Testing for Fat Burning at the Colorado 200

 

co200-breath-test
Gia Dawn Madole and Wendy Tremayne breath testing at the Colorado 200

Last week an unusual event took place in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. It was a 200 mile foot race that has a 96 hour cut off time. A dozen people finished the entire 200 mile distance in under four days. I went out and paced my friend Rick (Hack Yourself to Run 200 Miles)  for the last ~68 miles. My interest in this event is how it pushes the envelope for what humans are capable of.  I brought along a home made ketometer to breath test the runners, pacers and crew at the event. The results are interesting, but the samples are limited so only observations can be made.

co200-raceflow

The idea was to get a sample from each runner to determine the level of acetone on their breath. A high acetone reading indicates that the runner is in ketosis and able to burn fat. A lower reading would indicate that the runner is not burning much fat and is fueling primarily on carbohydrates. Runners in ketosis blew in the range of 500-625. Those with readings of less than 500 were likely fueling on significant amounts of carbohydrates.

co200-breath-ss

The data indicates some trends:

  1. Diet – The highest fat burning readings recorded were from people on a LCHF (Low Carb High Fat) diet. There was a surprise when we found two people blowing higher numbers who were not on a LCHF diet. Those two people were on a reduced calorie diets. They became good fat burners by not eating enough food each day.
  2. Performance – My suspicion was that the LCHF would perform the best. That was not the case. The top two finishers (tied) Travis and Douglas who are both very accomplished athletes were blowing readings below ketosis level. The women Sylvia Greer that finished after them in 2nd place was an excellent fat burner blowing higher than all the other female runners.
  3. Race Like You Train – Talking to the athletes gave a clear picture of who had an “enjoyable” race and who suffered through their 200. There were two runners who broke from their usual ways of eating and did the opposite. One always ate LCHF, but changed to high carb during the race. Another always ate high carb (gummy bears and gels), but was not eating frequently enough. Both of these runners had very difficult races due to low energy and stomach problems. Multiple runners had commented that they tried a new product from an aid-station table and lost their stomachs for several hours after that.

co200-rick-mikey
Mikey Sklar and Rick Arikado at the Colorado 200 mile ultra race

A race like this becomes a foot and belly race. Make sure you feet are feeling good by way of blister management, hot spots and dry shoes. Keep the belly happy by eating foods that you know work for you. I would eat eggs, avocado and ham for breakfast with a dinner time avocado burger. The rest of the time I lightly snack my way through at less than 50 calories an hour. This made for a comfortable fueling strategy. I was fortunate to completely avoid foot and belly issues at this race.


Adafruit publishes a wide range of writing and video content, including interviews and reporting on the maker market and the wider technology world. Our standards page is intended as a guide to best practices that Adafruit uses, as well as an outline of the ethical standards Adafruit aspires to. While Adafruit is not an independent journalistic institution, Adafruit strives to be a fair, informative, and positive voice within the community – check it out here: adafruit.com/editorialstandards

Join Adafruit on Mastodon

Adafruit is on Mastodon, join in! adafruit.com/mastodon

Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.

Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell is every Wednesday at 7pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat – we’ll post the link there.

Join us every Wednesday night at 8pm ET for Ask an Engineer!

Join over 36,000+ makers on Adafruit’s Discord channels and be part of the community! http://adafru.it/discord

CircuitPython – The easiest way to program microcontrollers – CircuitPython.org


Maker Business — “Packaging” chips in the US

Wearables — Enclosures help fight body humidity in costumes

Electronics — Transformers: More than meets the eye!

Python for Microcontrollers — Python on Microcontrollers Newsletter: Silicon Labs introduces CircuitPython support, and more! #CircuitPython #Python #micropython @ThePSF @Raspberry_Pi

Adafruit IoT Monthly — Guardian Robot, Weather-wise Umbrella Stand, and more!

Microsoft MakeCode — MakeCode Thank You!

EYE on NPI — Maxim’s Himalaya uSLIC Step-Down Power Module #EyeOnNPI @maximintegrated @digikey

New Products – Adafruit Industries – Makers, hackers, artists, designers and engineers! — #NewProds 7/19/23 Feat. Adafruit Matrix Portal S3 CircuitPython Powered Internet Display!

Get the only spam-free daily newsletter about wearables, running a "maker business", electronic tips and more! Subscribe at AdafruitDaily.com !



No Comments

No comments yet.

Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.