How often should our team be eating during the Oxfam Trailwalker?

Hi Gary,
I have recently completed the Coast to Coast where my eating pattern was every half an hour. This enabled me to not need to stop. Should I continue this during the Oxfam walk? My team members train with stopping every 2 hours for food. I am finding that I don’t feel like anything or in need of a stop. If I need to change I would like to use what training time we have left to adjust. I feel that I’m not synchronized with my team. I would appreciate your advice.
Mary
_________________________________
Gary responds:
Mary, I prefer your eating pattern.  It is best to eat small and often to keep muscle glycogen and blood sugar levels from plummetting, although when walking this is not so important as higher output exercise siuch as running. Once energy levels are drained, it takes a few days to replenish fully, so the best strategy is one that keeps them restocked at frequent intervals, like every 30 minutes.  two hours non-stop is too long for a 24 hour race.
Depending on fitness, it would be good to have several complete breaks during the 24 hours to attend to footwear, toilet etc.
Please read my E-Book on training for a mountain bike race and pay attention to the advice about nutrition and read the other articles about the Oxfam Trailwalker by clicking on the Keywords below this article. 
Training for a Mountain Bike Race

Your email address:


Powered by FeedBlitz

Do you have a question?
Email Gary: gary at myotec.co.nz (Replace the "at" with @ and remove spaces). Please include any relevant background information to your question.