In endurance sports like SUP racing there are two different limiting factors, or limiters, depending on the length of the race.
- < 2h race (Maliko downwind) limiters = Lactate / Anaerobic threshold
- 2h + race (Molokai race) limiter = fuel limitation
For now, let’s focus on the fuel limiters.
Our body is by default a sugar burner. Once we have burnt all the calories we carry in our carb tank, we hit the wall and we bonk.
However, at this point our body still has an unused source of stored fuel that can provide up to 24 hours of energy, and it’s tucked away in our fat tank!
So the question is: how can we teach our body to use these reserves so we can stay on course after 2 hours of effort?
Check out this story of a triathlon world champion, Sami Inkinen, who managed to become a ‘fat burner’ just by changing his diet. It’s pretty interesting to see how the introduction of fat in our diet can double our performance on long distance races.
