Nutrition plan for the Diagonale des Fous

164 km and 9,917 m of positive altitude difference, this is what awaits the “crazy people” who will participate in the new edition of the Grand Raid de la Réunion next October. How to prepare for this ultra-trail? How to manage your nutrition before and during the race? Luderce Marguerite, MX3 partner for many years and who has participated in this crazy race several times, shares all her advice with you.

Physical preparation

For the 2017 edition, my preparation began in May of the same year. I built a training program which included Muscle Strengthening, Intensity, Threshold Work, Mountain and Endurance (RITME) sessions:

R	Muscle strengthening	1 time every 10 days
I	Intensity Work	1 session / week
T	Work at the threshold	1 session / week
M	Session of Mountain	1 hill split session / week + 1 long mountain outing / 15 days
E	Endurance session	1 session / week

Despite some strong constraints, I managed to stick to my program, which, I think, allowed me to finish the race. For my training, my playgrounds were: the forest of Meudon, the coasts of Issy-les-Moulineaux, the 25 bosses course (Milly-la-Forêt) and occasionally the trails of the Bauges massif.

Nutrition during training

At the start of each preparation session, an energy bar

Endurance sessions

A tube of Long time gel at the start of jogging and one or two tubes of Antioxidant gel diluted in the water bottles. One sip every 10 minutes.

Hill Split Sessions

An Antioxidant gel at the start of the session + one to two tubes of Fast energy gel diluted in the bottle

Long outings

An energy bar at the start + antioxidant gels diluted in the bottles + a Long time gel 10 minutes after the start (direct intake) + two Fast energy gels for hard climbs (direct intake).

The little tip

I find the method of diluting the gel tubes in the bottles interesting, it has several advantages:

Space saving.
Absorption spread over a longer distance (regular nutrient intake).
The spread spread avoids sugar saturation.
Product effectiveness preserved.

Nutrition during the race

1 hour before departure: 1 waiting drink.
30 min before departure: 2 bottles of water (600 ml), one containing a diluted Long time gel and the other containing 1 diluted Antioxidant gel.
10 minutes before departure: 1 tube of Long time gel.
5 min before departure: 1 tube of Antioxidant gel.
At each refreshment point, I supplement my bottles with 1 pod of maltodextrin and 1 Antioxidant or Long time gel diluted in the bottle.
For each big climb, 1 Fast energy gel.

Diagonal of Fools