I have been thinking a lot about my food strategy from the Grand to Grand 2023 and what I might want to adjust for the Grand to Grand 2024. And a more now since I watched the video on the Grand to Grand YouTube channel with Jeff Pelletier. For the 2023 G2G I brought almost 19000 calories for the week. For stages 1, 2, 4 & 5 I had an average of 2725 calories per day and for stage 3 (day 3 the long stage) I had 3940 calories. Also for the recovery day (day 4) I had 2890 calories. I only had 1190 calories for the final stage since it was only about 8 miles. My calories came from Spring Energy Gels, Honey Stinger Waffles, Halos Muesli, Gnarly Recovery Drink and my dinners were Mountain House brand freeze dried meals.
I had brought one Mountain House Pro-Pak meal for day 3/Stage 3 which I think I ate approximately 1am on day 4 (after 17 hours of moving) when I reached checkpoint 6. It was another 10 hours (total 26:21 hours) before I reached camp. I had brought 2 Mountain House meals for day 4 (recovery day). My idea was to try and replenish as many calories from the long stage. So between 1am and 6pm on day 4 I consumed 1800 calories (3 Mountain House Meals). I was surprised at how good I felt on the morning of stage 4. I got the first good night sleep that night after not sleeping much up until that point all week. I felt energized and strong. After a little warmup hike I was able to run first 8-10 miles stage 4 (thankfully it was mostly down hill 🙃) and felt really strong the whole day.
So the question is, did I feel strong because of the additional calories, some rest, a good night sleep? Did I sleep better because I consumed a lot of calories, or all of the above? So next time, I am considering bringing 1.5 packs of freeze dried meals for stages 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5. That would take the caloric intake to 900 (+ or -) calories from my primary meal for those days. That would add about 12.5 ounces or 354 grams to the total pack weight.
This going to be something to I am going to consider for the next time. Is the benefit of the calories worth the extra weight. Maybe I can shave a few ounces off the pack weight by make changes by giving up a luxury item like an extra pair of socks or camp clothes and make room for some extra calories.
Something to think about. Let me know what you think in the comments below.
Update 12/14/2023 – Garth Read the Grand to Grand Race Stage Race commissioner posted a link to an article on a Facebook post about this article. It is a interesting article about this fueling. Check it out at the link below.
