Brennan Townshend

Fuel and hydration breakdown by Precision Fuel & Hydration from Ultra-Trail Snowdonia by UTMB https://www.precisionhydration.com/athletes/case-studies/running/brennan-townshend/05-11-2024/

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A week on from Ultra-Trail Snowdonia by UTMB, mind and body feel recovered and ready to build towards my next goals. I’m incredibly excited to be racing UTMB World Series OCC this year. Next up for me and Katerina Townshend is the Val d'Aran by UTMB in July. Looking forward to the training, adventures and races ahead.
📸 Gilly Photography
VJ
Precision Fuel & Hydration
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That was a hard race today! Great competition and an awesome route by . This should qualify me for the OCC this year at UTMB which has been a dream for a long time. Enjoyed the racing and build up to today a lot, looking forward to more soon.
Lovely to share the day with who raced amazing well in the 25km, 5th overall and 1st v40!!! And Freya cheering us all the way.
📸
VJ
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https://www.brennantownshend.com/single-post/2024-race-season
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2024 Race Season Looking forward to the new 2024 race season. These are the races I will be taking on: • 11th May UTS 50k • 4th July Val d’Aran by UTMB® - Peades d'Aigua - PDA • 10th August Sierre Zinal • 29th August OCC UTMB® TBC • 14th September Wildstrubel 50k by UTMB® / British Fell Champs TBC •...

Enjoying new trails from Soller this morning with a 6x4min hill session off 3min uphill hike recoveries.
Precision Fuel & Hydration
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Excited to be exploring Majorca in a different way to previous times here. Some fantastic trails to get stuck into.
VJ
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Sunday long run in the fells from Braithwaite. Making a conscious effort to work on better fuelling for longer races. Great morning out accompanied by the sun.
VJ
Precision Fuel & Hydration
High Peak Running

Emerging from the clouds running off the back of Blencathra this morning.
VJ
Precision Fuel & Hydration
High Peak Running

📸 THE LAP

Fuelling Endurance Performance

Fuelling long distance races, ultra’s and training runs over 4hrs is crucial for performance and can make the difference between finishing a race strongly and a DNF. When you have invested so much time in training the last problem you want in your race or challenge is poor attention to your nutrition strategies that could lead to a lot of problems ranging from stomach issues to complete energy depletion.
As an endurance athlete you have a store of glycogen going into a race if you have tapered and eaten the day and morning before an event. So how long does this store last? When do I need to start eating in a race? What foods can my body tolerate? These are some of the questions that have been running through my head when I try to put together a nutrition strategy for a long race.


Glycogen stores range between 500-800g in the muscles and 80g in the liver (1). This can be rapidly depleted in 2-3hrs of intense racing and the higher the intensity the greater the demand on Glycogen for energy. Starting early and fuelling at regular intervals will keep up with the demands of energy to ensure performance levels do not diminish.

Carbohydrate (CHO) intake should be the primary focus, through fats and protein are important, more on those later. CHO is used by the body as glucose to produce ATP the energy molecule that is crucial in all aspects of biological work, most importantly during an endurance training session or race for muscle contraction. CHO can be absorbed up to as much as 90g/h (with new recent studies and examples of 120g/h (2)) in two forms 60g from glucose and 30g from fructose to allow for gastric emptying and absorption of nutrients (2). Intake level over this number is likely to cause GI distress and stomach issues. Another very important note is that this level of CHO intake may be far to high for individuals for a number of reasons including fitness levels, temperature, palate fatigue, gastric emptying, external stress and oxidative capacity (3). The good news is that you can train your body to tolerate high levels of CHO intake during endurance events. This means training taking on nutrition whilst running and fine tuning this strategy for your race. All nutrition products (bars, chews, gels) with the correct glucose to fructose ratio will absorb into the body to be used for energy and using a mixture of fuel sources is advised to prevent palate fatigue. Another important note is drink fuel mixtures, a concentration of 6-8% is advisable as solutions over 10% can slow gastric emptying and cause GI distress. A good starting point is 40-50g/hr building up to the maximum you can tolerate, you can also make calculations based on body weight 1-1.2g per kg per hour.


Protein taken alongside carbohydrate during exhaustive or muscle damaging exercise can minimise muscle damage and preserve net protein balance. This is important in mountain or trail ultras due to the muscle damage elicited by eccentric muscle contractions due to the extreme vertical challenges the athlete faces. Protein should be taken in small quantities 0.25g/kg/hr along side CHO 1-1.2 g/kg/hr. Fuel forms can be specific sports products or from real food such as a peanut butter and jam sandwich or bagel with Philadelphia and jam.

Fat is used as a fuel source for intensities below 70% VO2 max an intensity that most athletes would complete an ultra-marathon at. Fat is converted to energy using a process called beta oxidation which yields a high net produce of ATP, the molecule used for muscle contraction. Individuals have a highly abundant storage of fatty acids in the body that can be used for fuelling exercise, even the leanest of athletes. Fat intake during exercise must be practiced and may not be tolerable for many, however if you can train your body to take in a small amount of fat during endurance training and use this in races you can open up a nutritionally dense energy source that will fuel low intensity exercise and also keep you feeling satiated. Another important note is per gram fat will give you the most energy, so if you must carry all your nutrition/food including fat sources will help to keep the weight down.

In a practical sense what do macronutrients look like in terms of nutrition product and real food:

Please visit our blog: https://www.highpeakrunning.com/post/fuelling-endurance-performance

Nutrition during training and competitions can seem like a complicated and daunting task to master but is crucial for performance in long distance ultra’s over 4hrs. Start simple and train your body to take in nutrition on the move, this means practicing and developing your fuelling strategy on a weekly basis. Most gels or chews have around 30g of Carbohydrate from a mix of sources so this can be a good way to measure out quantities initially, though you will want to have a good variety of fuelling options especially in long races. Another very important aspect to consider especially in training is under fuelling will likely compromise recovery leading to reduced quality/consistency in your training, illness or injury. Ultimately if you can build up to 1-1.2g/kg/hr CHO, 0.25g/kg/hr protein and a small amount of fat you will optimise your performance. Remember to mix your CHO fuel sources and use different forms be it bars, gels, chews, drink mix or real food. Do your research, even if this means just looking at the nutritional information on the back of your gels and bars. Train and practise with your nutrition and the quantities you will aim to take on race day, trying new products or quantities will most likely result in poor performance. Take your fuelling as seriously as training and equipment choices and your body will take you a long way.

References:
(1) https://www.mysportscience.com/post/how-to-fuel-for-a-marathon
(2) https://www.mysportscience.com/post/120-grams-per-hour
(3) https://www.mysportscience.com/post/2015/05/27/recommendations-for-carb-intake-during-exercise
(4) Images: https://www.thelap.co.uk/
(5) https://www.usada.org/athletes/substances/nutrition/carbohydrates-the-master-fuel/

Excited for some new races and adventures this year.
May: Ultra-Trail Snowdonia by UTMB
July: Val d'Aran by UTMB
August: Sierre-Zinal
September: British Fell Champs
November: Mallorca by UTMB
December: K42 Canarias - Anaga Marathon
February: Transgrancanaria
VJ
Precision Fuel & Hydration
High Peak Running

Until next time Gran Canaria. A great week with Katerina Townshend and the girls with lots of sun and time on the beach. We will definitely be back next year.
An enjoyable week on the bike exploring some new hills, 446km, 17hrs and 8400m complete in 7 days.
VJ
Le Col
High Peak Running
Keswick Athletic Club

📍Fataga
VJ
Le Col
High Peak Running
Keswick Athletic Club

Super pleased with 7th in the wildstrubel by UTMB 2023 50k on Saturday but left with lots too improve and work on going into my next races. Important to reflect and learn from races that don’t go exactly to plan to better your performance for next time.

Super proud of my awesome wife Katerina Townshend for a top 3 in her category in her first international race.
VJ
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Hill reps with amazing views
📸 Katerina Townshend
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Sunday long run views 👌📍Pointe De Fornet
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📍Mont Chery, Les Gets.
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A look back at some beautiful spring sunshine 📍Keswick.
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Katerina Townshend

A super close race yesterday in the Sedbergh Hills fell race, tough route with plenty of fast runnable sections and steep climbs. Congratulations to Billy on the win who had better legs for the steep descent to the finish line. The competition in races has been really exciting to be part of over the season and I’m thoroughly looking forward to the final few of the year. The best support from my super family Katerina Townshend. Well done to all that raced and thanks to all involved in putting on a great race in memory of Darren.
📸 Grand Day Out Photography
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Borrowdale fell race, a major classic in the calendar and a huge favourite of mine. This was my third running of the race and a PB of just over 5mins to take the win.
📸 Grand Day Out Photography
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That is the deepest I’ve had to push to cross a finish line first in a long time. We’ve had a really tough few weeks with little Freya being very Ill and spent the day before in hospital until late in the evening. The thoughts that she may be there at the finish healthy and well again pulled me through. So delighted to take the win. Thanks to everyone who put on a super Borrowdale race and well done to everyone that raced today. Thanks to Katerina Townshend for being the best and so supportive 😘.
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VJ
Precision Fuel & Hydration
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Flat out, full gas racing in the weekends English Championships Short Fell Race. Not my favourite or strongest distance but happy to hold on for a top 15. Great running by everyone and thanks to the organisers for a cracking race. The best support from Katerina and little Freya.
📸 Andy Berry
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Sunny summer holiday days, little Freya on a crawling mission around the park.

The best birthday present from commissioned from the very talented

Really happy with 2nd yesterday in my first running of the Wasdale Fell Race. Exciting to have good battle with Finlay on such a great route. Thanks for the lovely birthday celebrations and support from Katerina Townshend and Freya. Well done to everyone that raced and thanks so much to CFR all the organisers and marshals for a fantastic race!
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I’ve been thoroughly enjoying the long Lakeland classics this summer with the lure of the long adventure, a battle of attrition and the art of choosing fast lines that suit yourself through the rugged Lake District fells. Running and racing doesn’t get better than this.
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Le Col
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Super happy to be back racing at the sharp end in the English Championships, 2nd yesterday at Duddon with a good battle and exciting racing. Thanks Katerina and Freya for the cheering, Matt for the bottles, the race organisers and Marshall’s for a brilliant day and everyone out supporting.
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📸 Grand Day Out Photography