There's always pressure as an elite level distance runner. Months building toward a single race, planning things down to the minute, and wondering whether preparation will land when it counts. One European track athlete — a new test pilot for ExoLactate® — made the bold decision to use the gel for the first time at their biggest event of the season. WARNING: Don't try this at home.
Confidence Through Testing
Our runner didn't jump straight to race day, though. The journey began in the training block, during high-intensity sessions designed to prepare the body for anaerobic work. These sessions, rarely exceeding 90 minutes, were their own field lab.
The first session involved controlled VO2 max work. The athlete took the gel after a few repetitions and noticed something encouraging: no digestive discomfort, even during strenuous effort in heat and humidity. "Good palatability" and a "mild, pleasant flavour" made it feel natural, not like swallowing just another performance product.
The second session was more demanding: VO2 work transitioning into anaerobic efforts. Again, the gel went down cleanly after the first block, and the athlete felt noticeably stronger in the final part of the session. That upward trend, feeling better rather than worse as the session progressed, was significant.
By the third session, the runner combined the gel with other nutrition tactics, timing everything precisely: bicarbonate first, then the gel about 20 minutes before the start of a long rep workout. The session felt like one of their best efforts of the season so far. An auspicious final day before tapering. Were all the pieces clicking together? That's the impossible question in the heat of training — you can't isolate variables like you can in a controlled laboratory.
Leap of Faith
With only three training sessions under their belt, the athlete made a bold decision. They would use this new nutrition protocol for the first time at a major championship, a 5000m race that represented the culmination of their entire season.
Most coaches would advise against this. There's an obvious risk — introducing variables in high-stakes competition is a recipe for disaster.
However, our runner had built confidence with ExoLactate® through the three sessions, plus detailed conversations with FLF's CSO, Aitor Viribay. Sometimes confidence, instinct and a little risk-taking makes the difference.
"I quite like the flavour and the palatability of the gel."
Taking it about 15–20 minutes before the race, they needed only a sip of water afterward, partly to rinse residue, partly from pre-race nerves. This is the reality of competition: you're not just managing your body, it's a matter of mindset too. Who knows — the cognitive benefits many report with ExoLactate® may just have taken effect at the optimum moment.
In the minutes before stepping onto the track, the runner experienced some bloating and stomach discomfort. This is where honesty matters. They acknowledged the uncertainty: Was it the gel, the bicarbonate they'd taken earlier, a caffeine supplement, or simply the intense anxiety that comes before a major race? They couldn't say for certain. On other race days, this sensation had been milder or absent.
This kind of transparency is rare in athlete testimonials, and it's important. There was no dramatic transformation, no instant relief. There was just an athlete dealing with the "slaughterhouse" of butterflies and pressure before their biggest moment in the season.
Then the gun went off.
"With the starting gun I forgot about all of this. No limitation, no discomfort — quite the opposite."
What followed was a tactical 5000m where the pace remained controlled until the final 1200 meters. As the race tightened to its climax, our racer found themselves "with full energy in the final 200m."
"Probably one of my best finishes to date," they said. And here's what made this remarkable: it came in a year when the athlete had been least prepared going into a major championship. A spring injury had disrupted their training block, and they'd only recently been able to do truly specific high-intensity work. By any objective measure, this wasn't supposed to be their best performance of the season.
"There are few things that give me sensations as intense as the ones I live through in sport. The feeling of satisfaction is hard to explain."
What is striking about this athlete's account wasn't the podium placing, but their perspective on what matters as an athlete. The satisfaction that comes from testing oneself against the best, about the sacrifice of their support team, and about feeling "in tune" with their body through years of dedication to their sport.
