2023-04-25 06:00:00
“How do we eat at the Marathon des Sables?
As for sailors who go to sea for long months, the weight that you carry with you is decisive in the success of your adventure. Because, at the Marathon des Sables, the competitors carry with them seven days of food, in addition to everything they need to live for a week. (apart from the water which is supplied several times a day and the tent which is provided by the organization). It is inconceivable to leave with fresh food: almost exclusively competitors consume freeze-dried food, dehydrated dishes that they rehydrate before each meal.
What should you pay attention to when preparing your meals?
The weight that one carries is of course important. But the number of calories that we carry is just as important: be careful, there is nothing worse than being hungry during a week like that of the MDS. Regarding individual needs, we are all different in terms of necessary calorie intake. Two thousand calories per day and per person is what is recommended in a normal daily intake. For days when you burn as much as during the MDS, we recommend 3000 calories per day, see 3500 for the long stage. To give you an example, navigators in extreme cold consume 6,000 calories a day. But, once again, it is especially important to adapt your package to your own needs.
What foods should be favored in your nutrition plan?
Since the weight of the bag is decisive, in our tailor-made packs designed for MDS, we favor foods with a high calorie indicator per 100 grams. There are then a few points of vigilance, we will avoid spicy dishes for example to prevent digestion problems. We will pay attention to the right balance between proteins, lipids and carbohydrates: for this event, we recommend a diet comprising 55% carbohydrates, 30% lipids and 15% protein. Finally, and this is one of the most important points, you must not only think functionally: pleasure in food plays a decisive part in the success of your project. So we choose foods that we like and that we will be happy to eat.
What about hydration?
Even if the water is provided by the organization, it is not enough to stay hydrated when running in the desert. For the body to assimilate water, it needs mineral salt supplements. We recommend consuming isotonic drinks, in addition to the salt to be ingested provided by the organization.
Do you have a few more tips for future runners?
The MDS is a race where you progress in particular by gaining experience, from edition to edition. So, my first piece of advice would be to ask questions of those who have experienced several, they often give good advice. In the little tips, I often recommend a meal to rehydrate with cold water for lunch, just to quickly regain strength after exercise without having to heat water, a tabbouleh for example. No need to take a plate to eat, an empty water bottle cut in half is more than enough. There are tons of examples like this, but discovering them later is also part of the magic of MDS…”
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