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Sunday, March 08, 2009

Should our team be taking breaks during the Oxfam Trailwalker?

Thank you for making yourself available for us Oxfam Trailwalkers to ask questions.

My team and I are in two minds about whether to stop and rest at the checkpoints at the beginning of the walk. Some of us think that the pain builds up when we stop so it's better to keep going for as long as we can handle. Others think that a short rest at each checkpoint will be more beneficial for us in the long run. Can you please advise us what you think is best?

Ann
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Gary responds:
Ann, because you are doing 100km more or less non-stop, I am in favour of short breaks every 1-2 hours from the very beginning during which your team has time to replenish fluids and to get down some good quality high energy foods. Thsi strategy will pay great dividends later on, including during the low hours of the graveyard shift.

It is also an opportunity to do things like toilet, change clothing, shoes and socks, dress blisters and so on.

If you can, lie down flat with the chest and feet raised a little higher than the abdomen. This position is refreshing and easy on the heart while draining the legs of old blood and fluid.

A good nutrition supplement to have during the walk is Balance Ultimate Recovery. People who use it during extreme events report better stamina and much less muscles soreness. Be sure to practice using it during training. You will want to have a few other forms of drink such as tropical fruit juices and good old plain water.

Have a read of this set of articles about tissue salts and hydration.
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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for that advice Gary!

How much and how often would you recommend us to have the Balance Ultimate Recovery Stack during our 100km walk?

We were also planning to use Balance Elite Fuel Supply Squeezepacks. What combination (if any) of these two products would you recommend?

Gary Moller said...

Anna
I personally do not like any of the gels. I just hink they are plain unhealthy with no nutritional value whatsoever. Most of these gels are little more than tarted up corn syrup.

The Recovery Stack is different in that it has just about all the nutrients an athlete's muscles neeed before, during and after exhausting exercise.

As far as how much one takes depends on many factors - how big you are, level of effort, how much you are sweating, your fitness and so on. The best thing is to experiment with the drink during training walks.

Other than the Recovery, you can have other drinks, pricipally palin water as suggested and eat good food rather than sugary syrup.

When walking you can still digest food such as sandwiches and filled rolls with all kinds of nutritious goodies as fillers. Again, experiment.