IM Nutrition

I'm with you SlowOne, its a maze to navigate.  I tried for way too many calories during a pretend HIM duathlon (I'm stuck on a ship) and was dry heaving at hour 2 and was miserable for the rest of the race.  The thought of ever having to consume Hammer again makes my stomach turn.  I've been doing okay since with Accelerade but have some Perpetuem (high end Hammer product with protein) and Endurolytes (Hammer's answer to salt caps) on order.  I'm just going to try them all until I find something that I like and still works for me two hours down the road.  I dig the AccelGels on short workouts but they give me tummy issues on longer or more intense days.

I found some good articles here under Articles/Mind, Body & Soul/Nutrition.  "Sports Drinks: The good and bad sugars," had good info I use as reference.  "Engineered Sports Foods: A Primer," doesn't have a lot of info but a good list of whats out there.

Good luck at CDA! 

How many calories per hour are you taking in?  Your body can process only a certain amount of calories and H2O.  Too many calories taken in too quickly and it will just sit in your stomach.  I shoot for 250 calories per hour, 20 oz H2O, and 600 mg of sodium (I'm 5'7", 143 pounds).  You can figure on ~2 calories / pound of lean body wieght; up to about 400 calories / hour.  These are just guidelines.

Also, GE uses simple sugars while Acel gels uses complex carbs (I assume, haven't looked).  The two do not mix well in your stomach.  Gels should be taken with plain water.  If you mix simple sugars and complex carbs in your stomach, they will just sit there until diluted with water enough to digest. 

In the end, nutrition is very personal.  Experiment in training and find what works.  Develop a nutrition plan for the race and stick to it.

TJ

Start now.  You should be figuring out how many calories per hour your body can handle.  On a 2 hour ride you take the calculated number of calories with you and see how it goes.  Then extend this to your longer rides as your training progresses. 

Other things to consider:

• How are you going to carry your nutrition on the bike?
• All liquids or will you take in some solid food also?
• Do you like the taste of whatever you are taking in?

IMO the most important thing to determine is the number of calories per hour.  Too many and you look pregnant when you get off the bike (bloated belly).  Too few and you bonk on the run. 

TJ

You could have made your infinit without the protein.  I have an infinit mix with protein for the bike and one without for the run.

But there is nothing wrong with CarboPro if that is working for you now.

If anyone is familiar with Energ-ease and Recover-ease, I can get you some product for MUCH cheaper than you can get it online.  They are fantastic little capsules that you take before (Energ-ease) or after (Recover-ease) your workouts.  The Energ-ease capsules might help some of you with GI issues.

If anyone is interested, PM me and let me know.

All of this is so person-specific that it is hard to extrapolate from one person's experience to another without a whole bunch of trial and error (and goodness knows I've had my share of nutritional errors )

That said, be careful with simple sugars ... I believe the rule of thumb I have heard is that once you start with simple sugars, you have to keep taking them or risk the ensuing crash from the "sugar rush".

Also, as far as protein goes, a little bit might do you good due to your body's propensity to cannibalize your muscle for protein to help fuel the energy process (gluconeogenesis).

For some of the biology that I never paid attention to way back when I was in school, see http://www.hammernutrition.com/downloads/fuelinghandbook.pdf ... it is a quick read that gives you an overview of the mechanics behind nutrition and is written so a layman can understand it.  I do not use Hammer products (I prefer Gu and Accelerade), but think the nutritional overview is pretty comprehensive and not specific to their products.

Good points ..

Another thing I have tried is ratcheting down the amount of calories I take in per hour.  I found that I can stomach upwards of 510 cal/hr without gastric distress - but that it took a toll on me in terms of energy.  When I took the caloric level down to 325 cal/hr, my performance improved.

The point being that just because you can 'stomach it' doesn't necessarily mean that the nutrition is doing what you want for you.