Murphy’s Law says if something can go wrong, it will.  When it comes to a race, problems with delivering a carefully chosen sports drink ,  gel, or blok are common.   This is not a laughing matter when you’re in the middle of a 100- mile bike race, or a half-Ironman tri. 

Here are a few of the bloopers I heard about from athletes who thought they were well prepared: 1) new camelback, used only once during training.  Turned out this camelbak was longer, and made it impossible to strap a waist-pack that was going to hold liquid gels.  Bad mistake, and cost this 100 mile mountain back rider a bad bonk.  2)  Switching from a sqeezable gel, to a blok for quick energy.  Different packaging made it very slow to access the bloks, which were great, once opened. 

Choosing the right sport product is only the first step in race day nutrition support.  Consuming it is the next.  Don’t get caught unprepared.  Have a plan, test it out, and have a back-up plan.  That’s what makes a successful and fun race.

Fructose has been getting a lot of bad press recently, with excessive amounts linked to rising obesity rates and cardiovascular disease in the general population.  Current opinion by health experts suggests that athletes may be protected from the adverse effects of fructose because it is used for energy during exercise by working muscles. Avoiding fructose by using a glucose-only sports drink may be one way to eliminate the negative effects of fructose.  When this idea was tested with nine well-trained cyclists performing a 100-km time trial using a glucose-fructose drink, and then a glucose-only drink, the results were clear.   All 9 cyclists completed the 100-km time trial significantly faster using the glucose-fructose drink.

When AARP started sending me solicitations to join their group, I was a bit put off. Looking for some inspiration, I found it helpful to read about other, much older, athletes who were still out there having fun in their 70’s and 80’s.   While flipping through a copy of Master Athlete magazine, it struck me: great bodies, but their faces!  Ouch!  Pictures with smiling, but wrinkled, sun-weathered, saggy faces.   Not exactly the look I was aspiring to achieve.  However, cosmetic problems are minor in comparison to the risk of too much UV exposure.  Skin cancer is the real enemy of outdoor athletes.  According to the American Cancer Society, skin cancer is the most common of all cancers, accounting for more than 2 million cases of non-melanoma skin cancer in 2009.

Preventing cancer and early aging is possible. 

 The energy beverage industry is a huge market.  It can be confusing for athletes, however, who need specific formulations during exercise that can be easily tolerated and quickly pass out of the stomach and absorbed.  Here is a quick guide:

• Always use a sports drink during exercise of >1 hour duration.
• Choose a sports hydration drink that contains more than one type of sugar (maltodextrin, sucrose, fructose, glucose polymer) to insure the fastest rate of absorption of carbohydrate energy to the muscles.
• Do not use drinks that are made with pure fructose as the sole carbohydrate source (honey, fruit juice).  Fructose requires a GLUT-4 transporter to cross the intestine, and will often cause gas and cramping – or worse.
• The concentration of carbohydrate should be 6-9% for a sports hydration drink.  This can be easily calculated: 14 g carb/240 ml x 100 = 5.8%.  Drinks that are over 10% (fruit juice, soda) cannot be absorbed from the stomach rapidly.
• All sport drinks will improve the body’s ability to stay hydrated during exercise better than water alone because of added sodium.
• Using a sports drink with added protein can help minimize muscle damage during long duration exercise where glycogen stores have become depleted. 
• Aim for a minimum of 30g of supplemental carb/hour.  This can be achieved with a sports hydration drink.  In order to reach 60g of carbohydrate per hour, a combination of drink, gel, and water may be necessary.
• Fluids should include sodium and potassium, which are lost in sweat.  Ideally during events lasting over 2 hours, drink at least 8 oz every 20 minutes and use a product that supplies 200 mg sodium per 8 oz.
• Athletes can easily lose 2  grams of salt per hour when sweating at a rate of a liter per hour. In a 5 hour race, that can mean 10+grams of salt, which is equivalent to 4000 mg of sodium.   Sports drinks can provide some of that sodium, however, heavy sweaters should not rely solely on their sports drink.  Salty food sources are recommended to supplement.
• One final piece of advice?  Practice hydrating during training.  Individuals vary greatly in their sweat rates and need to individualize their fluid and electrolyte replacement schedule.  Be organized on race day with a fool proof plan.