2021 UTMB Nutrition
I’ve been thinking about UTMB with the lottery draw fast approaching. I decided not to put my name in this year despite a guaranteed spot from my Val d’Aran finish, but hopefully I can help others finish the magical loop!
To that end, here is my nutrition breakdown from the 2021 UTMB. Overall it was a great race, but I did have one major nutrition issue that slowed me down for about 5 hours and required a major reset at Champex-Lac (mile 80). Everyone’s nutrition is different, but hopefully there are a few good takeaways. Here is the summary of what I learned:
The key components of my nutrition worked well: Spring Energy gels, solid foods, and 1 bottle with water + 1 bottle with electrolytes. I was always able to keep food and fluids going in, which is at least half the battle in ultras!
My electrolytes were way too high, especially in the cool conditions, leading to GI issues. I should have used less of my strong electrolyte mix and more water / light electrolyte mix. I believe I am on the low end of electrolyte needs, so this would likely be less of an issue for most.
I would have benefited from bringing more solid food with me after crew access points, especially for the cold night and long stretches without crew between Contamines and Champex-Lac. I’ve realized I need and benefit from more calories in long races (300+ calories per hour). It is also harder for me to get solid food at UTMB aid stations given I am vegetarian and Euro aid station options are somewhat limited (what’s a guy got to go to get a quesadilla or pierogi?).
Don’t be afraid to throw a nutrition plan out the window if it isn’t working for you! I didn’t realize until much later that electrolytes were a problem, but I knew something wasn’t working. Luckily I had service and could phone my all-star crew to bring pizza to Champex-Lac, and I changed my nutrition completely from that point. I came back to life and charged hard to the finish, which wouldn’t have happened if tried to keep on the same nutrition plan.
And here is the detailed nutrition breakdown for each section of the race. This was everything I consumed to the best of my recollection. All electrolytes were in my fluids with no capsules.
Start to Contamines (3.5 hours)
Food
3 Awesome Sauce gels
1 Vanilla Clif gel
1/2 PB&J sandwich
Fluids
1 liter Precision Hydration (PH) 1000
.5 liter Nuun
.5 liter water
Contamines to Courmayeur (8.25 hours)
Food
3 Awesome Sauce gels
1 serving Pringles
2 Lara Bar Minis
1/2 PB&J sandwich
1 serving Passionfruit powder (Spring Energy)
1 serving Ginger ale
1 serving Coke
Crackers, bars, & salty snacks in aid stations
Fluids
1.5 liter PH 1000
.5 liter Passionfruit Spring Energy
.5 liter Nuun
.5 liter water
.4 liter Ginger Ale
.4 liter Coke
Courmayeur to Champex-Lac (8.5 hours)
Food
3 Awesome Sauce gels
1 serving Pringles
1 Lara Bar Minis
1/2 PB&J sandwich
1 Long Haul gel
1 pack of Clif Bloks
1 serving Passionfruit powder (Spring Energy)
1 serving Ginger ale
1 serving Coke
Soup, rice, crackers, cheese at aid stations
Fluids
1.5 liter PH 1000
.5 liter Passionfruit Spring Energy
.5 liter Nuun
.5 liter water
.4 liter Ginger Ale
.4 liter Coke
Champex-Lac to Trient (2.5 hours)
Food
Half a pizza
3 servings chips
3-4 servings Ginger ale
1 avocado
Chocolate
2 Awesome sauce gels
Fluids
1 liter ginger ale
.5 liter water
Trient to Vallorcine (2 hours)
Food
2 pieces of pizza
2 servings chips
1 serving Coke
1 Awesome sauce gel
2 servings Ginger Ale
1/4 avocado
Fluids
.5 liter ginger ale
.5 liter water
.5 liter Coke
Vallorcine to Finish (3.25 hours)
Food
2 pieces of pizza
1 serving chips
2 servings Coke
2 Awesome sauce gels
1 serving Ginger Ale
1/4 avocado
Fluids
.5 liter ginger ale
.5 liter water
.8 liter Coke