No matter if you’re running a wooded trail, bombing down a steep incline on your mountain bike, or climbing at altitude, you always need to feed the engine to keep yourself going. Participating in the activities that we all enjoy require a lot of calories to maintain our energy levels and keep us performing at a high level.
The Gear Junkie has posted a great article today on “Adventure Eating” with some great tips on how to fuel up while you’re on the move. He discusses when to eat carbs and when to go with fats and proteins instead. The article also looks at energy bars and Gu for quick fuel needs, but offers some suggestions for other types of foods to eat when participating in events or activites that can go on for hours, such as adventure races or mountain climbing.
Finally, the article ends with a look at a couple of alternatives to standard energy drinks that may provide more replenishment of nutrients than something like Gatorade. The Gear Junkie recommends Hammer Nutrition LTD’s Perpetuem, powdered drink supplement, and something as common as Ensure as a meal replacement while on the move.
There are some very good suggestions in the article, and all of us have probably been out in wilderness somewhere, and running low on energy. It’s an awful feeling, and with a little planning it can be avoided on our next outdoor adventures.
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I have to 2nd the recommendation for Hammer Nutrition’s Perpetuem. I also use several of their other products. I used Gu and Cytomax until I started doing 24 hour races and getting too sick to eat. I have ridden 38 hours with only about 500 calories from something other than from Hammer. I rode almost 2,000 miles in RAAM last year with at least 70% of my calories from Perpetuem.
Wow! That’s a pretty impressive endorsement! It’s nice to hear some “real world” examples of it’s use too.
I’ve been to the point where you’re too sick to eat while out on a trail and that can be a miserable feeling. You know you need food and you know exactly what’s wrong, but you can’t bring yourself to eat. Yuck!