Steal the secret pros are using to fuel long events

There is a massive change in how pro athletes competing in multi-hour events are fueling their workouts. For the first time, I’m going to share what they are doing and how you can use it in your workouts.

I’m being asked more and more by our Feed Athletes how to fuel for ultra-long events, like Unbound Gravel, Leadville, Ultra Rounds, and numerous long charity events. 

The first rule of thumb is consuming enough carbs per hour for these long events. You can read more about this in our Feed Fueling Formulas, but the key takeaway is that you should aim for 80g of carbs per hour.

The new secret of the pros is how they are combining Ketones, Carbs, and Caffeine to fuel these long efforts. While this approach is expensive, if you invest 8 hours in an event that you have spent months training for, the investment will be worth it.

The secret is not just Ketones or Carbs; it is the combination of the two that makes the difference. 

Think of having a gas tank filled up with carbs (aka glycogen). During your long event, you are burning fuel from this gas tank. Despite your best efforts to top up your gas tank carbs, you are always heading towards empty (i.e., when you bonk).

Now think of Ketones as an extra gas tank. You can now draw fuel from your carb (glycogen) fuel tank and your Ketone Fuel Tank. In general, you will use your Ketone fuel first.

So what does this mean? 

Let’s take the scenario without ketones. Say over the first 3 hours of your event, if you were didn’t use Ketones, your carb fuel tank would go from FULL to almost empty. 

If you add in Ketones at the start, at the end of 3 hours, your Ketone Fuel Tank will be empty, but your carb fuel tank will still be 70% full. 

While this is an illustrative example, you can get the idea that by mixing Ketones and Carbs, you preserve more of the glycogen to fuel the latter half of your event.

You must use carbs and ketones together (even better if you add Caffeine with your carbs). If you drink Ketones alone, you risk shutting down glycolysis (conversion of carbs to glycogen), and then you will feel terrible.

I was speaking to a well-known gravel/endurance racer the other day that said that in their first long ride with ketones, they had the sensation of not even feeling the pedals for the first 10 hours of a 12-hour ride. 

I can’t deny that Ketones are expensive. But as I mentioned, if you invest so much time preparing for a big event, it might make sense to invest.

The longer the event will take you, the more Ketones are likely to help you. So the benefit for us non-pros is expected to be even greater. 

If you have any questions, just hit reply.

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Article by: Matt – The Feed