Training, Pacing and Fueling: Metabolic Efficiency
On Saturday I participated in the Chuckanut 50k in Bellingham, WA with my husband. This was his race and I was participating in the event (not racing). My goal was to finish… not concerned about people passing me, time or placement. My race plan was to keep my heart rate around 140-150 bpm where I am primarily using fat as my main fuel source. I have trained for years by heart rate (listen to our new “FIT FAT FAST” podcast with Mark Allen) and I have built up my aerobic engine with my training.
Training:
Neal’s New Year resolution for 2013 was to try something new every week (or every other week)… the Chuckanut 50k was something new for us! We do the North Face 50k (one of the most beautiful courses in the San Francisco area) for the past three years in December. Then we just did the Carlsbad marathon at the end of January so we had strong base.
Pacing:
The 50k trail profile comprised of a fairly flat 10k rock trail (Interurban trail) at each end, with technical trails and hills for the middle (miles 8-21) in the mud and rain. My endurance is pretty good but my running skills on technical trails and in mud is almost non-existent. My pace was almost a 22 minute mile for one section where I had to climb, slide and work my way up and over trails…the real trail runners just fly up and over. My plan was to keep my heart rate in my fat burning tested zones for the race and catch all the people passing me in the last ten miles of the event. This plan doesn’t work when I have to be so cautious/slow on technical trails!
Fueling:
Last year I started reading more about Generation UCAN and talking to others about the product. In January, we talked to the UCAN rep at the Carlsbad and thought we would test out their UCAN fuel plan. I have been training for around 15 years by heart rate and training long distance endurance events so my aerobic engine is built up (now I need to layer in the SPEED engine this year!). Also, I started cutting back, then eliminating gels and bars in my training since 2009 after talking with Bob Seebohar. My point is that it takes some time for one to become metabolic efficient and train without many calories.
Generation UCAN is a slow release starch that doesn’t cause the insulin spike and create the blood sugar roller coaster as most drinks do for athletes…resulting in energy crash then eating more sugar then stomach sickness. I found the UCAN worked well for me the past few months as a “breakfast” before a long 3-4 hour workout (Bike or Run) then use 1-2 bottles of UCAN (mixed with water) during the workout plus another bottle of plain water.
For Chuckanut 50k, I had “bullet proof coffee” (coffee blended with Coconut Oil & Ghee) at 5:30am during our drive to the event, then one hour before the race I had a bottle of UCAN with Energy 28 and Maca powder (7am). The race started at 8am and I didn’t feel hungry or deprived of food.
During the race I started with one bottle of water and one bottle of UCAN in my pack. I carried extra fuel just in case in the back pack – two packets of cashew butter and two packets of UCAN.
The benefit of carrying your own pack and fuel is that you don’t have to stop at the aid stations on the course for a while! I did stop at the second aid station to fill up my bottles with water. I wanted to mix a bottle with UCAN but it was too difficult to take my pack off to get in the back storage packet (note to self!). I did take our usual mix of “hammer pills” every hour which included branch chain endurance aminos, endurolytes and anti-fatigue caps.
I started to feel a little low energy and realized I had been moving (not really running on the most technical trails) for FOUR HOURS at my aerobic fat burning heart rate ranges. Finally around mile 18 there was an aid station with helpful volunteers who got my two packs of UCAN out of my back pack and filled my bottles up for me (as my hands don’t work in the rain and cold!). Thank you volunteers as I finally had some fuel to keep me going for the last 12 miles (31 miles total).
My plan was to pick up the pace after we started to descend after the crazy steep hike/climb up “chinscrapper”, but it was pouring rain in the trails (slip and slide time). Once we were back on the gravel trails, I picked up the pace to the finish and passed many people. I was too far behind the fast trail runners to make up any time, but I ended up one place out of the top ten, instead of the ideal top three. Trail running is fun for me even though I am not talented on the foot work trail portion. My finish time was 6 hours 24 minutes… Neal had to wait an hour for me to finish which always gets me fired up. This was a fun event… not a race. My goal was to finish strong and experiment being metabolic efficient. The test worked… I am a HUGE fan of Generation UCAN and I will use it for my Ironman season this year.
Sign up for the webinar with Generation UCAN with the link below:
Are you an endurance athlete looking for hours of steady energy without the highs and lows of sugary sports drinks and energy gels? Are you looking for a healthy and natural energy source that will promote fat burn during a workout? Want a carbohydrate that’s light on the stomach and won’t cause GI distress?
Join us for a special “Fueling the Metabolically Efficient Way” webinar on Wednesday, March 27 at 6:30 PM PST and discover how Generation UCAN’s unique sports nutrition will change the way you think about fueling your body.
REGISTER HERE: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/5473826628760343296
The webinar will explain the difference of UCAN to other traditional sport drinks including research as below:
“Superstarch allows the body to not only burn more fat during workouts, but also allows the body to continue to burn even more fat in the post-workout period, creating an after-burn effect so your clients get faster results. The graphs show that when using SuperStarch, one mobilizes significantly more fat both during exercise and post exercise. You become more efficient, burning more fat calories for fuel.
This has two important implications:
1) You exercise on less than 1/2 the calories you would normally need for the same amount of exercise. You only need 30-100 calories of Generation UCAN per hour.
2) Generation UCAN helps improve body composition – creating more lean muscle and less body fat.
The Bottom Line: When you consume Generation UCAN, your body freely burns fat. When you use other carbs in foods or in sports nutrition products, you spike your blood sugar, spike your insulin and you shut down the majority of fat burning and store fat. Finally, a carb that doesn’t block your body’s ability to burn fat!”
