Voom tips and advice for the Chiltern Challenge

Voom Tips and Advice for the Chiltern Challenge

If you want to get the most from your body and the event it’s definitely worth checking out these tips from our official technical partner VOOM Nutrition. VOOM covers the pre-race period, taking on energy, and maintaining hydration.

Don’t forget you can try some of VOOM’s products and enjoy a 75% saving with the XNRG Energy Pack.

How to Nail your Fuel and Hydration on an Ultra

When it comes to smashing your ultra marathon event, hydrating and fueling appropriately is just as important as doing all the training in the months before race day. If you want to get the most from your body on race day check out these tips from our official technical partner VOOM Nutrition.

Pre-race

• Try to get a good carbohydrate-rich breakfast 2-3 hours before the allocated start time. Toast or bagels with jam, porridge with honey or other cereals are great options here.

• Don’t forget hydration. Most people typically dehydrate slightly through the night and you don’t want to hit the start line in a dehydrated state. Aim to sip 500ml of water or electrolyte drink in the couple of hours before you start - it can be easy to forget this in the buzz of the pre-event period!

• A final carb top-up around 30 minutes before the go will make sure your glycogen stores and blood glucose levels are ready to feed the muscles right from the start. Ideal options would be a banana or half of a VOOM Pocket Rocket, both of which offer around 23g of carbs.

Energy

• Taking on carbohydrates during any exercise lasting over about 1.5 hours has repeatedly been shown to aid endurance performance. This is because the body can only store enough carbs, in the form of glycogen, for around 2 hours of exercise. After around 2 hours glycogen stores become depleted and blood glucose levels begin to drop - the dreaded bonk (hitting the wall).

• Consuming carbs will maintain blood glucose levels and in turn provide a steady stream of glucose to the working muscles to ensure you can maintain contractions, and therefore forward movement - no bonking here!

• Carb-rich foods include items like bananas, flapjacks, cereal bars and even jam sandwiches. The VOOM range aims to happily supplement these real food carb sources with easy to consume, easy to digest options. 

• Sports physiology research suggests taking on 60-90 grams of carbs per hour in events lasting longer than around 3 hours is optimal. However, the body can only absorb around 60g of glucose per hour, so in order to comfortably take on more than 60g of carbs a secondary carb source if necessary - this is where fructose comes in.

• VOOM Fusion Fuel uses a combination of three carb sources: maltodextrin (glucose), cluster dextrin and fructose, to ensure maximal carb delivery of 90g per serving, in a stomach-friendly way. You could feasibly run an ultra with Fusion Fuel as your only real energy source.

• The VOOM Pow® Plant range has a blend of both slow release carbs from oats, and faster release carbs from fruit juice concentrates with 33g. The bars also utilise the benefits of beetroot and their naturally occurring nitrates (https://www.voomnutrition.co.uk/blogs/news/importance-of-nitrates-athletic-performance) which aid blood flow and boost endurance.

• The flagship Pocket Rocket range offers unashamedly fast-acting energy in easy to consume chunks with 45 grams of carbs per bar - roughly twice the energy of a gel! Find out how Pocket Rockets can give more energy, faster, and which Rocket is right for you.

Fluid

• As you exercise, the body sweats in order to cool itself, which unfortunately depletes the body’s water balance - losses that need replacing.

• Aim to take on 400 - 800ml of fluid per hour, this varies due to individual sweat rates and drinking preferences.

• Water alone is not enough - electrolytes (often called salts) are lost in sweat and they play important roles in maintaining fluid balance, nervous function, muscle contractions and more functions besides. Learn more about the importance of electrolytes here.

• Additionally, electrolytes speed up the rate of absorption of water which means you hydrate yourself faster, and minimise the time the water sits in the stomach where it can risk GI discomfort.

• On an ultra we recommend carrying one flask with water and a second with an electrolyte drink such as VOOM Hydrate which contains 460mg of electrolytes per 500ml serve. This way you can sip your way through both fluids and have a plain option if you want to rinse the mouth etc.

• VOOM Hydrate Smart formula and water will both be available on aid stations on the course so you can refill your bottles as you go.
  
  The final tip from us is simply to practise taking in your hydration and nutrition in training. This will help you find what foods and supplements work for you, which you enjoy most, and get the body used to absorbing these levels of fluid and carbs whilst on-the-go.