TOTW: HIM Nutrition Plans

The calculators Jonathan mentioned are great.  We used the one on www.tri-talk.com to calculate our HIM nutrition last year. 

I ate 1 pop-tart before the swim start after an oatmeal breakfast 3 hrs pre-race.

On the bike, I had 1 bottle Accelerade (240 calories) plus about 3/4 of a Gu (75 calories) per hour with plain water as needed.  I also brought some fig newtons and gingersnaps and had one of each (30 mins apart) during the valley of darkness.  This amount of food/water was great while I was training.  It worked great in bricks.  However, on race day, it was way too much for my higher exertion level and I suffered on the run.  I didn't barf, but it felt like I might and I had to go slower.

This year's plan is to either alternate bottles of Accelerade (240 calories) and Gu2O (100 calories) or do straight Gu2O with 1 scoop Carbo-pro (approx 200 calories) plus a Gu (100 calories) about every hour.  I think I feel better with the protein of the Accelerade but that is just me.

On the run, just like Jonathan said.  I take a Gu about every hour and drink only Nuun and water.  You could also drink only your electrolyte+carbohydrate drink and skip the Gus.

^^^^^ she is only going to take in about 200 calories an hour on the bike.  I need about 250 an hour. 

I would try to learn to love gels.  They are really  the best thing for getting calories while you run.  They tend to be easy on the tummy.  Try different brands, flavors, and whether they have caffeine. 

Nutrition is very personal and folks are a little leery of telling you "this is the way you should do it."  As you are dialing it in ask specific questions and most of the smart folks on here will give you some great insight.

I just realized that it might help to add some links:

http://www.hammernutrition.com/downloads/fuelinghandbook.pdf?utm_source=Endurance%2BAthletes%2BGuide%2Bto%2BSuccess&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=fuelingbook

This is a great publication from Hammer Nutrition that explains a lot of the ins & outs of nutrition.  It is chock full of info, but remember it does lean a bit towards their products.

Below are some great products to consider:

http://www.infinitnutrition.com/ -there thing is a custom mix that meets your personal needs in a liquid form.

http://www.accelerade.com/Default.aspx - they are all about the 4 to 1 carb protein ratio.  I use this because I get a sweet deal through my tri club on it.

http://www.guenergy.com/ -I think they were the original gel.  They now make a whole lot of different stuff.  They are the best because they sponsor my wife.  btw, my wife would love to give you samples...

http://www.powerbar.com/ -I think they were the original excercise bar.  They now sell gels and drinks too.

http://www.all3sports.com/product_info.php?pName=sportquest-carbopro-30-lb&osCsid=e713952d5dadb7fe47d8f4b42cc4b24c - Carb-Pro.  This is a great way to boost the calories of your drink. 

http://www.nuun.com/ -Nuun is a calorie free electrolyte additive for your water.  It looks like alka seltzer.  Another great product.  Some foks love it and some thing it is bizarre.

http://www.clifbar.com/ -They make the best tasting energy bars.  They now have the full line of nutrition products including wine.  Yep.  There is a clif family wine label.

I'll take some Gu samples! Maybe at next NAMS mtg??  

~ Mark

This is all GREAT info...and I realize really how much I have been winging the nutrition for the most part. So, I'll look at it from a more mathematical standpoint and then start the trial and error process.

Thanks everyone!

 
ps - esp. liked the "eat until you puke" method - I might save that one for last. ha! (But seriously, I see what you're saying.)

Thanks for the great info.

Sorry if I'm slow mentally, or slept through that day in triathlon class, but I just figured out something which is a great revelation to me.  Of course, I've also since learned this is not new news to experienced long course triathletes.

I was having a sore mouth from the sugar in Gatorade, Powerade, Accelerade, etc. as I went from my workouts being 1 to 2 hours, to workouts of 4 to 5 hours.  After 4 hours, of course I still needed the calories and electrolytes, but it hurt my mouth to drink anything sweet.

Now I'm mixing my sports drinks, double or triple strength (very sweet), and every single time I take a drink, I follow it with a sip and swish of straight water.  Also I'm consciously changing my old "sip small, sip often" practice to "big gulps" every 15 or 20 minutes.  Same amount of calories and electrolytes per hour, but less time of sugar in the mouth.

For fellow long course newbies, I hope this helps.  To the wise IM veterans, who's advice has helped me so much, thanks, and please expound on this if I'm on the right track.

Bill 

I had this long elaborate post written the other day and the interwebs ate it so in lieu of reinventing the wheel I am going to throw some things out and if there is something that you don't understand or would like more information on you can ask.

Some things to remember in regard to nutrition (and these are general rules of thumb, not absolutes by any means).

• The longer the race (or time you are refueling for) the lower the intensity should be and the more calories and fluids you should be able to take in. For Ironman racing your intensity should be such that you can take in ~300 calories per hour (or more). For Half Iron a good place to start is ~250 calories per hour. Olympic and Sprint distances are a bit different and both really depend on how hard you are racing each as to how many calories you can (or should) ingest. A well trained athlete can store ~1500-2000 calories in the muscles and liver in the form of glycogen. This is more than enough to get through a Sprint distance without refueling and for a large population of people it is enough to get most of the way through an Olympic.
• As a general rule most athlets overconsume calories and fluids which lead to GI distress. We have been drilled that we must consume calories and drink at every available opportunity and this is simply not the case for most athletes. Our bodies are wonderfully engineered things and we have built in mechanisms to let us know when to eat (hunger) and when to drink (thirst). I have found that if you pay attention to both then you are usually in good shape. If you chose to try the "eat til you puke" to find out the maximum amount you can take in, I also encourage you to do the opposite and "go til you bonk" to find out how little you can take in, it might surprise you.
• Find something that works and stick with it. Test it in training, test it in a B race, and then test it some more. That all being said don't be afraid to change things up on race day if your nutrition starts to go south. Last year at Steelhead 70.3 the day before the race was hot and humid so I went with a nutrition plan that I had used for Gulf Coast earlier in the season and had worked well under similar conditions. On race day it ended up being cooler and windy so my bottle of nutrition was completely inappropriate for the conditions and I couldn't get it to go down on the bike. Luckily I had a couple of Accel gels in my pocket and was able to use those and water to get though the bike and then used a combination of water and gatorade on the run.
• Nutrition isn't confined to just race day. Throughout the week prior try to increase your sodium intake a little (just a dash extra of salt on your food is good) if you are racing a particularly hot race. Make sure you are eating good healthy food in a 40% carb/30% fat/30% protien ratio. DO NOT "carb load" the night before with a large portion of pasta. Your body is not going to process it in time for it to be useful and depending on your digestion rate can still be sitting there the next morning. Better to eat a moderately sized portion of pasta two days before to allow the body to absorb the meal completely. Also it is a good idea to stay away from high fiber foods a few days before the race also. That big salad for lunch the day before can come back to haunt you on race day.

I know I have thrown alot out here and some of it has been very general so please let me know if you have any questions. Nutrition is something that is unique to everyone so you have to try and figure out what works for you and stick with it.