Question on using Perpetuem for IM

You can but it gets kind of nasty after 3 hours or so.

You might want to do one bottle with 4.5 scoops, use that for the first three hours, then get a bottle at an aid station and mix a second.

http://www.hammernutrition.com/za/HNT?PAGE=ARTICLE&ARTICLE.ID=1166  

Thanks for the posts.

Do you use this product for the breakfast before the race? I have read that it is great before the race for the kind of fatty acids in it and next sunday I am going to test it at breakfast before an Oly race. 

Perp is like rocket fuel for my body...there is no substitute I've found/tried that works better.  However, although whey is a superior during-exercise source of protein vs soy, you must try to keep it cool so it's palatable.

I've made two 4-hour bottles for both IMs I've done and kept one in special needs.  I too have found that it sitting in in the SN bag makes it a little distasteful (i.e. IMAZ 06) unless kept cool.

so this year I'll be sticking to the nutrition plan that works for me BUT I'll be incorporating some tips I garnered from BT.com.  (1) use an insulated water bottle for bike SN, (2) use bubble wrap and gel ice packs to keep cool, (2) place SN water bottle of perp in SN bags FROZEN or near frozen.

Perp is an unbelievable fuel and if used correctly, you can use it for an incredibly long time (upwards of 24 hours) without any solids and never experience hunger.  I've noticed that if I begin to get hungry when on Perp, it's because I'm underfueling with it.

and REMEMBER to drink enough H20 with the concentrated Perp so your individual stomach needs are met to digest it efficiently.

good luck in your IM!!! 

I've done 4-hour bottles several time.  (Like you, it's 1.5 scoops/hour, so a 6-scoop bottle.)  More than that I found to be a little too solid for me.

But just test it out and find what works for you.  It's kind of expensive to experiment with, so maybe you try a 3- or 4-hour bottle first and see how that works for you before jumping up to a single 6-hour bottle.

good suggestion about the insulated bottle, I will use it!

silly question: is it allowed during IM races that you have your personal refueling? I mean having your friend keeping the second bottle fresh for you and handling to you at a certain spot. I wonder if you can get a penalty for that...

No -- you cannot have someone provide you any assistance, such as you describe handing you a personal bottle.

HOWEVER, there WILLbe a "Special Needs" station halfway through the bike course.  You will be provided a bag with your bib number before the race, and you can put whatever you like into that bag.  You drop the bag off on race morning, and your bag will be available to you at the Special Needs station.

It is very common for people to have a second bottle of their preferred nutrition drink in their Special Needs bag.  (Or extra gels, tubes, CO2, chamois cream, sunscreen, etc.)

Concentrated Perpetuem does taste stronger and tastes nasty after it becomes hot.  I've used 6 scoops in a 20 oz bottle for IM.  Use a blender to mix it then pour into your bottle.

Better solution...Infinit.

TJ

Unfortunately there will be NO Special needs bag service at this venue

I do drink Perpetuem for breakfast mixed with HEED.  I've used it a few times now and it works very well for me.  I have switched to infinIT on the bike, but felt hungry during my HIM a couple of weeks ago.  I never felt hungry using Perpetuem and will be tweaking the number of calories in my InfinIT bottle.

Too bad about no special needs, but could you carry a bottle of dry Perpetuem with you?  That way you drink the one that is mixed up, then mix the new one when you need it at any old aid station.  I have two cages and an aerobottle on my bike, so that is my plan for my IM next year.  I'd like to avoid a SN stop if possible.

I also used perpet for my IM (and all my long rides).  I went with one 3hr bottle (6 scoops) and one 2.5hr bottle (5 scoops) and it worked fine.  On my training rides I found that I really don't like anything thicker than the three hour bottle and a 2.5 or 2 hr bottle is preferable - I like it much better watered down.  make sure to have a bottle of water with yo uto chase it, especially if it is thick.  I also didn't have special needs for my race so I carried it all with me - it was pretty chilly for my race though so I didn't have any problems but yeah, on long rides where its hot that 2nd bottle can get nasty.  Another reason I prefer the 2nd bottle to be watered down more.

I also have used perpet before races and long workouts - I used it for breakfast before a marathon and also before my long morning training runs (since I wanted something in my stomach, but nothing solid like breakfast food) and it worked fine.

experiment with hammer vs infinit.  i've found that whey is not as powerful of a protein for me and the soy protein in hammer is so pure and clean burning (with little ammonia waste product created vs soy) that it's tough to beat for my own personal nutritional needs.

I've revisited my nutritional plan this training season and tried several products...even tried to mix in solids (GASP...did I admit that?? ha ha ha) but absolutely NOTHING worked better for me than perpetuem.

Just ask Schmize, he was an eye witness of the "rocket fuel" at work around mile 80 of our 112 IMWI course ride...and that was AFTER I crashed my bike and was riding with a painful knee.

for me, through the years of nutritional experimentation for IM distance trng, I've found that Perp is an incredible rocket fuel and there is no replacing it.  not cliff bars, not peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, not brownies, not bagels, not bananas, not hammer gel, not Infinit, not power gels, not oranges, not pretzels, not fig bars, not payday candy bars, not fritos, not accel gels, not even those little 5-hour energy bottles.    Yes, I have tried ALL of the above and nothing fuels my muscles at mile 80 and beyond on the bike better than perp.

 you gotta just experiment and see what works for you best.

I did two six scoop bottles and mixed in water from aid stations in the aero bottle.  Worked great.  I love perpetuem!

I plan to take a 3 hr bottle with me on the ride at IMAZ and then have a "dry" three hour bottle ready in my SN bag.  Any thoughts about the pros and cons of leaving your second bottle dry in the SN bat would be great.

 Thanks

All very useful posts, thanks!

About Perpetuem for the breakfast before the race, do you mix it with milk or still only with water or some other liquids? I think the Vanilla flavour should be excellent with milk but never tried...