Aspire Meet Day System

The 17-Minute Race: What a High School 5K Actually Needs, and What It Frees You From

A 5K does not deplete the tank, so the fuel that decides it went in long before the gun.

what usually happens

The mechanismDigestion is slower than the raceSwallowed carbs must empty, absorb, circulate and then be burned.Rates that matter are reached deep into long events, not in minute two.

The guidanceUnder 45 minutes, not requiredPosition statements put in-event carbohydrate at not needed below ~45 min.A high school 5K is less than half of that threshold.

what the evidence supports

Stop doingFive things you can dropGels for a 5K, carb loading a XC team, gut training for zero intake.Sports drink brand debates, and treating the last hour as the big one.

InsteadSpend it on the weeks beforeChronic under-fuelling is the real threat, and it is invisible on race day.Then the morning meal, hydration as a schedule, and the hour after.

The fuelling problem at a high school meet is not the race; it is everything around it.

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