1st Endurance EFS Powder and Salt Tablets?

debilyn574

I'm training for a 50 mile bike ride in June and it was recommended to drink 1st Endurance EFS and have salt tablets. Just wondering if anyone has any advice about this either pro or con? I'm pretty anti-supplements in general, but would be willing to try them if they're important.

aviduser

Hello. I am also a cyclist and I have learned quite a lot about nutrition and hydration for endurance cycling.

I would not recommend salt tablets--too simple. Try Hammer Nutrition's Enduralytes, which have a blend of electrolytes and are very popular with the endurance set. I am also a fan of Hammer's Perpetuem endurance fuel--which has a blend of complex carbs, fats and proteins for longer (over 2 hours) events.

You need to train with the system that you plan to use for your event, so that you both find the right balance (cal per hour, fluids per hour) and so that your body is used to that combo by the time the event comes.

Hammer's website has great information about endurance fueling, which helped me learn a lot.

Good luck!

debilyn574

Thanks! There's so much info out there I'm not sure what to go by. I will pass on the salt. The EFS thing looks ok and it has salt in it, so maybe that will be enough. I will look up the Hammer products and definitely test everything before the race.

trail_rnr

If you are anti-supplement, know that you can still eat real food and get a lot of what you need. However, for endurance events in warm weather, you need to be very, very careful about hydration and electrolyte balance.

I too am a fan of the Hammer products. I recently switched from the Endurolyte capsules to the Endurolyte fizz, which is added to your water. A little bit of protein is importnt for endurance events. You can get that through eating little squares of PBJ or a few nuts. You don't want to eat too much protein, though, because your body has to work pretty hard to digest it (= gut problems). I've been using the Hammer Perpetuem tablets and eating little pieces of Lara bars. I also use Hammer gel and Honey Stinger energy chews. (I used to do a lot of endurance cycling--200 mile events--but now stick to endurance running.)

What works for some people might not work for you. 50 miles is far, but not so far that the eating and hydration should be problematic. The key things to remember are that you cannot and should not replace the all calories expended at an equal rate (your system can process ~250 cals/hour max; any more than that and, yep, you guessed it = gut problems); and that you can over hydrate as well as under hydrate (so figure out what is best for you). This particular link on the Hammer page is just good general info for endurance athletes.

http://www.hammernutrition.com/knowledge/the-top-10-the-biggest-mistakes-endurance-athletes-make.1273.html?sect=essential-knowledge-section

Good luck. Keep an open mind a try a few things. If you bonk during an event, it's really, really hard to recover!

debilyn574

Thanks! Yes, I think I get a lot of what I need from food - you can check out my diary and let me know what you think. I agree that 50 miles isn't that long so I wasn't sure if I was getting info that was over the top. I will investigate the Hammer products though, thanks!

aviduser

In terms of the length of an endurance event, at least according to Hammer's advice, the cut off is 2 hours. So for any rides of up to 2 hours, or even a little more, I tend to have a clif bar before, HEED during--1 bottle per hour, and gels. For longer events, I switch to perpetuem and enduralytes.

I have not yet hit the point where 50 miles takes me 2 hours--it is more like 2.5 hours. So you can really go either way. I tend to go with the longer distance strategy for over 50 and the shorter distance strategy for under 50.

If it is really hot, then electrolytes become much more important and your water intake needs to increase also.

In the event that you bonk, take 2 enduralytes with plenty of water and eat something sugary (pop-tart, snickers bar, PB&J sandwich, etc).

Good luck. I am doing a 100 mile event this weekend.