Discussion: 100

trying anything different at RR wrt minimizing/heading off the 12 hour bonk?

Yes, but not because I’m worried about this one; I could just jog through the low spot like I have at every other 100. However, if I'm going to finish Leadville, I need to figure out how to keep pushing through 15 hours. So, I’m going to experiment with eating a LOT more in the early going to see if I can keep my blood sugar levels up. Will also try it this weekend.

"if I'm going to finish Leadville" :) that's what I was wondering about.

YMMV. But i thought there was some interesting stuff in these.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC40088...

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC31903...

Well, there certainly are a lot of words I don't know in those.

My take away, as it relates to your situation, is that blood flow to the gut takes a major hit (80% decrease) at 70% vo2. dehydration makes it worse in a nonlinear way starting at 2 or 3% of body weight loss. High fructose drinks can make the problem worse. Fructose/glucose mix will improve absorption.

And, not related to your situation, further evidence that endurance athletes should never, ever take nsaids anywhere near (before/during/after) a long workout or race.

As I said, ymmv.

I guess I agree with all of that as a framework, but it doesn't do much to actually solve the problem. One thing to think about perhaps is that rather than taking the walk break and eating right out of the aid station, it might make more sense to just jam as much down as possible in 30-60 seconds, run for a couple miles, and then take the walk break to allow the digestive system to catch up a bit.

Some guy I talked with when I was getting into 24-hour Rogaines, can't remember his name...Ron?...from Southern California, told me it doesn't matter if you train in the mountains, or on trails. The most important thing is to just keep MOVING, on your feet, going places, for at least 24 hours straight, several times before the event. Nutrition will take care of itself.

No, it doesn't solve it... However, I'm thinking fluids are as critical as the calories, maybe more so. Going down by 2 or 3 % over the course of 12 hours seems inevitable. Something else to experiment with.

Fluids usually come back up at night though, and that's when I can't keep anything solid down. I remember Ron. He paired with Frei on one occasion and they did well. I agree staying in motion is crucial, though I think he has the causation backwards. You need to keep your GI system working so you can stay in motion, not the other way around.