to from Cali, fun little whitewater run and good riding, shame I didn't figure that out when I was young enough to immigrate. TBH it would have been a huge step back in my career so double edged sword.
have you found any flavourless drinks? I know it's too late for this race now but for future. my first cape epic I couldnt eat. the effort and the heat took it out of me completely (having trained in the uk winter) and my stomach just refused everything. I had torq flavourless energy drink which is pretty much all I could have and sometimes dates. they were good as so energy dense in a small portion.
Electrolytes in my bladder, Stoats porridge bars every hour, and cheese rolls works for me Katy but then I’m not racing like you but rather doing long off road rides in the Highlands. Never puked once. 😉
Absolutely agree! But in this situation it was the final week in a build up of training to load the body and system, so being tired is to be expected. This was “good” tired with plenty of rest coming up to bank the gains 😁
Just a impuls for your thought: Look at the work of Dr. Noakes and Inigo Milan about fat oxidation as fuel. All this carbo shit will make you sooner or later sick and the reaction of your body is already telling you. I wish you all the best for your race and want to tell you how proud I'm looking at your strenght and determination. Keep being a good person, as this is what counts.
Yes love Dr Stacey Sims soooo important hormones impact everything and yes to talking and sharing this stuff!! Mai knows this at 15 which is amazing I didn’t until 40’s….i don’t really eat much on long rides I know i should be makes me feel sick and I don’t bonk agree re hydration being more key for me! The enduo sports pouches are fab…
Loving the series :)
Damn, there really is nothing that can bring Katy down😤 I don't even do mountainbiking. Currently I'm getting into triathlons. However, I learn so much from your resilience & scientific mindset. Keep pushing Katy!🔥
For me, the race planner and products by Precision hydration is the bomb, the 1500 hydration tablets are a game changer as i sweat alot and bery salty. Week of racing in maderia and all UK events, cramps and stomach issues have disappeared.
Gut training is super valuable!
Great vid, Katy. Your process of elimination to get your nutrition sorted is clear and well thought out. Best of luck.
Glad youve sorted the feed intake probs well done
Can never go wrong with sugar + salt in your water, absorbs fast and costs next to nothing in comparison to biking specific nutrition. Easy on the stomach and quite pleasant tasting, if you don't like the taste just put a dash of Vimto or whatever dilute you prefer as long as its natural fruit based. Food I usually just take a zip lock bag of nut mix.
Hey, Katy! I'm glad you're getting it all figured out!
I'm hoping to figure it all out, too. I have much less dedicated training and options for consistency (my job is very non-consistent in the way it's carried out daily).
It would be worth talking about how you feel when you've underfueled during and after a hard ride/training vs how you feel when you've fueled well during/after an intense ride/training.. I'm not "training" as much as I'm "riding hard as often as my life allows me to do so" and pretty regularly I feel absolutely wrecked.
After some rides I'm exhausted and feel like I'm coming down with a cold (body ache/exhaustion/out of body disassociation sorts of feelings). It's not like I'm crushing huge miles or huge elevations or anything like that. I'm just riding relatively hard on narrow singletrack trails. Essentially, I'm doing intervals because all the trails around me are relatively constant ups and downs (as opposed to long ascents/long descents) and I'm often racing myself. I guess I like trying to beat my previous times all the time!
I tend to have some small amount of chocolate/trail mix with me. I'll often have an electrolyte tab in a bottle. My rides are mostly between 90-120 minutes. Normally about 1.5 liters of water. Nothing too crazy. But I'm feeling wrecked sometimes. Is that "feels like I've caught a cold" thing how other people feel?
I never puked anything I drank but I used to get some stomach cramps after drinking some iso drinks on big rides. Eating or drinking would make my stomach ache so much that I avoided it and bonked every time. My solution to this was drinking fruit juice, the thicker (more pulp) the better. This helped me get more carbs in as well as coating my stomach.
Hi Katy, salted peanuts work really well for me...done a couple of ultra marathons and plenty of kms on mountain bikes and they've worked for me. Good luck for the Whaka I'm sure you'll smash it!
I have had great success making my own pancakes and eating 2-3 and hour. They're easy to eat, tasty and around 100 cals each. Plus choc chip for taste
At least you'll be warm up here😅 Garmin had 23c in the open parts of the forest yesterday!
On the long gravel races I did, I try to avoid gels. If I use them, it's in the end of the race and if I need a boost. Mostly stick to bars and drink mix. Also a good breakfast meal before the race start.
I've not raced for 15 years, I found flapjacks to be my preference. Another find was having carb powder in the water bottle to keep consistant supply of energy that my body can digest easily. All the best for the race.
Awesome!! Thanks for sharing 😍
Best of luck Katy!
Thank you!!
I’m terrible with nutrition, I’ve done a fair few events mainly running/hiking type stuff and always end up crashing at some point🤦🏼♂️ I changed my eating habits completely now and don’t have breakfast just eat at lunch and dinner, feel so much better never full or hungry👌🏻 but the downside is I mainly do exercise in the mornings without any food just water! Generally I don’t feel completely terrible but it’s never consistent, it’s generally a win if I’m not dead after a session👍🏻😂 but I can’t train anywhere near when I’ve eaten, feel awful🤢 it’s good to see how it should be done👍🏻
So much emphasis on carbs but i didn't see much about protein, maybe i missed it. Also caffeine too at every opportunity, this can be a diuretic if you're not careful. Have you thought about super fine oats ,they are drinkable maybe mixed with vegan protein powder. All those sugars it's nice to get something spicy in between as they get sickly. Ultimately you know your body but on the day it can be totally different,with adrenaline and tiredness. Good luck though and don't put too much pressure on yourself. 👍
I try to have real food (not packaged stuff) as much as possible. I've found stopping for two minutes to eat allows me to go faster than eating on the go.
Rough times trying to train while you feel sick. My guess is possible microbiome issues? Or possible allergies or sensitivities? If you know of a probiotic that works for you, get back on it. If nothing else try working in Kefir servings each day. Heard once that heavy endurance efforts can wreck your microbiome. After a medical issue, it took me two years to find the right probiotic, but so much better since. Sugar can for sure cause issues in the gut. Too late to sort all of this out, but some ideas to explore for after your race. For electrolytes I find that Salt Sticks capsules are the lightest and most complete set of salts during long endurance, I use them during long distance backpacking. Rotorua is the only place I have ever considered moving to from Cali, fun little whitewater run and good riding, shame I didn't figure that out when I was young enough to immigrate. TBH it would have been a huge step back in my career so double edged sword.
I give gels a wide berth. Natural sugars in the way of dates and apricots etc are so much better.
have you found any flavourless drinks? I know it's too late for this race now but for future. my first cape epic I couldnt eat. the effort and the heat took it out of me completely (having trained in the uk winter) and my stomach just refused everything. I had torq flavourless energy drink which is pretty much all I could have and sometimes dates. they were good as so energy dense in a small portion.
Electrolytes in my bladder, Stoats porridge bars every hour, and cheese rolls works for me Katy but then I’m not racing like you but rather doing long off road rides in the Highlands. Never puked once. 😉
They sound like the perfect ride snacks, love it!! Thanks for sharing 😍 I’ll keep in mind for the long missions I have coming up!
You know your own body better than any of us, but from a distance "all the caffine" can cause stomach issues for many people.
If you're tired, why are you riding? Rest is sometimes the better option.
Absolutely agree! But in this situation it was the final week in a build up of training to load the body and system, so being tired is to be expected. This was “good” tired with plenty of rest coming up to bank the gains 😁
Just a impuls for your thought: Look at the work of Dr. Noakes and Inigo Milan about fat oxidation as fuel. All this carbo shit will make you sooner or later sick and the reaction of your body is already telling you. I wish you all the best for your race and want to tell you how proud I'm looking at your strenght and determination. Keep being a good person, as this is what counts.
Red bull for breakfast