So my first take away is that (sort of like taking fluids), if you get hungry during the race you're cooked. Based on what I'm hearing, looks like I can continue my 30min Gu schedule. That's a lot of Gu so I better plan drops accordingly. No clue on pace for me. Finishing would be my main goal.

I had trouble with fluids at Tecumseh. Couldn't absorb. Salt or electrolyte related?

My experience with bonking during a 50 or 100k and pacing people during 100s is that, while you really really don't want to bonk... if you do, you are out there so long that you may be able to recover from it somewhat and finish without a complete death march from point x to the bitter end.  It still sucks and you still want to avoid it, but "you're screwed" kind of depends on your race goals and your definition of screwed.  Point being, you don't HAVE TO dnf if you bonk.

(but you still don't want to get behind)

((my experiences with longer stuff is that you have to think differently from 26.2.))

That makes sense to me, Spaniel. At your pace (your ultra pace is faster than my marathon PR pace) I can't handle solid food very well either, just gu. I actually had to make a conscious effort to be able to eat even at my much slower ultra pace. I did get used to it eventually. In fact I think I got a little too used to it, and when I went back to focusing on marathons and shorter stuff I had to convince my body that I didn't need to snack on the run.

So my first take away is that (sort of like taking fluids), if you get hungry during the race you're cooked.

I disagree. This:

if you do, you are out there so long that you may be able to recover from it

I have totally crumped at mile 15 of a 40+ miler and stil done okay because, after a while, you have time to recover, refuel, reload and reshoot. The longer the race, the better in this regard. Just keep moving forward, keep consistent calories and, more importantly, fluids and salt coming in. And keep on keep on moving forward.

 

Maybe you should slow down...

I'm going to do that to get a finish this spring, but to the topic of the thread neither DNF had anything to do with fueling.  This year I felt like a million bucks right up until my back went out on me.  I had learned from the prior year and didn't had any "real food" in my plan.

Eh. The body can fail in seemingly unrelated ways when attempting an ultra too hard for your body's fitness. I still wonder if my asthma attack 45 miles into Umstead that took me out at mile 62.5 had to do with fitness more than intrinsic lung disease. A broken back could just as easily be due to a mismatch among fueling, fitness and effort.

The issues I had during that race are a matter of record (ie the pacing was not entirely intentional this year and was faster than intended).  I do not believe fueling was one of them, and I think I am in a better place to be judging that.      There is no reason to slow down so I can stomach "real food" if I can run faster on Gu.

I think it is pretty obvious my back was not up to doing a 50-miler.  It is easy to second-guess after the fact but pre-race I had no reason to think it was going to be the issue it was.  A significant slowdown may have nursed it to the finish but I don't typically do races just to finish.  I can't believe it had anything to do with fueling as I have had sporadic issues in the past (typically occur with no warning), and continued to have issues with it long after the race.

Right now I am more focused on correcting the root issue to let my back/hips keep up with my overall fitness rather than slowing down to crutch on a handicap.  I've been working pretty hard to correct the core and imbalance issues and already see big improvements from this during training.

I've never run an ultra (I'm stupid, but not that stupid) but I have had success during marathons with Accel gels.  They have a protein and carb mix.

I order them from here  http://www.pacifichealthlabs.com/       but Roadrunner sports stores carry them too.