1 full page of spam before this thread got a real, in-depth response is nuts. Find somewhere else to get it out of your system.
Answer: Can you bicarb twice? Sure. Should you? Probably not.
First, Maurten recommends an intake of no more than 2-3 times PER WEEK due to the high sodium content. So 2 times per day will certainly be overkill.
That said, there is at least one study that has shown (conducted by Maurten themselves, so take it with a grain of salt) that bicarb can raise blood HCO3 levels for up to 7-9 hours.
If your window is 10am to 6pm, you're gonna be just on the outside of that range, since you typically take bicarb at least an hour before you race - so 9am to 6pm.
My recommendation is to pick which event really matters more to you and/or your team. It's very early in the season, so personally I would pick the open 800m, but that's just me. Alternatively, you can take it before the 4x800m and just hope that you can get some of the residual effects of it later in the day.
This post was edited 2 minutes after it was posted.
1 full page of spam before this thread got a real, in-depth response is nuts. Find somewhere else to get it out of your system.
Answer: Can you bicarb twice? Sure. Should you? Probably not.
First, Maurten recommends an intake of no more than 2-3 times PER WEEK due to the high sodium content. So 2 times per day will certainly be overkill.
That said, there is at least one study that has shown (conducted by Maurten themselves, so take it with a grain of salt) that bicarb can raise blood HCO3 levels for up to 7-9 hours.
If your window is 10am to 6pm, you're gonna be just on the outside of that range, since you typically take bicarb at least an hour before you race - so 9am to 6pm.
My recommendation is to pick which event really matters more to you and/or your team. It's very early in the season, so personally I would pick the open 800m, but that's just me. Alternatively, you can take it before the 4x800m and just hope that you can get some of the residual effects of it later in the day.
Thank you for not wasting everyone's time with a stupid answer. This is exactly the kind of answer I was looking for and I appreciate it.
1 full page of spam before this thread got a real, in-depth response is nuts. Find somewhere else to get it out of your system.
Answer: Can you bicarb twice? Sure. Should you? Probably not.
First, Maurten recommends an intake of no more than 2-3 times PER WEEK due to the high sodium content. So 2 times per day will certainly be overkill.
That said, there is at least one study that has shown (conducted by Maurten themselves, so take it with a grain of salt) that bicarb can raise blood HCO3 levels for up to 7-9 hours.
If your window is 10am to 6pm, you're gonna be just on the outside of that range, since you typically take bicarb at least an hour before you race - so 9am to 6pm.
My recommendation is to pick which event really matters more to you and/or your team. It's very early in the season, so personally I would pick the open 800m, but that's just me. Alternatively, you can take it before the 4x800m and just hope that you can get some of the residual effects of it later in the day.
Thank you for not wasting everyone's time with a stupid answer. This is exactly the kind of answer I was looking for and I appreciate it.
If you do take it before your morning race, just remember to hydrate a little more during the window between the races.
Combine Beta Alanine with Bicarb. You achieve intramuscular buffering with Beta Alanine, and extracellular buffering in the bloodstream with the bicarb. You reduce the dosage of bicarb required, and can reduce or avoid gastrointestinal issues.
I have had this exact same situation and actually talked to the nutritionists at Maurten about it. They have had some of the pros run into this situation (Olympics etc with heats and finals) and while bicarb does stay elevated for an extended time (5-7hrs) it is also "use-it and lose-it" so after a race you will not be at the same level (that study was done at rest to show how far out you can take it and still reach peak). Basically what they worry about is the excess sodium intake hence the 2-3/week so if you can get a top up in then it negates that a bit and gives you the top up you want. What they recommend and what I've done is full dose before the full race and then a half dose as a top up before the next race. For context I did this with 2 races separated by 4.5hrs and had no issues.
Thank you to the last several posters who gave answers based upon their experiences. Exactly what I was looking for. Obviously I can google and read the scientific recommendations but I posted here because this is where I'm going to get an applied science answer and not theoretical mumbo jumbo. Excellent. I will post back here after my races and provide an anecdote that will hopefully be helpful. I'm running 400m, then dmr 1200 about 7 hours later, then the next day 3200m (12 hrs after dmr), then mile about 10 hrs later. Not sure which races I will bicarb, obviously not all 4.
The kidneys are the body's ultimate Homeostatic Police. The Threshold: Once blood bicarbonate exceeds ~26–28 mmol/L, the kidneys hit their "Renal Threshold." They stop reabsorbing it and start dumping it into the bladder. The Result: If an athlete like Keely or Wiley loads too early, they aren't "buffering" their 800m; they are just creating "Expensive Urine." Their blood pH will have returned to a "Super Cool" 7.4 before the gun even fires.