Speaking on his podcast, The Ultra Sound, ultra-endurance runner Tom Evans has been sharing expert insights that runners of all abilities can follow.
In this latest instalment, Tom explores the balance between trying to execute your race plan and fuelling by feeling - and how to adjust when things go wrong.
Tom, how do you decide whether to stick with your race plan and when to pivot?
If you're having a really good day, it's really easy to follow your nutrition plan. But if you're having a really bad day, a lot of the time it then comes down to that intuition - what you feel like you need.
I've had chicken soup during races, and I guess the numbers then slightly go out the window. Maybe you're not fuelling as normal, but you're listening to your body.
It's a really careful consideration, but going into an aid station I'll always have a spares bag, and that has got a pre-made Morton 320 drink mix, it will have a couple of extra gels and then maybe a couple of bars as well.
So my crew - if I am late - will know that I need to consume something while I'm at the station, so maybe we'll take another minute to make sure that I get this fuel in.
So it's not as if you put the fuelling out of the window but you have to think about what you need. There's a fine balance there.
It's a case of where you think you need to go with it. For example do you think that 'oh, do I need a Coca Cola here, or a Red Bull?' It's really interesting because you have a plan and the only thing that is guaranteed is that something is going to go wrong with that plan.
What could go wrong, and how should you react?
This is ultra-running, we're out in the mountains so it might start raining, it might snow. There are so many uncontrollable factors, so sometimes being completely tied around these numbers is not healthy.
You need to be really flexible, but I know in order for me to perform my best, 115 to 120 grams of carbohydrate is my gold standard. It's what I'm aiming for, and whether I hit that or not, that's the aim, I'm always working towards that.
Yes, things will change in the race and there will be points where your stomach might not feel good, but then it's just about problem-solving. And what I really enjoy about ultra running is solving those problems out on the trails.
For example, what if I've gone through the aid station and I forgot to pick up my bag of gels? Then you're there with very little and you're thinking 'oh gosh, what do I do?'
But that starts you thinking about where the next aid station is, what type of station it is, what they'll have in there, so I can problem-solve as I go and make a new plan.
Going on the numbers around fuelling is obviously really useful, but I think it can also derail your race at the same time.
Just because you've got a plan, it doesn't mean that it's completely right. You've got to keep an eye on actually how you're feeling throughout the whole thing, because ultimately although 120g of carbs might be your golden ticket, you might feel terrible the whole way around.
And if you just keep trying to do something that isn't working, that's not smart. You end up just knocking on a closed door. If it's not working you need to be really adaptive and flexible on your feet, and in my opinion that's what defines the best trail runners in the world.
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