NUTRITIONAL ADVICE from Gavin Markey at Tailwind Nutrition Australia
Here’s some “food for thought” (sorry bad pun I know) that may help with your nutrition strategy for the event.

We at Tailwind Nutrition believe exercise nutrition should be simple, and kept simple.
During exercise our stomach can only digest between 200 and 300 calories per hour, regardless of who we are or how much we ingest, as the blood from our digestive system is channelled elsewhere to cope with the added stress on our system resulting in our metabolism slowing down.

HOW TO USE TAILWIND:
We recommend that you start using Tailwind Endurance fuel at 2 scoops (scoops provided in medium and large bags) or one Stick Pack (sachet) per hour mixed into as much water as you will drink in that hour, and repeat for every hour of exercise. This will give you 200 calories and all the electrolytes you will require without the need to supplement with ANYTHING else.
Now of course things such as temperature, conditions etc. will vary (and thankfully we are all individuals), so you may wish to mix it with more/less water depending on the day. The important thing you are trying to ensure is that you are consuming your 200-300 calories every hour.
Through training/trial and error you will find your “Sweet Spot” when drinking to thirst (which is any signal from your mind or body to have a sip). On average, and under normal conditions, most people when drinking to thirst will consume 500mls, which is why we recommend a great starting point is 200calories/500mls per hour.

Tailwinds fuel plan is time based and not distance based: If you are going to be out there for 3hrs between checkpoints, you will need 6 scoops or 3 stick packs (sachets) mixed into however much water you will drink in those 3 hrs (when drinking to thirst), then repeat for the next leg etc. right through the entire event.

So taking your target of 200-300 calories per hour into account, if you wanted to add anything else to your nutrition strategy in addition to Tailwind, there is no problem at all, just remember that you may have to stick to just plain water for the hour or so that you have solids, gels, energy bars, baby food etc. as you don’t want to go over the 300 calories, alternatively you can halve the Tailwind (100 calories) and have say 1 gel (usually around 100 calories depending on brand). Also remember that each gel or energy bar takes 20-30 minutes (and requires 285-330mls of water) to get digested, so you will need to work that into the equation to prevent energy dips/spikes.
Stick to 200-300 calories an hour and you will be right on the money.

WHY CAFFIENE: The main reason we have caffeinated flavours is that caffeine is beneficial to endurance athletes, as it works by mobilizing fatty acids in the bloodstream which can be burned by muscles and not just the ‘Buzz’ factor. However, we recommend not using caffeinated flavours for more than 6 hours continuously if using it at 2 scoops per hour as each scoop contains 35mg caffeine. This means that each 2 scoops is the equivalent of a cup of coffee, so 6 hours would be 6 cups in a row, which could lead to a caffeine crash. If you will be out there longer than 6 hours, we would recommend either using it at half dosage by mixing one scoop of caffeinated with one scoop non-caffeinated (like Naked flavour), or interspersing it every other hour with non-caffeinated flavours.

As soon as you finish your event, we recommend the Rebuild Recovery be taken within 30-40 minutes upon completion, as this will kick start your recovery.

We hope this helps with some understanding about how to fuel and the body’s requirements during exercise, but please feel free to call and chat us at Tailwind Nutrition, as we are here to help you achieve your goals!!

WHAT IS IN TAILWIND?
All TAILWIND PRODUCTS ARE: GLUTEN FREE – VEGAN – CONTAINS NO SOY- NO DAIRY – NO ARTIFICIAL FLAVOURS – NO PRESERVATIVES – NO FAKE COLOURING

TAILWIND ENDURANCE FUEL – NON CAFFINEATED:
Ingredients: Non-GMO Dextrose (Glucose), Non-GMO Sucrose, Sodium Citrate, Sea Salt, Citric Acid, Organic Flavour, Potassium Chloride, Calcium Carbonate, Magnesium Citrate

TAILWIND ENDURANCE FUEL – CAFFINEATED:
Ingredients: Non-GMO Dextrose (Glucose), Non-GMO Sucrose, Sodium Citrate, Sea Salt, Citric Acid, Organic Flavour, Potassium Chloride, Calcium Carbonate, Magnesium Citrate, Organic Caffeine Gluten free/vegan/no soy/ no dairy

TAILWIND REBUILD RECOVERY – CHOCOLATE and VANILLA:
Ingredients: Non-GMO Dextrose, Non-GMO Sucrose, Coconut Milk Powder, Essential Amino Acids (L-Leucine, LLysine, L-Valine, L-lsoleucine, L-Phenylalanine, L-Threonine, L-Methionine, L-Histidine, L-Tryptophan), Non-GMO Organic Rice Protein Powder, Cocoa Powder, Sea Salt, Potassium Chloride, Calcium Carbonate, Magnesium Citrate

TAILWIND REBUILD RECOVERY COFFEE:
Ingredients: Non-GMO Dextrose, Non-GMO Sucrose, Coconut Milk Powder, Essential Amino Acids (L-Leucine, LLysine, L-Valine, L-lsoleucine, L-Phenylalanine, L-Threonine, L-Methionine, L-Histidine, L-Tryptophan), Non-GMO Organic Rice, Protein Powder, 100% Arabica Coffee, Sea Salt, Potassium Chloride, Calcium Carbonate, Magnesium Citrate – includes 80mg caffeine

https://www.tailwindnutrition.com.au/