2022 Charlotte Marathon
Endurance
2022 Ironman 70.3 – North Carolina
I rarely post personal objectives or goals, but personal development, hobbies or passions often spill over and impact your professional objectives and goals in a very positive way. Here is my most recent event which had a positive impact on my professional development.
After Covid, when could or should I start exercising?
2022 – ORAMM MTB Race
Carb and Sodium sources from popular products
Here is a table of carb and sodium sources for various products available to purchase. This is helpful if you want to understand the carb source, electrolyte content and also the volume or weight for endurance events.
| Product | Type | Amount | Serving | Carbs | Sodium | Calcium | Potassium | Magnesium | Sugar | Fiber | Caffeine | Main Ingredients |
| Saltstick Chews | Chewable Tablet | 1 Tablet | 1 Tablet | 1g | 50mg | 1mg | 3mg | 1g | ||||
| Saltstick Capsuals | Capsual | 1 Cap | 1 Cap | 215mg | 22mg | 63mg | 11mg | |||||
| SIS Sodium Gel | Gel | 1 Gel | 60ml | 22g | 300mg | 0.7g | ||||||
| SIS Regular Gel | Gel | 1 Gel | 60ml | 22g | 10mg | 0.6g | ||||||
| Tailwind Caffine | Powder | 1 Scoop | 27g | 25g | 310mg | 27mg | 90mg | 12mg | 25g | 35mg | Dextrose, Sucrose, Citric Acid, Sodium Citrate, Magnesium Oxide, Caffine | |
| Tailwind Regular | Powder | 1 Scoop | 27g | 25g | 310mg | 27mg | 90mg | 12mg | 25g | Dextrose, Sucrose, Citric Acid, Sodium Citrate, Magnesium Oxide | ||
| SIS Beta Fuel Chew | Bar | 1 Bar | 60g | 46g | 100mg | 41g | 2.2g | Glucose (36%), Fructose (29%) | ||||
| Precision Hydration PF1000 | Dissolvable Tablet | 1 Tablet | 6g | 3g | 500mg | 20mg | 130mg | 10mg | 2g | |||
| Nuun Sport | Dissolvable Tablet | 1 Tablet | 4g | 300mg | 13mg | 150mg | 25mg | 1g | ||||
| Gatorade Endurance Powder | Powder | 1.5 Tbsp | 24g | 22g | 300mg | 140mg | 0mg | 13g | Sugar, Malto, frustose, citric acid, sodium citrate, etc. | |||
| Gatorade Endurance Bottle (24oz) | Premixed Drink | 1 Bottle (24oz) | 24oz/720ml | 44g | 620mg | 280mg | 26g | Sugar, Malto, frustose, citric acid, sodium citrate, etc. | ||||
| Gatorade Normal | Powder | 1.66 Tbsp | 23g | 22g | 150mg | 50mg | 21g | Sugar, Dextrose, Citric Acid, Sodium Citrate | ||||
| LMNT | Powder | 1 Pack | 6g | < 1g | 1000mg | 200mg | 60mg | Salt (Sodium Chloride), | ||||
| Maurten Gel 100 | Gel | 1 Gel | 25g | 25g | 85mg | 25g | Water, Glucose, Fructose, Calcium Carbonate, Gluconic acid, Sodium Alginate. | |||||
| Maurten Gel 100 CAF | Gel | 1 Gel | 25g | 25g | 22mg | 25g | 100mg | Water, Glucose, Fructose, Calcium Carbonate, Gluconic acid, Sodium Alginate, Caffine |
| Energy product format | Pros | Cons |
|---|---|---|
| Carb (“Isotonic”) drinks | + Useful for short-to-moderate duration activities (~45 mins-2 hrs) | – Unlikely to meet your fluid and electrolyte needs over ~2 hrs (especially in the heat) |
| + Require no chewing, little digestion | – Reduces the flexibility of your fueling strategy | |
| + Replaces some of the fluids and sodium lost in your sweat, mitigating the risk of dehydration | – Some people don’t like the sweet taste | |
| Gels | + Easy to carry a large amount of carbs efficiently | – Some athletes find they become sickly or unpleasant (“flavour or texture fatigue”) if over-consumed |
| + Efficient when your hydration needs are proportionally lower than your energy needs | – Many athletes just can’t “stomach” gels | |
| – Not ideal when simply opening the packets is tricky because you don’t have full use of your hands (e.g. when kayaking) | ||
| Chews | + Can be more ‘satisfying’ than gels during longer races at lower intensities | – Not ideal when you’re exercising at a high enough intensity to make chewing and swallowing an issue |
| + A viable alternative for anyone who doesn’t get on well with gels | – Not ideal when simply opening the packets is tricky because you don’t have full use of your hands (e.g. when kayaking) | |
| + Excellent energy-to-weight ratio | ||
| Bars | + They often contain protein, fat and fibre (unlike drinks, gels and chews), so are generally a lot more satisfying to eat | – Better suited to ultra-distance events, where it’s possible to eat them because you’re moving at a slower pace |
| + They take longer to digest and absorb, so their energy can be released more slowly, which may be an advantage at lower intensities | – They tend to need to be washed down with fluid | |
| + Can double up as a good pre or post-workout snack |
Endurance Racing – Lactate Testing
2021 Exercise Year in Review …
2021 – Ironman 70.3 Augusta
First middle distance triathlon! Fast swim, great bike and HOT run! Fun times!
Bookmarks: Calculate CdA and CRR using The Chung method
DIY: Endurance Fuel
There are a ton of different endurance fuels on the market. Gels, Gu’s, Chews and Powders make up the majority of the form factors, but ultimately you can make many of them at home, for a fraction of the cost. In terms of efficacy, the DIY versions is identical, if not better, due to knowing the exact ingredients and their source. After spending way too much money buying, I decided to mix my own allowing me to customize the ratios of ingredients for my specific needs.
The primary fuel source for endurance athletes (exercise lasting over 1.5 to 2 hours) is Carbohydrates and the “purest” form of CHO is Sugar. Recent research shows that the human body can absorb between 60 – 90g of Carbohydrates per hour. Traditionally this was thought to be much lower (around 60g), but when splitting up different fuel types into fructose and glucose, it allows a variety of intestine transporters to absorb the carbs in parallel.