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First, Let’s Talk Blood Sugar
Before diving into solutions, we have to bring more context to the problem at hand. When looking at traditional sports nutrition products that provide carbohydrates, they are built using fast-acting carbohydrates. Namely, glucose, fructose, and maltodextrin. These carbohydrates are designed to hit the blood quickly, giving you immediate bursts of energy. This is important for an athlete and something you want to happen as you go for longer and longer distances. Quick and available energy is key. However, you’re then left in a constant battle against the energy drop.
What we mean by energy drop is the feeling after your blood sugar and insulin spike, when you’ve burned through your energy. This begins the athlete fueling cycle of trying to consistently take your gels at the right cadence to prevent the crash. The problem is, this cadence varies by athlete, as well as by intensity and duration of activity, too. It’s hard to perfect and can sometimes lead to higher race day anxiety as a result, because you just don’t know what will happen. This is the result of your body running on unstable fuel. It’s chasing highs and trying to prevent lows. That constant fluctuation creates metabolic stress, inflammation, and fatigue that can make finishing a training session or race feel near impossible.
Blood sugar stability is the foundation of sustained performance. When your energy supply is steady, dependable, and consistent, you can push hard without constantly managing the metabolic ups and downs. This can change everything.
The Achilles Heel: GI Distress
The food and beverage choices we make as well as the timing of the choices and the amounts we take in all impact the risk of GI distress. When we zone in on some of the key players, carbohydrate choices in the days leading up to key events as well as during the event undoubtedly come up. Most athletes don’t know this. Carbohydrates need water to be digested and to be stored. When you eat carbohydrates, your body pulls in water to aid the digestive process and ensure you absorb them properly. Furthermore, when storing carbohydrates as glycogen, every gram of carbohydrate is stored with 3-4 grams of water. The relationship between carbohydrates and fluid balance is inextricably linked and has direct consequences on how your gastrointestinal system will function on race day.
When we think about an endurance event like the marathon, there are a few additional complexities at play:
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You're taking in large loads of carbohydrates each hour to keep the energy levels flowing.
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You’re getting progressively dehydrated over the course of the event, making it harder to pull in water to digest the carbohydrates you take in without cramping or seeing other negative symptoms like bathroom urgency.
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Your body is redirecting and prioritizing blood flow to muscles and necessary organs, rather than the gastrointestinal system, raising the risk of the aforementioned symptoms.
This creates a perfect storm and high risk scenario for low gut tolerance. It makes sense though, right? When we think about the incredible pressure on the gastrointestinal system through these processes, it comes as no surprise that this could occur. Your body is trying to balance it all, while performing at a high level, and sometimes, the system can give out
How to use UCAN: A Simple Fueling Guide to Get Started
Solid fueling doesn’t need to be complicated. Here’s a practical framework to get you started:
Training Runs
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Under 1 hour: 1 UCAN Edge Gel 15 minutes before heading out.
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Over 1 hour: 1 UCAN Edge Gel at the start of your run, then every 45 minutes from there.
If you notice signs of fatigue, feelings like you want to push harder but are stalling out, or challenges with recovering well post-run, increase your frequency to every 30 minutes.
Race Day
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2-3 Hours Prior: Consume your routine pre-race breakfast alongside 1-2 servings of UCAN Energy Powder mixed in water to aid the stabilization of your blood sugar
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15 minutes Prior to Start: 1 UCAN Energy Gel, caffeinated or non-caffeinated, depending on your preference and what you’ve trained with
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During: 1 UCAN Edge Gel every 30-60 minutes, alongside water and electrolytes each hour. Adjust based on what you’ve trained with.
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Post-race: An easy to digest meal that contains ample protein (20-25 grams) and carbohydrates (20-25 grams minimum) to support replenishment of your body’s glycogen stores as well as muscle and immune health recovery. UCAN Protein + Energy can be a wonderful option to have before a meal to slowly bring the gastrointestinal system back online after the hard effort!
Key Mentions:
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UCAN gels are available in caffeinated options. If you’re someone who enjoys caffeine, these can be a great way to incorporate caffeine into your racing strategy. We’d recommend a caffeinated gel at the start and halfway through as a way to give you an added boost.
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You may see the suggestion to fuel with UCAN every 75 minutes, which is a longer time-frame than many athletes are used to. This is because UCAN maintains energy for longer without the quick rise and fall that you see with traditional gels. This allows you to worry less about blood sugar drops, and ensure you stay ahead of fatigue. Think of the 75-minute suggestion as the minimum fueling cadence, no matter who you are. If you’re working at a higher intensity, longer duration, and/or if you’re feeling excess fatigue during or after workouts, fuel more often. The advantage isn’t taking less gels, it’s more flexibility with consistent energy.
