Carbo Pro

Some athletes may be able to stomach a wide variety of foods during a race but I usually recommend staying with your tried and true favourites. However, having tried almost every bar, gel, block etc. known, I keep finding that after 8+ hours into any event I had a tendency to stop fueling. Needless to say, over the years I have lost a lot of time and dropped in overall finishing position because I didn’t feel like eating or drinking.After 15 hours into the Canadian Death Race, all I wanted was water. I wanted nothing with flavour. I wasn’t interested in any of the liquids, gels or treats I had stuffed in my backpack. This was not the way to properly fuel myself for ultimate performance. I did most of the 38 km mountain leg of the race just drinking eload. I had fallen from one of the top ten racers down to 20th place.

Now I realize what I should have done differently. All the fuel sources I had brought had some sort of flavour. Which in an event that took me just under 18 hours to finish, I was growing quite tired of.

This is not an uncommon predicament and many athletes work for years on their optimal fuel intake, hydration and electrolyte balance. Most pro racers don’t lose races from lack of training; it is more likely due to fueling and hydration. Add in a sensitive stomach and what some may call a discriminating palate (or fussiness, depending on your perspective), I was in a bit of a bind for long races. I remembered seeing an ad in a Triathlete magazine about Carbo Pro and Carbo Pro 1200. Carbo Pro is a neutral taste, non-sweet complex carbohydrate powder (1 scoop =112 calories) and the Carbo Pro 1200 is a pre-made bottle with 1200 calories per bottle (8 bottles for Ironman would give you 9600 calories or alternately, consume 96 gels)

I decided to test the Carbo Pro powder and see how it would work. Knowing that each scoop was equal to 112 calories I mixed 2 scoops with eload for a 2 hour road ride. This would give me the equivalent of 2 gels and my electrolytes all in one bottle. If I had wanted more carbs for a longer ride, I could have added more scoops of Carbo Pro. I mixed the Carbo Pro with warm water so that it would dissolve quickly then added eload. I added cold water to the little mixture and shook it up. It tasted just like eload! The Carbo Pro had added no flavour. On the ride, I sipped on the bottle every 15 minutes or so – still had just the eload flavour. I also tried it with plain water on a 3 hour trail run to see how it worked. I had no GI distress with just Carbo Pro mixed with water and electrolyte pills. I have also started using it for recovery, adding one or two scoops to my recovery drink. I can also see potential as a carbo loading tool, where instead of pounding the pasta, you can drink water and replenish depleted glycogen stores at the same time.

Now, not many things can substitute for a club sandwich (mmm…bacon) but during long races, this carbohydrate replacement will help in fueling. The versatility of adding it to any electrolyte drink without changing the flavour or possibly super concentrating it to make your own personalized gel is very appealing. My testing of Carbo Pro has gone very well so far but the ultimate test in a long race awaits. But with pro triathletes like Michelle Jones, Heather Fuhr, Peter Reid and adventure racer Robyn Benincasa also using it, I am confident it won’t disappoint.