Source: University of Otago
Alice Young, left, with her supervisor, Sara Richardson.
Otago Master of Applied Science (Advanced Nutrition Practice) student Alice Young took on the challenge of providing a University of Otago sponsored team with nutrition support for the GODZone Adventure Race.
The four-person team, including Master of Marine Science student Blake Hornblow, competed in the race in early March.
Alice was beginning her six-month long placement at the Department of Human Nutrition Student Nutrition Clinic when her supervisor Sara Richardson asked her if she would be interested in giving the team some nutrition support in the lead-up to the race.
“I was a little bit hesitant at the start because it was out of my comfort zone, but I just took the opportunity up because I knew it would be something that would be beneficial for me,” Alice says.
To start things off, Alice had the team fill out a nutrition assessment questionnaire to gather background information about each athlete in order to gain an understanding of them as individuals.
The team then kept food diaries which helped her to provide more tailored, individualised nutrition support for the athletes training. In the 3-4 weeks pre-race the advice became more tailored to race nutrition for GODZone.
The physiological and psychological demands of adventure racing were considered, while factoring in athletes individual preferences which impact their nutrition choices and fuelling. Carbohydrate and energy rich foods were recommended, but also foods that tasted good.
“The only person I got to meet in person was Blake. Communicating nutrition support over Zoom was challenging, but an important skill to develop as many Performance Nutritionists work remotely from athletes while the athletes travel the world to fulfil their sporting goals,” she says.
“Research has been completed for events such as Ironman and endurance cycling. However, research on the nutritional demands of adventure racing, where the athlete could be racing continuously, 24 hours a day, for seven days is limited.
“We know that the athletes will be incredibly sleep deprived, and racing through extreme and remote terrain, over a variety of disciplines which comes with challenges regarding fuelling”
This resulted in a lot of research and “thinking outside the box”.
“When they are kayaking, both of their hands are being used, so we had to think of alternative ways for the athletes to eat. One solution was having a drink bottle on their pack with a straw that’s easily accessible to their mouth, so they could sip away at a carbohydrate-rich drink while racing.”
Food also needed to be lightweight, take minimal time and effort to prepare, be easy to access, and be in a ready-to-eat portion size.
“Being able to reach into your backpack and grab something that’s easy, and eating while you are moving is important, because they want to minimise time stopped during the race.“
Alice provided the athletes with guidance and food recommendations suitable for each stage of GODZone, and supplied a range of choices.
Some of the options included dehydrated meals, dehydrated meats, croissants and personalised fruit and nut mixes, as well as high calorie carbohydrate and protein based drinks.
The team members were putting themselves through a “pretty intense event, psychologically” and Alice wanted to make sure the food was not only nutritious but also enjoyable and helped with morale during the tough periods of a very long race.
The experience of working with athletes was challenging but gave Alice a lot of professional growth. She had always thought that when she finished studying she would go on to provide nutrition support the general population. However, working with the team on the GODZone race may have changed that.
“It definitely sparked a real interest for me in the sports nutrition realm, it’s been an amazing experience.”
She will be working with Otago University Rowing Clubs elite rowers, and seeing clients from the community at the Nutrition Clinic for the rest of her placement, and hopes to balance working within sports nutrition, and community nutrition, in the future.
