Ut quod ali cibus est aliis fuat acre venenum.
– Lucretius.
On par with or even greater than the importance of gear selection is nutrition and especially hydration. Anytime you get people talking nutrition… watch out! It’s probably worse than talking politics or religion. There are a lot of zealots, and a lot of folks hold their food and nutrition convictions pretty seriously. So, that is all to say, don’t be sending me hate mail over anything that follows…
One of my many weaknesses is properly hydrating. It’s something that I’m aware of and has got me in some deep trouble before. My plan here (subject to change without notice)* is to go with two 500ml flasks, and one 1.5l bladder. One flask will have Skratch electrolyte. The other flask will have Skratch carbohydrate. The bladder will have water. As noted in one of the gear discussions, I will likely have a spare bladder, and a BeFree water filter. The electrolytes are important. One can actually drink too much water. This can result in a critical condition called hyponatremia. Without going into the sciencey stuff, it’s basically when you over water without keeping the electrolytes in balance, most particularly sodium. Additionally, the kidneys can only process so much water per hour. Some studies that I have read recommend a consumption of no more than 0.8 to 1.0 liters per hour. The signs and symptoms of over watering are similar to under watering… nausea, vomiting, muscle weakness, spasms, cramps, headaches, and diminished thinking ability.
Food for this trip will be a mixture of science food and real food. By science food I mean gels, gummies, and bars. The real food will be stuff like gorp, maybe a sandwich, and if you can call it real… extruded meat sticks. Current thinking is for people to consume 300-350 cal/hr for events like this. That’s a boatload of food. The thing is this as well… you need to actually be able to eat this food (let alone digest it, without any intestinal distress). Lots of times what sounds delicious sitting around at home planning, turns out to be unpalatable, or downright disgusting once you are well into the heat of battle. It’s always best to have tried out your choices in a variety of situations, prior to trying an anchovy paste sandwich for the first time, when you are 40km deep into the backcountry.
Again, subject to change, this is going to be my planned nutrition:
Tailwind Carbohydrate / Electrolyte Drink Mix
Clif Blocks
GU
GoMacro Bars
Extruded Meat Sticks
GORP
Peanut Butter and Jam Sammich
Orange
Can of Coke
LMNT Electrolyte Replacement
Skratch Electrolyte Replacement
This amounts to approximately 6,000 calories
Consuming 300 cal per hour, unless you’ve done it is not necessarily an easy thing to do. This is something that you want to practice with in training. Forget the zen bullshit of eating when hungry, drinking when thirsty. This type of enlightened attitude can set you up for a world of hurt.
* Yes, dear readers, there have been some changes in my thinking since I first started writing this segment. First off you can scratch Skratch carbohydrate drink off the list. The stuff may work, but is very troublesome to mix, and not worth the effort. I will be substituting with Tailwind instead. Tailwind claims it’s also got electrolytes, but I don’t believe it’s the right balance for me, so I will be also keeping with the Skratch hydration product for that. Possibly also with some LMNT. Additionally I am pondering taking a more substantial water filter considering the current spate of potable water source shutoffs in the canyon.