It is true that many scientists live in labs—but not Dr. Tim Podlogar. The esteemed sports fueling researcher makes every effort to bridge the gap between science and practice by actively training.
He recently took part in the Sportful Dolomiti Race—a grueling race that is 204 km long with nearly 5,000 meters of elevation gain. As a fueling expert, Tim knew exactly how to make a nutrition plan so he could maintain energy during the race and avoid muscle cramping.
Here is the race nutrition plan that Dr. Tim Podlogar used to finish successfully in 21st place.
Pre-Race
In the three days before the race, Podlogar avoided eating fiber and mostly consumed gummy bears, rice, and Icelandic Skyr. His goal was to make sure he didn’t have any residue left in his gut that could increase body mass or cause complications on race day.
Activation Ride
On the day before the race, Podlogar traveled to the event site to do a short activation ride. He mostly took it easy while riding, with just one 3-minute interval of hard effort. This was purposeful: He wanted to signal to his body that carbohydrates were needed in order to achieve glycogen supercompensation.
After the activation ride, he consumed Regen Recovery Drink, which contains carbohydrates as well as protein and electrolytes in the ideal amounts.
Carbohydrate Loading
Forty-five minutes after his activation ride, Dr. Podlogar began carbohydrate loading with gummy candies and salty rice.
His goal was to achieve optimal muscle and liver glycogen storage. Knowing that hydration in the hot climate would be challenging, he also wanted to increase the amount of water stored in the body.
Over the course of the day and before going to bed, Dr. Podlogar consumed approximately 10 grams of carbohydrates per kilogram of body mass.
In the morning, 2.3 hours before the start of the race, he consumed an additional 2.3 g/kg of salty rice with fructose. The goal was to further top up both glycogen stores - liver and muscle.
Race Fueling
Consuming carbohydrates during intense endurance exercise is essential to keep glycogen (energy) levels from becoming depleted.
Dr. Podlogar filled two 750 ml bottles with three servings of Nrgy Drink 45. This provided him with 135 grams of carbohydrates. He also carried 11 Nrgy Gels 45 with him. Each gel provides 45 grams of carbohydrates.
In total, Dr. Podlogar had a total of 630 grams of carbohydrates to consume during the race for fuel. His plan was to consume 90 grams per hour, which is generally considered the upper intake level for carbohydrates.
Also read: Endurance Athlete's Guide to Fueling
Energy-wise, his strategy worked perfectly. He never felt like his blood sugar levels were low, nor did he experience any muscle cramping (which is a symptom of inadequate fuel).
Even when he finished the race, he still had plenty of energy remaining. Dr. Podlogar also says his brain function felt normal, which is a sign that he had not depleted his liver glycogen. This was something that Dr. Podlogar was actually concerned about, because he didn’t want lack of brain function to cause him to make stupid mistakes on the descents.
Hydration Concerns
Italy was hit by a heat wave a few days before the race, and the heat load during the race would be tremendous. Dr. Podlogar had anticipated this, though, and performed heat acclimation to be ready.
Still, he was worried that his sweat rate would exceed 2 liters an hour—which is huge. As it turned out, hydration was the biggest challenge in the race for him.
Many of the race competitors had team members waiting for them along the route to provide water and fuel. Dr. Podlogar didn’t have this advantage and was limited to what the fueling stations offered. As a result, he had a few moments in the race where he ran out of water and had to drastically slow down. As soon as he got water, he was able to gain ground again.
So, yes—hydration is extremely important! It’s a lesson he learned for the upcoming year.
