There’s a distinct switch between a weekend trip and a week or longer. The more relaxed attitude of a long weekend doesn’t carry well when you hit day 4,5,6 etc… So the ethos we should be employing from day 1:
You’re fuelling for the next day
CJ
A big trip where you’re going day after day gets to you over time. This could be running, climbing or cycling, it doesn’t matter, many repeated long days break you down.
Winter exploits, with the cold and distances covered make for even higher energy expenditure days. Conversely because of the cold we don’t stop and eat as much as we might on warmer days. Even in warmer big days we’re unlikely to stop enough to fuel for the time on the ground.
Things you need to consider:
-Calories
-Hydration
-Protein
Logistically let’s break down the phases into before, during and after.
| Before | During | After | |
| Calories | Medium | Snacks/Lunch | High |
| Hydration | Medium | Limited | High |
| Protein | Medium | Low/None | High |
Big days tend to start early so it’s hard to consume enough before heading out. During, we’ve already identified it’s hard to consume much on the move. The takeaway is the “After” fuelling is the busiest time. This is more than just a big meal in the pub. For context one of my bigger calorie days according to Garmin was 3,504 active calories and 1,523 resting making a total expenditure 5,027.
Taking myself as the example (32 Years, 182cm, 78Kg) my Basal Metabolic Rate (amount of calories I burn just existing) is 1766 Calories/Day, really it’s 2119 for a sedentary day. We then need to add active calories for the day.
https://www.calculator.net/bmr-calculator.html
For fluid I need 3.4 litres not accounting for activity (Bodyweight in Kg * 43.6)
Protein is 117g based on recommended at 1.2-1.7g per Kg of BW depending on activity I’ve opted for 1.5g/Kg for simplicity.
Before:
We are trying to re-hydrate and fuel from fasting (sleeping) and to give us enough energy for the day ahead. I prefer to carry as little as possible when I’m out so making sure I’m very hydrated and well fed is crucial. This starts with 2 x Quaker big bowl porridge sachets and a substantial spoon of peanut butter with whole milk, this equates to roughly 900 Kcal a portion and 35g of protein. 2-3 (250ml) cups of tea and half of my 1 litre Nalgene gets me to 1+ litre of fluid before I step off.
During:
There’s a lot of personal preference with on the hill food, but bars, gels and other snacks can keep us going. Rarely have I stopped to eat sandwiches, I usually carry them to eat in the car when I get back or in case I’m out for longer than planned I have extra food. Let’s say I had 3 good snacks of 270 across the day getting me 810 Kcal with maybe 15g of protein. I usually carry 1-1.5 litres of water unless a very hot or long day.
After:
This is where the real work begins. In my example based on a large day I’ll need another 1500-2000 Kcals, 1.5 litres of fluid (not accounting for sweating) and 67g of protein.
- Eat my sandwich if I haven’t already
- Drink the other 500ml of my Nalgene
- Savoury snack; salted cashews or a pork pie, this mostly a flavour craving at this stage to offset sugary during snacks. The salt doesn’t hurt either
- Some flavoured water when we get back (I’m usually fed up of water by now so something with flavour will encourage me to drink another 500ml)
- Some easy to consume protein, can be a flapjack/bar/shake 20g at least 25-30 is preferable
- High calorie, high protein evening meal
- Dessert, not fussed what but extra calories are what’s called for
- Depending on how much sweating I’d add re-hydration salts to a litre to be consumed over the evening.
- If on the off chance I found myself in the pub after the hill. I would not turn down a portion of cheesy chips to go with my re-hydration strategies. Let’s be real here.
This is by no means an exhaustive list. This is to emphasise the deficit created and some strategies to claw it back. You won’t recover well if you don’t actively try to eat and drink a lot more. There are more complicated metrics we can add in but Carb/Fat ratio is more activity and individual specific. Also just to keep things simple and enjoyable let’s not overthink it. Assume you’re going to need to eat more than you think, supplement your protein and don’t be surprised if 5 pints on the evening makes the next day harder.
If you get a rest day in the trip due to bad weather or fatigue and you’re not sight seeing follow the simple rule:
Eat until you’re tired. Sleep until you’re hungry.
Rest Day Mantra
Any tips I missed? please comment or message and I’ll add to the list.
IBEX Performance 