Penn State's mentor group - CLOSED! (Page 56)

Nutrition is something you'll need to experiment with.  For example, in my most recent HIM I drank 2 bottles of HEED per hour on the bike, which is twice as much as the poster above.  I had no problems whatsoever.  I also ate a clif bar.

It is FAR better to get a little less than you could handle than a little more than you can handle with nutrtion during the race.  If you eat too much, your GI might shut down and then you can have cramping, vomiting and other GI distress... and then you're in trouble.

If you eat too little, you run the risk of bonking... but even if that happens (unlikely imho) you can recover from that MUCH more easily than you can from GI distress.

Depending on your size, I'd recommend starting out your experiment with around 200 calories per hour.  I'd get them mostly from liquid if you can (easier to digest, but some feel better with solids).  If that feels good, try a little more next time.  You'll soon learn what your body can process given the effort you are putting out and the conditions.

A note about conditions - you are going to sweat more, and therefore lose more liquid/electrolites, the more hot/humid it is.  You'll need to adjust your fluid intake accordingly, though there does come a point for some people in some conditions where they are losing more than they can put in.  At that point, all you can do is slow down and hang on during the war of attrition.

Bottom line on nutrition - IT DEPENDS on a lot of things.  I've given you a general starting place but it could be too much and is likely a little less than you can handle.

That's impressive!  Way to go.

I've been steadily losing weight, I did gain 5 lbs after my IM but I felt my body needed that.  I started last summer at 186 and I'm 168 this morning;  I don't try to starve myself and put in calories if my body screams for them.  When I was counting calories I'd get sick more often, because I'd eat 1400 calories for the day and burn 1900 calories...

I thought I looked pretty good at 5'8" 165 then I went to IMSG and that was an eye opener.  I definately was 'soft' compared to the majority of people there.

Anyway I went from being plain old fat, to being fat for an endurance athlete, I still have about 14 pounds to go.

Have a good race!!! Have some fun too!!

Great job on the weight loss to you and all the others!  I would like to lose more weight than I have this year because it is free speed and I definately have some weight to lose.  But considering the amount of time I have spent in a hotel this year eating at restaurants, I consider staying even a minor victory.

As far as nutrition, I too like to keep it simple.  I will ususually train with what the race will offer so I can live off the course.  I do beleive it is important to have significant time training/practicing with your nutrition plan and adjusting accordingly.  I also beleive it is important that you have some flexibility in your plan so that if things don't go the way you think they will you aren't stuck in a panic.

Interestingly, I listened to a podcast by SimplyStu recently that was an interview with Craig Alexander.  Stu usually at some point in his interviews will get into the nutrition strategies that the pro's he is interviewing use.  Craig stated that his is always changing and they were different from the first win to the 2nd win.