Official nutritional sponsor of Mountain Mayhem,
Clif Bar, will be offering free one on one race day nutritional consultations. Their in-house sports nutrition expert, Joel Enoch, will be setting up an on-site nutrition hub and offering free ten-minute consultations to all racers. So whether you are riding solo or in a team, book a consultation with Joel to ensure you are getting the most from your pre, during and post race nutrition. To get you started, Joel has put together a Mountain Mayhem nutrition guide.
‘Getting your nutrition right is crucial, get it wrong over the weekend of Mountain Mayhem and not only will your race suffer, but you’ll enjoy your weekend far less too. Blending no holds barred, blood sweat and tears competition with a whole bag of fun is what it’s all about and so by following these principles, you’ll hopefully get the most from your weekend on the bike!
Pre Race: The day before endurance races, people often virtually inhale carbohydrates, leaving them feeling bloated and uncomfortable on the day. Research shows that eating slightly more carbs for 3 days keeps carb stores higher than normal for another 3 days, so eat a little more pasta, rice, cereals, breads and snack on
Clif Bars on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday to leave you fueled up and ready to go on Saturday!
Race Day: Don’t skip breakfast! 3 hours before you ride, eat a high carb meal, and drink a sports drink containing electrolytes, the
Clif SHOT Electrolyte drink is perfect. Carb intake doesn’t need to be massive, 2 grams of carbohydrate per kg of your body weight is about right (look at the nutritional info on the side of the pack to see how much you need and practice at home pre-race). Recent research shows that the first 8 hours, of endurance events in particular, drain the body of fluid resulting in up to 5-7% body weight losses. You need to stay on top of this, so throughout the ride, drip-feed your system with the energy, fluid and salts that it needs. You need to replace what you use/lose so, rely on products like sports gels or
Clif Bars,
Shot Gels,
Shot Bloks and
Electrolyte Drink to get around 60-80g of carbohydrate per hour and 500-800mls of a sports drink. Plan this, write on each bottle/food pack to tell you when it’s for and pack this all before the race starts so that you don’t need to think about it on the day.
Post race: Keep drinking a drink containing salts after you're finished and monitor urine colour, if it isn’t pale or clear, keep drinking - little and often. You’ll also need to eat carbs and protein every couple of hours for the rest of the day to refuel. Eat full meals and snack on nutritious Builders Bars they contain 20g of protein and will give you roughly 2hours worth of protein to sustain recovery after the event. Remember, it’ll take a couple of days to get over the race and longer if you hit the drink too hard or don’t look after your nutrition.’
For more specific, one-to-one advice, visit the Clif Bar & Company nutritional hub at Mountain Mayhem and book a free one to one with Joel. Any rider who purchases a Clif water bottle can enjoy free unlimited re-fills of Clif SHOT Electrolyte drink over the course of the weekend.