Nutrition and recovery

My daily supplements - usually overkill

Well, since we got back home I've had a few questions about the some stuff I didn't really cover in the daily reports on the ride. So I'm going to use a few extra blog posts to explain and leave a record for myself  'cos I'm bound to forget again by next time. (...er... wot do you mean, next time?)

I knew that nutrition would play a large part in the ride since I'd be exerting between (easiest day) 3000 and (hardest days) 6000 additional calories per day, on top of my Basal Metabolic Rate (just means the energy I use each day to exist) which is 1825 calories.

As we all know, the recommended daily allowance for a male adult is 2500 calories, whereas I'd need 2 - 3 times that amount. I also knew that the body can't store much more than about 90 minutes worth of energy in a readily usable form. Whilst this is generally not a problem if you've eaten a meal in the last 3 hours, where and when we'd get to eat was a bit of a lottery. I could have designed a route past a series of cake shops but decided on having supplementary food available instead.

On our last End to End (1998) we pretty much depended on petrol station flapjacks; cheap, plentiful and energy dense. (6000 calories can be quite bulky - choose your foods with care!) As a drawback, they aren't exactly healthy. This time I wanted to be sure my supplements were good quality. After a lot of reading I settled on a daily allowance of 2 x High5 Energy Source drink (180 kcals each), 1 x Torq bar (214 kcals), 1 x High5 Sports Bar (215 kcals), 1 x Clif Shotblox (200 kcals), 2 x High5 Isogel (104 kcals each), and 2 x Torq gels (114 kcals each). In other words the equivalent of a substantial main meal, all derived from fruit/fair trade and organic ingredients. For hydration I chose High5 Zero (think energy drink without no cals) which I carried in a Camelbak Rogue.

As it turned out this was mostly overkill and only on 3 days did I need to eat the whole set of supplements (Inverness - Pitlochry, Pitlochry - Falkirk) and more (Exeter - St Austell).  My favourites worked out to be (in order of priority) Strawberry Yogurt Torq Gel, Sports Bar, Black Cherry Yogurt Torq Gel. However I biased consumption in favour of solids early and only used gels towards the end of the day if I needed them.

I soon tuned in to when food was needed.  I'd find I was thinking about food, or (slightly more desperate) getting a bit of a quiver.  Even worse, slowing down and feeling miserable signalled the need for a solid meal. Whilst in theory you should eat a bite every 20 minutes or so, in practice it depends on the terrain and pace, and I had to re-learn stuff that I used to know whilst cycling regularly and had forgotten.

Recovery didn't get neglected either. I knew that recovery had to start within 30 minutes of finishing each day and I used For Goodness Shakes Vanilla powders, on some days mixing this with the residual Energy Source drink. Most nights I used SIS Nocte Vanilla at bedtime. These are drinks designed to replace essential minerals, as well as replenish carbs.

I suppose I should point out that I'm not a nutritionist.  All I'm saying is this worked for me.