Race Report - Sandstone Trail - May 2016 - Daniel Weston

The Sandstone Trail is from Whitchurch to Frodsham, Cheshire, UK. 34 miles Elevation change‎: ‎1,268 metres (4,160 ft)

Pre-event / Daily nutrition

I’m a busy family man with a full time job but with a supportive wife who cooks good wholesome meals.

My nutrition the week before has not been different from my usual lifestyle diet of which the key points are:

• No food is excluded
• Cakes, sweets, sugar, kept to a minimum
• Whole grains whenever possible
• More vegetables with evening meals rather than potatoes (high starch)
• Not much bread
• Plenty of fruit and nuts to snack on

I have experimented with High Fat Low Carb and No Grains No Sugars but I find it too stressful to organise and too expensive! Also my normal diet is not too far from this anyway.

I also take multivitamins and beetroot extract. Beets are a great source of inorganic nitrate which is converted to nitric oxide, which does lots of things related to blood flow, muscle contraction, neurotransmission, etc… check out the XMiles products… Beet-IT Shots

Here's a picture of the meal I had the night before the Sandstone Trail, home made Cottage Pie made from sweet potatoes and turkey mince

Nutrition: On the day

Morning, before running:

During the run:

Since the run was going to take at least 4 hours I needed food but not a lot. So I used 9bars as they sent me a load for free to help with this run and my training. They're a bit sweet for normal day to day snacks but ideal for racing or longer runs. They're mostly seeds and nuts with a chocolate topping.

As far as the record attempt went I was on target up until about mile 28 when I took a wrong turn and when I found the trail again had realised I’d cut a lot of it out (2 miles) so I couldn’t count it as a record, I had also got a bit lost a few times before but didn’t cut out any of the course. I felt good and strong the whole day. I got a much needed boost with 14 miles to go from my running buddy, Darren Rowlands who joined me and his wife also crewed along the way. My wife also crewed at the start. It’s amazing the kindness people show towards each other.

At the end of the race I had a treat, a pint of beer, sandwich and chips.