swbkrun with us!!! - Closed (Page 152)

Hey Peeps.....can you believe it's Wednesday already????  With all the RR's to read, time flies....so who's racing this weekend? care to share the secret to your impending success?

I have had a PM request and a request from Linda for a little conversation about nutrtion.  Given it's such a complicated topic, lets break it into a couple of issues (answer what you can, debate it, skip what you're clueless on and getting ready to learn!):

1. How do you handle racing? pre race? during the bike? during the run? what's worked well? what have you found not to to work so well?  what do you do when you get in trouble (GI issues, cramping, etc) And tell us the distance you are referring to since it can vary by length.

2. How do you handle pre-work eating especially when it isn't in the morning?

This Sunday will be my first Tri.  It is a sprint Tri in Benbrook, Texas.  A little nervous not knowing what to expect.

Mike

AWESOME~!!!!!!   HAVE FUN!!!!

Ditto, Mike, have fun!!

Linda

Your math is never wrong...after all you are a professor or something like that!  But I figured it using my "new" feel-good math....see above.  Total time hopefully @ 5:30 hrs with 1125 calories and 280 in reserve if needed (extra gel & chomps).....204.5 calories per hour without using any reserve unless the wheels come off and I am on course for 7 hours......

What are your plans for IMTX?    

I agree with this in principle, but it takes training and eating correctly to successfully do it.  For IM, I took in roughly 15% of the calories I burned.  The ability to do that came from teaching my body to use some of my FAT for fuel and it also took a consistent Z2ish heart rate.  The higher your HR, the more glycogen you burn.  You need a tad of glycogen to access your fat for fuel. Fat alone is not a good source of fuel and is hard to access....if it is at all interesting to you check out Bob Seebohar.  He is one of the Olympic dieticians and recently wrote a book on Metabolic Efficiency.  I was not religious to his recommendations, but I did follow them during training leading up to IM.  I was having all sorts of gut issues trying to ingest calories and his approach allowed me to get to that 15%...which so far, has worked.

I know I've passed out this worksheet before, but if anyone is still looking for a relatively easy calculator for calories per hour or event I have one....just PM me your email address.  It's a word doc.

Good luck Mike and Tony!!

No racing for me this weekend. Thanks Suzy and Linda for bringing up nutrition. It's made me realize I have some trial and error to do before Knoxville. I have a lot of trouble getting calories in on the run without my tummy rebelling, especially when it's warm out.

The longest tris I've done have been Olys, so I've been able to get away with some diluted sports drink and a single gel on the bike and just water on the run. For long training runs (over 2 hours) and marathons, I've tried a bunch of things and so far only jelly bellies and water work for me. For runs in the 1-2 hour range, I usually just take water. I've found that it really helps to carry my own water in running races so I can take a few sips here and there instead of trying to gulp down water at the aid stations. When I get into trouble, I slow down and try to keep taking in water.

Pre-race or pre-run workout, I eat something easy on the stomach like a bagel (no peanut butter, unfortunately) or oatmeal pancakes + coffee at least 2 hours before racing or running. On race days, I'll also have a banana about 20 min before the race starts. I try to get my runs done in the morning because I'm more likely to have tummy problems later in the day, even if I eat something simple for lunch. I don't have problems biking or swimming later in the day.

Suzy, is the Z2 target you mentioned for training or racing or both? For IM or HIM or both? Thanks to everyone for sharing your tips!

Still no racing...boo.  I don't have a lot of experience with nutrition during a race.  I've only ever done the one sprint, and at that, I ate a bagel and fruit for breakfast, and then had a gel about 10 minutes into the bike.  Then I ate everything in sight once I was done!

For my normal workouts, I've never had to take nutrition on a run because my longest run to date was only 1.5 hours.  On the bike, for a 2 hour ride, I'll take in one gel, and for longer, I'll take in maybe 2.  Nothing fancy.

However, I've always had a somewhat sensitive stomach when it comes to working out.  I can't eat a serious meal within 2-3 hours of working out or else I'll feel awful, and even then, I have to eat carefully.  I have to eat something before a morning workout (I've heard this is both good and bad), so I generally eat a banana and/or a granola bar (SunBelt chewy granola are my fave, these were the only things I would eat in college between lunch and our afternoon/early evening soccer games).  I'll eat a "real" breakfast when I'm done.  For my lunch, it's usually just a light sandwich and some fruit and maybe some crackers or chips.  This doesn't bother my workouts at all.  There have been days where I will have pizza for lunch just because it's available at school, and those afternoon workouts are hell. 

I used to have Tums every day, but thanks to my change in diet in the last 6 months, most of my GI issues are gone.  If I do have a bad GI day, I'm usually good about pinpointing exactly what I ate to trigger it.

For long distances, my rule of thumb has been 2 cal per hour for each pound of lean body weight.  Make sure to deduct your body fat weight before calculating.

Just curious.....with all the agreement on tummy issues, has anybody ever been diagnosed with IBS?  Other GI issues? Having tummy problems that aren't related to S/B/R?

I spend (way too much) time wondering how much of my GI issues are S/B/R related, and how much I'd have to deal with anyway if I was back in my couch potato days - is it just part of the package - like sore legs?

No racing for me.  I seem to have figured out what my stomach can handle pre-race at least for stand alone running races and up to the half iron distance.

I like to eat two servings of oatmeal and some type of bread (either a milton's multi-grain two slices or a bagel with peanut butter) and then a cup of either hot water or green tea about two hours before racing.  No coffee for me unfortunately, I tried it and it makes me have an upset stomach and I am already usually nervous so it doesn't help at all.  Before my longer tri's I think I have done a gel about 20 minutes before my wave and sometimes have not done one, so it doesn't seem to affect me either way.

During run events, I do water and gels.  10k, nothing at all.  1/2 marathon, one gel at the halfway point and a little sip of water every 10-15 minutes.  For the upcoming marathon, I am going to go a bit crazy and do one gu at 45 minutes and then one gu every 30 minutes after that.  Water every 15.  I have tried less and I start to really bonk.  It seems like a lot of calories, 100 every 30' but it seems to be working so far and no sloshing or cramping on my long runs with this method.  I just need to figure out how the heck I am going to hold 4 gus without wearing a fuel belt. 

I am still struggling with stomach cramping on the run leg of the HIM.  My bike nutrition is liquid only, Infinit (3 hour mix in a 22/24 oz bottle) and then about 60-80 oz of water.  I usually wait about 15 minutes into the bike to start my nutrition.  And stop taking in any nutrition about 15 minutes before T2.   Last year, my best run was at Oceanside and I had a cramp free run, but it was a nice 65-70 degrees.  Same exact nutrition plan on the bike as my next HIM which was 20 degrees hotter, lots of stomach cramping on the run.  Slowing down seemed to help with the cramping.  And sipping water a little seemed to help. 

I think part of it was pushing too hard on the bike, higher expectations and going out too hard on the run off the bike.  Run nutrition for the HM leg has been water and gels, but I am thinking maybe I need to try just liquid this year.  I might try that on my bricks and see how that works.  I really want to try to nail this down by September (well, July would be better!!!).

Really hard for me to run in the afternoon, but I seem to be okay as long as I wait about 2 hours after eating to workout.  But I do try to avoid dairy (especially cheese) on those days. 

Good luck on your races, Tony and Mike!

Never seen a doctor about my GI issues, but I also used to eat whatever was put in front of me.  Weight was never an issue until my soccer playing days were over, and I kept eating anyway without the extra working out.  I had GI issues while I was playing all the time (I started telling myself it was my way of keeping the other team out of the goal-area ), which makes me think it's not really workout-related at all.  I deal with it whether I'm active of not, it just all depends on what I eat.  The healthier I've been eating, the less gas while I'm working out! 

Again, I've never done long distance stuff, so this may change once I get farther into my HIM training and future IM training!

don't know.

I call BS ....... .Don't know ... or don't want to share?  You are way to organized and focused on this race not have a nutritional game plan either completed or at least started.

It's posts like these that make me wish BT had a LIKE button like FB! Ha!

(LIKE!)

TRIPLE LIKE....Fatty is so full of sh$t! HA!

I must have iron clad stomach. I probably only had GI issues two, maybe three times within the last 2 1/2  years.  I know for sure that I cannot handle sports drinks with lots of sugar very well (Gatorade/Powerade) as it triggers migraines after a bike.  I don't take Nuun anymore as it causes me to belch a lot.  

Out of y'all, I probably am the most LEAST healthy eater. I'm bummed. LOL! I'm such a picky eater that certain foods just don't "taste" well. I'm NOT big on Veggies and fruits, but I am trying.  

What I race with is what I train with. It's that simple.  1 HEED bottle and 1 water bottle (just in case) for the bike. 1 gel per hour of a race (usually only one gel for Sprints, and two for Olympic).  I also learned to eat half of a bagel just right before the swim. That helped to settle down my queasy stomach after the swim due to accidentally swallowing lake water. Thanks to a MG'er's advice  (I think it was Kyla who suggested that).   I also eat the same "crap" that I eat every day for breakfast. Cereal with milk. No problems. I've learned NOT to drink Pumpkin Spice latte before a race...that made my intestines work a bit faster (see my Pumpkinman RR for info. No GI distress, but whoa...). 

 It took me a few long rides to dial down what to eat on a long bike ride.   If I am hungry half way (group ride for example), I usually eat just pop tarts or salty cheese crackers. Gels are saved for rides longer than 25 miles. Group rides usually have a rest break.  When I'm training on my own and doing about 20 miles or more total, I will take in a gel halfway, since I'm not stopping.  No matter what the distance is, I always carry HEED. Vegas can easily get very hot, so I need the electrolytes. I'm a lower sweater than most people that I know, so I don't need the extra electrolytes.  I do carry Endrolytes (I got plenty for free) for emergencies. I even have wiped my face (and felt the salt), and just lick my fingers. Ta da...instant boost.  I don't think I ever had any cramping of any kind, so I never used Endrolytes.  My distances are short, so nutrition-wise it's not that big of a deal to me.  I can handle solid foods on the bike, just not GU gels (for some reason it doesn't settle that well like Hammer Gels) or anything heavy.

For all my runs, I only take water. 

Pre workout eats - I usually go do my workout within the hour or two hour time frame of my meal. Either before dinner, or after dinner, before lunch or after lunch, etc.  Never any issues.  I even went out on a few mile run (I think it was 3.5?) half hour after eating a full calzone. Didn't have GI distress, but boy my stomach was feeling really full and heavy...not doing that again. :-)

I am so far off on what nutrients I need to help but am trying. When I first started riding my cravings

changed from 

McDonald's dbl quarter pounder

                   Coca Cola

and started to crave

Tuna fish

Peanut butter

and such things

Still like a good steak and wild game (big game to fowl) which I cook on the grill

being able to read all of these posts have been a big help.

Well  I had so much fun last weekend I registered for another HIM in September

the Harvest Moon long race festival

this will be a shorter drive.

QUADRUPLE LIKE!! HA!

Awesome - that is what this sport is all about - HAVING FUN!!!!!  Time to start training again.  ;-)

Hello everyone!

   Sorta non-Tri related - After 4 weeks and 30+ hours of drawing/coloring, I finish my series for the final exam.  We had to create three drawings of one or more figures. Each of them needs to look like it can be a standalone picture, but be correlated together as one whole.  So naturally, I picked Triathlon.  Swim, Bike, Run.  They call can stand alone, yet when they all together, they make a triathlon.  See if you recognize one of them...

I normally HATE Life Drawings. I could never do "well" with live models, but from photographs, I do pretty well. :-)  All of these are done with colored (gray scale) pencils, posterized style (using only 4 colors, and tricks your eyes thinking that everything is "realistic" - but in reality they're blobs of one color).   

My teacher was really impressed and was more than happy to try to get two of them (the swim and the run. The bike was a bit weak) up for the coveted display cases.  I was really surprised with the swim because I thought that was my worst.  I'm a happy camper.