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2009-04-09 12:24 PM

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Subject: How many calories to take in per hour?
I realize the answer is this is IT DEPENDS, but does anyone have an idea of how many calories/ lb of body weight you should take in per hour?  My Infinit mix is appx 200 calories in two scoops. I'm female, 5'1, 125 lbs.

thanks !


2009-04-09 12:25 PM
in reply to: #2074024

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Subject: RE: How many calories to take in per hour?
I do 300+, but I am 230#.  My coach, however also does about 300, and she is about your size.
2009-04-09 12:31 PM
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Runner
Subject: RE: How many calories to take in per hour?
Racing or training?
2009-04-09 12:32 PM
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over a barrier
Subject: RE: How many calories to take in per hour?
250'ish for me is what really works...5'10 155
2009-04-09 12:34 PM
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Elite
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Subject: RE: How many calories to take in per hour?
I aim for about 350 cal/hr in my training but I'm 165 lbs but have a high metabolism.  I suggest trial and error.  It only takes a few long workouts to start getting a good idea of what it feels like not to get enough. 
2009-04-09 12:35 PM
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Elite
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Subject: RE: How many calories to take in per hour?
trishie - 2009-04-09 10:24 AM I realize the answer is this is IT DEPENDS, but does anyone have an idea of how many calories/ lb of body weight you should take in per hour? My Infinit mix is appx 200 calories in two scoops. I'm female, 5'1, 125 lbs.

thanks !


It really does depend. If I take in more than 200ish calories/hour, I start to feel ill.

Practice it. Go for a 4 hour ride, and take in 200 cals/hour. If you start feeling sluggish/bonkish towards the end, or pace way falls off, you know you need more. Same thing for your long runs.

John


2009-04-09 12:41 PM
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Triathlete Nation ~ Texas!
Subject: RE: How many calories to take in per hour?
trishie - 2009-04-09 12:24 PM I realize the answer is this is IT DEPENDS, but does anyone have an idea of how many calories/ lb of body weight you should take in per hour?  My Infinit mix is appx 200 calories in two scoops. I'm female, 5'1, 125 lbs.

thanks !


I assume this is during a workout / race environment...

I am 5'11", 170... (you ht/wt you will likely be less)  I average 100 calories burned per mile ran at roughly a 7:30-8:00 pace.  +/- 50 cals, depending on race pace and length.  Bike is very close to the same for me as well.  With that, I usually adjust my intake during a race to about 150-200 per hour - typically, that is 100 cal GU, and some Gatorade for running.  Use a few more solids on the bike... PB crackers or clif bar.  Spaced out as an equivilant.

When I have been dormant (not training hard) resting caloric intake is between 1800-2000 per day.  As my training ramps up, my caloric intake increases as well.  Right now I am at 2800-3300 cals a day, depending on the days training session.

I know this is a lot of gobbly gook, and I certainly don't mean to muddy the waters.  It does depend a lot on you and your engine.  You can use a Garmin or HRM to see where you are at, as a baseline (calorie burner) and fine tune from there.  Good luck!
2009-04-09 1:18 PM
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Alpharetta, GA
Subject: RE: How many calories to take in per hour?
Making the assumption you are talking about racing.  Generally speaking, the higher your exertion level the more difficult it is to absorb calories.  I have been told that carbohydrates / hr, in addition to total calories is important.  Your body will only absorb a limited number of carbs / hr. and if you take too many in, you become bloated and start having GI issues.  At your weight, I would say around 60 gms of carbs / hr is about right.  exertion level plays a big part here.  Think about how fun it would be to eat while going at an all out pace.  You probably couldn't even get your stomach to except anything.  Total calories for you would probably be in the 300 - 325 / hr. range.  A major benefit of your long rides, that more people overlook, is training your body how to absorb more calories / hr.  For HIM and IM distance races you have to get calories in on the bike because it ain't happening on the run (at least not much).  If you can increase your ability to get an extra 50 calories successfully absorbed on the bike, through training your body to do so, you are at an advantage in the later stages of the run when everyone else has run (no pun intended) out of gas.  Very important to train with eating what you are going to eat during the race.  Do not through any changes at your system on race day.  Also, I've learned the hard way, FORCE yourself to eat when pushing hard on the bike in training.  This is definitely a learned activity and if you don't practice it you won't be able to eat on race day at race pace.

Hope this helps! 
2009-04-09 1:42 PM
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Nogales, AZ
Subject: RE: How many calories to take in per hour?
If you use a powertap you can get an idea from looking at either your race file or workout file from a break through workout.  If you use a Garmin...be careful as this device is known to over estimate the number of calories burned....otherwise you are just guessing.  You could also have metabolic testing done which should give you calories burned at each heart rate zone (1-5).  If you have none of this then I agree with everyone else here that about 250-300 per hour does the trick.  It would be nice to know for sure though.
2009-04-09 1:45 PM
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Runner
Subject: RE: How many calories to take in per hour?

For marathons on down:

In training, usually none.

In races, whatever's on the course.  But even then, not a whole lot.

2009-04-09 1:55 PM
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2009-04-09 2:24 PM
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Elite
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Subject: RE: How many calories to take in per hour?
As mentioned, keep in mind that what you can absorb at race effort will likely be less than what you can handle in training.
2009-04-10 9:59 AM
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Master
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Subject: RE: How many calories to take in per hour?
Everyone's posting height/weight. Is there any evidence to support a correlation between your ability to absorb calories at a faster/slower rate and your size?

My gut instinct is that there is not, and that the experimentation route (I'll take Jeep's advice for simplicity) is probably much more prudent.

Can other environmental factors impact my ability to absorb nutrients.  Off the top of my head, I know that the form of the nutrients (liquid, solid, type of carb, etc) plays a role.  Does level of exertion?  Does heat/humidity?  How about the extent to which I have already depleted my energy stores... does my body know it needs more and re-allocate resources to my digestion and tell my legs "no" when I want to go faster?????

2009-04-10 10:02 AM
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Subject: RE: How many calories to take in per hour?
Thanks, everyone.

I know I will need to experiment, but I was hopeing to get some good answers, and, of course, I have !

I'm going to go wtih 200/ hour and see how that feels on the bike.  I'm going to go Infinit only and see how that works.

Scout, you're on the road for well under 4:00 hours ... I'll be on the course for over 14 hours...
2009-04-15 10:31 PM
in reply to: #2076029

The Natti
Subject: RE: How many calories to take in per hour?
Trish, for the IM you could crank up the calories a little with no problem. I would think 240 or so would be fine. The big thing if you are going all liquids, at those lower calorie levels you should have no issues with your gut because the solution will be very isotonic even at high exertions.

Most of our athletes are using two formulas.

1) A higher calorie mix with a little protein for the bike and your long training. The protein keeps you from getting hungry,

2) A non protein blend, slightly less calories and you could add caffeine here. This is for the run. Non protein is much lighter. The run is typically when you want to go easy to aviod any issues.

Hope that helps.
2009-04-16 7:58 AM
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Subject: RE: How many calories to take in per hour?

JoshKaptur - 2009-04-10 10:59 AM Everyone's posting height/weight. Is there any evidence to support a correlation between your ability to absorb calories at a faster/slower rate and your size?

My gut instinct is that there is not, and that the experimentation route (I'll take Jeep's advice for simplicity) is probably much more prudent.

Can other environmental factors impact my ability to absorb nutrients.  Off the top of my head, I know that the form of the nutrients (liquid, solid, type of carb, etc) plays a role.  Does level of exertion?  Does heat/humidity?  How about the extent to which I have already depleted my energy stores... does my body know it needs more and re-allocate resources to my digestion and tell my legs "no" when I want to go faster?????

Other environmental factors definitely impact your ability to absorb, as does your exertion level, humidity, HR, etc.  The body generally DOES NOT allocate rsources to digestion at higher exertion levels, which is why so many people have a hard time getting enough calories on the bike and sometimes can't do any on the run.

There is a very good calculator at www.tri-talk.com that will help with your caloric spend for a given event (based on height/weight) and estimated finish time (exertion level), that will give you a good base number for any race distance.



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General Discussion Triathlon Talk » How many calories to take in per hour? Rss Feed