Dragon's Back Race
- camp food

The consensus from past runners on Facebook, and other runners during the race, was that the food is really good, despite being vegetarian/vegan. And the pre-race veg-lasagne definitely got my hopes up! It was delicious.

Overall, I'd say the soups were good and the desserts were excellent, but I found the main courses unappetizing, despite how hungry I was. But what really concerned me was the seeming absolute focus on carbs for refueling with little regard for protein for recovery.

Considering the damage you're doing to your body and the duration of the event, that surprised me. Six days provides plenty of opportunity for your body to rebuild itself, given the right resources.

What are the protein requirements?

Because of injury, I only really had two solid months of training (June and July), most of which was condensed into a six-week 'power-block'. This included running an average of 100km per week, short daily kettlebell sessions, and four trips to Snowdonia with two weeks separating each trip.

My research into protein requirements (using Claude to go through the literature) during this time recommended 175-200g of protein per day. Similar research into the race itself recommended 200-250g per day, possibly 275g. I think a safe minimum would be 200g per day during the race.

How much protein was available?

I had scrambled egg and beans for breakfast every morning (amongst other non-protein foods) and whatever protein I could find in the evening. One night there was cream with the dessert. There was cheese available (though I only discovered that on day 3) but it was rationed. Milk was available to be had with tea and coffee only. Evening meals were all vegetarian, usually with some form of veggie protein (think pulses mainly), but I never felt like they were a major consituent more than a couple of evenings.

Protein-wise, I took three tins of sardines (15g protein each, 45g total) and peanuts (7g protein per 30g). The peanuts I'd have in my supply bag and eat during the afternoon and the sardines were for the evening.

I would estimate my protein intake as follows: 80g on days one, two and three; 50g on days four, five and six. A huge deficit on the minimum 200g target.

Does it matter?

Over the course of six hard days, despite high carb intake, the energy demands are so high you cannot completely replenish your glycogen stores. When glycogen runs low, your body increases gluconeogenesis - it converts amino acids (from dietary protein and muscle tissue) into glucose. If dietary protein can't meet the needs of muscle repair and gluconeogenesis, your body will start to break down muscle tissue.

Does it matter? While I'm not going to blame my poor performance during days five and six on protein intake alone, it certainly won't have helped. To believe there would be zero impact from such a protein deficit seems naive to me. The insufficient protein intake will have restricted recovery and repair, and it will have weakened my muscles, almost certainly increasing injury risk. Had I had more protein, would my right quad have been more resilient to the aggressive downhill running that tore my lower quad on day five, ruining my chances of a top-10 finish? There is no guarantee the injury wouldn't have occurred, but it certainly increased the odds.

Recommendations

My advice to anyone running the Dragon's Back Race? Take your own protein.

I know there are strict weight limits on what you can carry but I had over 1kg to spare and I took way more food than I could possibly eat during the day. I actually think the 15kg weight limit is plenty. Here is what I'd take next time:

• 5x tins of sardines (15g protein, 75g total)
• 10x protein shakes made with enough milk powder to make a base 400ml of milk + 2x scoops of protein powder (50g protein each, 500g total)
• 6x 75g Peanuts throughout the day (15g protein each, 90g total)
• 5x tins of tuna (25g protein, 125g total)
• 3x tins of corned beef, eaten every other day with breakfast (50g protein each, 150g total)

Total protein in my bag: 940g / 6 days = 156g per day

That leaves only needing another 50g from the camp food each day - two servings of scrambled eggs in the morning would get you most of the way there. Then top up with cheese in the evening (if you can get hold of any) and whatever veggie protein exists in the evening meals. Minimum protein intake sorted.