Sports Nutrition Update – EWS Race 2.

My partner Mike, mate Glen and myself travelled to Australia 2weeks ago to race the 2nd round of the Enduro World Series! The race in Derby included 7 stages, 54km, 1700m of climbing.
 
Practice Day 1
 We turned up on beautiful day, 24 degrees and some awesome, very technical tracks. We were unsure of what was available on course so carried all food and fluid for the day (instead of going back to the car to refill). I ate and drank to plan, managing 5litres in 5 hours and ate an entire box of muesli bars! No cramps, no fatigue, I’m ready for practice day 2.
 
Practice Day 2
 Another stunner of a day, however for some strange reason I didn’t have my dietitian brain switched on and I went out with only 750ml of fluid and no food. By the time lunch came around, I had drunken maybe 3 mouthfuls of electrolyte and *** had hit the fan. Cramping, blurred sight, migraine and a vomit next to the car left me asleep and recovering in the back seat while the boys finished off practice. A horrible move to make the day before race day!!
 
Luckily in my state I managed to refuel with 2.5L of electrolyte and planned a safe recovery meal (remembering the 3:1 ratio) for the boys to cook when we got home to help pull some strength back into my body!
You cannot undo the damage done, but you can lessen the effect it can have on you the following day!

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Race Day
 We woke up to more horrible conditions. Thunder, lightening, and torrential rain – we had not practiced this and were quite unsure how the big rocks and slippery dust would handle this sort of weather!  I felt good, despite yesterday’s mishap and was ready to be smart with my race!
 
I have a bad habit of not eating and drinking when the weather is shoddy, but I had made a decision to not have another repeat of yesterday. I reminded myself to eat every 30minutes or drink at least 4 mouthfuls of electrolyte! As well as this I was having a caffeinated Chomp 10 minutes before each race start to give me the energy I needed to
sprint down a rock face!


Things were going well….  until I crashed on stage 2 and hit my head, then crashed on stage 4 and hit my head again …. I’m not the smartest when it comes to racing, but after the 4th hit to the head, I knew I had to stop before I did serious damage. With a bleeding face and a gash taken out of my full-face helmet, I limped my way to the medic tent for concussion testing.
 

Racing doesn’t always go to plan, and I’m glad my nutrition was going well even if my riding wasn’t. This allowed me to meet up with my friends the day after the race and ride, this time for fun. Despite all the bruises, grazes, lumps and bumps my muscles and energy levels had held up due to my good nutrition plan.  
 
At the end of the day, nutrition may not make you win, but it makes the journey a lot easier to deal with.
#foodwise #feedyourfuel #sportsnutrition

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