Olympic Nutrition

This is what I do for a 3 hr olympic race.  Nutrition is very personal, so you need to figure out what works for you. 
* Start with a good breakfast ~ 3 hours before the start.  My "go-to" b'fast is a bagel with peanut butter and a banana.  2 cups coffee (because I'm addicted).  Water on the way to the race.
* 1 gel 15 min. before the swim start.  
* 1 gel in the last 1/3 of the bike. 
* Lots of water.  My aerobottle holds 40oz (it's the big one) and sometimes I go through most of it.

I'm not a huge fan of sports drinks.  If I need salt, I use Saltstick caps and chase with water. 

Like the first poster said, nutrition is very personal and based on what your stomach can tolerate. I have an Oly coming up in Nov. and this is what I'm planning:

2-3hrs before the race
B'fast: 1 slice of sprouted grain bread w/ natural peanut butter and a piece of fruit, coffee and lots of water.

Then sipping continuously on water before the race and a gel about 15min. before the swim

On the bike I'm taking 2 16oz bottles one filled with plain water and one filled with Accelerade. I like the Accelerade for the 4:1 protein mix, and because it's a powder mix I can delute it down a bit so it's not too strong.

Then just drink water off the course during the run....however I'm not real keen on drinking on the run, so I'll have to walk the aide stations.

Depending on how hot it will be (it's in Miami) I may take a NuuN salt tab with me while running, on my fuel belt and just carry water and that with me instead of stopping at the aide stations. If it's not too hot by the time I hit the run I'll skip the the NuuN and fuel belt. The last tri I did in Miami it was scorching by the time I got to the run and I was forced to drink the on-course Gatorade to stave off deydration. I HATE GATORADE!

Definetly a gel coming out of the swim for a little boost.  Personally i like to get a little bit in my stomach about half way through the bike, maybe a mini cliff bar.  Near the end of the bike 1 more gel and you should be good to go.  Gatorade is great also to drink on the bike, but you can probably do just as well if the run aid stations have it.  That said, i agree with all the other posters, you need to figure out whats good for you.  Maybe tri a 3 hour workout at a decent pace to prepare and see what foods feel good and what foods maybe don't.  Good Luck!

Here is my plan:

Gu on bike.

I take a Gu Roctane before, one after the swim, alternate sips of water and sports drink (Accelerade) on the bike, another Roctane on the bike, then one again on the start of the run.  At that point, drink for thirst at the aid stations.

I did my first Olympic this past weekend.  I finished in2:33.  This is what I did.

Small dinner the night before
PBJ 3 hours before race
1/2 PBJ 1 hour before race
Transition 1: GU
Transition 2: GU
Sip water before race, bike and run

Our temps were low 60's.  I would do something different if temps were above 70 

Not much before the race. Nothing in transitions...why waste those free seconds? On the bike, gels and Gu20 or HEED...the thought of gatorade is horrifying! On the run, same thing, but you shouldn't need much...

Nutritional requirements are individual and depend on many factors but these are some rough thoughts for a typical athlete in an Oly distance event. 

The majority of your nutritional requirements for an Oly distance tri will be addressed prior to the race as opposed to during the race.  The morning of (I usually eat about three hours before start time) you should aim for a good breakfast to top up your body's glycogen stores.  After that you want to keep your stores topped up; some will use a sports drink and sip on it throughout the morning while others prefer a gel in the 15-30 minutes before the start.

Due to the intensity at which you will be racing an Oly distance event, your body is going to have a limited ability to process food so you want to keep your on course nutrition to a minimum.  Also, liquid calories are usually easier to process than solid so using gels or a sports drink to get your calories is often best.  I would suggest that a good target would be 100-200Cal on the bike; if you are closer to 1:00 on the bike then aim for the lower end, if you are on the bike for 1:20+, then aim for the higher end.  On the run, if you are going to take anything, you would be best served by small sips of sports drink at each aid station as opposed to taking in a gel in one shot.

FWIW, my Oly distance nutrtion looks like this (for a 2:10-2:25):

Breakfast - 300-400Cal
Starting 1 hour out to about 15 minutes out - energy drink (200Cal)
Bike - either a gel at 20km or about 100Cal of sports drink throughout (if I have a gel I carry a small bottle of water only, if sports drink, a small bottle of sports drink only)
Run - no calories but a small sip of water at each station or every second aid station

Shane

so far my best result has been using:

gel 1 hour before start, gel 15 min before start

200 calories on bike (xterras are a bit longer on the bike, bike time was ~80 minutes)

a few sips of gatorade at the first aid station, the rest water from my fuel belt.

I'm a smaller guy (consumed about 25-30 oz of liquid) and temps were in the upper 80's/low 90's by about half-way through the bike. 

I just did my first Oly and it went very smoothly.

I ate bagel with natural crunchy PB 2.5 hrs before race start.
1 Banana 45 min before start.
1 gel 15 min before swim.
1 GU on bike when I was an hour into bike.
Drank H20 and Nuun- 1/2 of each bottle.
Run- drank H20 at aid stations, ate one clif blok to ward off nausea.

I was nervous so I ate a lot before the race, but it was the smoothest race I've ever had.  If anything, try it out before race day so your stomach doesn't go haywire from what you put in it.

I pop a gel before the swim, and maybe a few shot blocks...then another gel 1/2 to 2/3 on the bike...run optional. definitely drink...and Breathe! thats the main thing.