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Thanks for all of your questions.  If you have any others burning, visit www.maxifuel.com and contact me on the ask the experts page.

Hi Wayne,

Sounds like a great event which will require quite a bit of focus. Your fuelling plan will depend on how you are going to break up the laps between you, but an absolute definate recommendation is that you aim to take on 60-90g carbs per hour that you are actually running along with water and electrolytes.  It is a good idea to work out your sweat rates before the event. How much fluid do you lose over an hour of running? knowing this will allow you to hydrate effectively throughout which will have a huge impact on performance.  To do this weigh yourself unclothed before and after a 1 hour run at race pace.  For each 0.1kg lost you need 100ml fluid next time you run. e.g. if you lose 0.5 kg then your replacement need is 500ml per hour.    Choose easy to digest carbohydrate foods and keep protein and fibre low so that you can digest food faster.  White sushi rice is good basic staple and perhaps add some soy sauce in for sodium.  Keep it basic and catch up on your veggies after the race. Lynn.

Hi Jelly Bean,

Multi-day events require a very different approach to fuelling which would be tailored for the event in question taking into account the discipline, your body weight and composition, your individual tolerances and what (if any) break time you have from day to day.  If you send me an outline of your event with more detail (and include your body comp data if you have it) I can answer this in the detail required separate to this Q & A.  Lynn.

Hi Alex Scott Hamilton,

Yes, I totally understand this. Its very common to want a savoury snack to get away from endless sweet flavoured foods on the bike!  You can go for something a little less sweet by making up Jam or Honey Sandwiches which will be pretty easy to digest, or perhaps try making up some rice cakes and wrapping them in foil. This is a favourite of elite cyclists and you can find a recipe from Dr Allen Lim (Garmin Cervelo team) online to make these up combining sushi rice, egg and soy sauce (for sodium) with over savoury ingredients.  Lynn.

Hi Ajford 1,

I personally stick to race fuelling working on 1g carbohydrate per kilogram of body mass per hour.  The key is being able to get your carbohydrates on board in the right balance with fluid to avoid GI distress (aim for a 6-8% concentration, e.g. 45-60g carb per 750 ml water).  When following this it is very unlikely that you'll consume more calories than you burn.  Keeping within this range will allow you to run better off the bike too.  Everyone is very different, however, and if you find a nutrition plan that works for you that is slightly different from the science then this is the one you should go with.  Science is the start point and then every individual should look at how that science fits them and gradually experiment to find out what fuels them best. Lynn.