What do you think about this olympic distance nutrition plan?

Your pic was broken so here it is:


It looks like a well thought out plan. Everyone is going to ask/tell you to make sure you have practiced with all of these products and tested yourself in training against them. Personally, I think the breakfast is a bit big and overall it's a lot of liquid (4 bottles of powerade/water) for an Oly but it's just my opinion. As always, nutrition is a deeply personal thing and no one can really tell what you'll feel like even with a tested sweat rate, etc.


Edited by merlin2375 2009-09-09 5:43 PM

I'm dying to see what the experts say, because it seems I know nothing about nutrition.That seems like a lot of liquid, Is the race in Death Valley? If it were me, I'd go with your breakfast, but I'd have coffee too. I'd have 8 oz of water right before the start with one Gu. Skip the Powerade completely. Skip all the gels. Keep water only on the bike, maybe mix it with a little Powerade. Keep one gel on the bike just in case. Hope for water on the run course in case I felt I really needed it. Eat whatever is offered to me at the finish.

Good luck trying to down 2x bottles on the run.

You will need to pop a hammer gel before the swim start 10-15min before. Also make sure you are well hydrated all morning.

In olympic distance, you generally only really take in food and drink on the bike portion. I'd say 2x powerade on the bike and 2x hammer gels. Then maybe just a bit of water in bike/run transition or from aid stations on the run if you feel you really need. it.

IMO that's too much food and drink during the race and you won't be able to stomach it. It may be different for other people but thats my experience with it.  

Are you sure you can handle those calories at OLY pace?  I know some can, but my stomach definitely cannot.  Guess it doesn't hurt to have 'em, but don't force 'em down if you don't feel like eating.  For the one OLY I did this year I just used water.

Ok, I think I see a bit of what I did wrong. I've been doing most of this plan following guidelines for full and half IM distances. I guess with a 2 hour race, most of what I will need will already be stored up. So maybe a smaller breakfast and 2 powerades on the bike with a gel or 2 if I feel I can stomach it?

Way too many calories

This is my typical approach to fueling for a short course race:

Breakfast - ~250Cal about three hours before start
Sip water from breakfast until 1 hour out (approx half small bike bottle ~300mL)
1 hour out - flat energy drink (max 200Cal)
Bike - maybe (about 30% of races) one gel (110Cal) and half to 3/4 of an aerodrink (500-750mL)
Run - maybe a sip of water at each aid station

So, I'm looking at a max of 560Cal and 1300mL of water from the time I get up until the end of the race.  If you just look at the race it would be a max of about 1000mL and 110Cal.

Good luck,

Shane


Edited by gsmacleod 2009-09-09 7:11 PM

x2. Also your pre race nutrition has a LOT of protein and not enough carbs. In general you need 1-4 grams of carbs per kilogram of weight 3 hrs before exercise. The harder you will go (i.e. racing the Oly just below power/pace threshold). Another thing to consider is that in general our bodies can process around 1 gr of carbs x minute, that means around 60 grams x hour or 240 Kcal.  If you did a good job with pre-race nutrition you will have enough fule for around 60-90 min (depending on intensity) hence you also have to conider that.

Yes this will be plus or minus based on your weight, duration of the event, how much kcal/carbs you had before the race and training /racing intensity, hence your body might be able to absorb 80 gr of carb (320 kcal) or less than 60 gr/carbs. The point is that IMO is better to start with less and add accordingly; use training (race rehearsals) to test your optimal intake and add more if needed. Good luck

normal breakfast before pretty much all races for me, normally about 2-3 hours out (longer for shorter races, a bit closer for longer ones)

breakfast of something like:
bagal and banana, or cereal, or small sandwhich, something like one of these depending on what i have around.

some water/coffee/energy drink between then and start, again depending on what i have around

gel 15 min before start.

in an olympic on the bike:
one bottle. if its hot, sports drink, maybe one gel on the bike (drink is either watered down or electrolytes only).

on the run, nothing but a bit of water.

that is more than my fueling for HIM racing and would prob kill me in short racing.

For me, personally, that would be WAY, WAY too much. I am a bagel and PB for breakfast, one gel on the bike, MAYBE one on the run kind of person.

But if you've practiced with it all, and you can handle it...then whatever works for you is really key.

Wow.  If you could actually stomach all of that during an olympic distance race and not keel over in a puddle of your own puke I'd be astonished.   

If you're confident you'll be finishing in ~2.5hr I'd go with two bottles on the bike, one with the sportsdrink of your choice, one with straight water, and two gels.  Have the first gel at mile 5 or so of the bike, the second at ~mile 20.  Kill the bottle of sportsdrink over the course of the ride and hit the water if you feel like it.  On the run just grab a cup of whatever from the aid stations if you feel like it.  Maybe bring one gel along for insurance in case you get out there and really feel like you need it.

As you do a few more of these things and get faster you'll probably tend to bring less and less stuff out on course with you.  Before my first oly I was stressing out about nutrition too, so I ended up going a little bit overboard and had 3 gels plus 24oz of double strength HEED on the bike.  I did alright, but I felt like my stomach was going to explode for most of the run (and I didn't even attempt to eat the gels I had planned for the run).  I did an oly last weekend with a single 16oz bottle of Powerbar Endurance on the bike, of which I only finished about 2/3, and 1 cup of water from an aid station at the 2 mile mark of the run (90% of which failed to enter my mouth).

Dammmmnnnnn!
For me it's normal breakfast, 1 bottle of water with two scoops of HEED about 1/2 hour before the race, 1 bottle w/ HEED on the bike and water only at the run aid stations.

x2

Too much.  Both in calories and nutrition AND planning IMO.

Granted, I know what you are going through and sort of did the same thing early on.

SIMPLER IS BETTER in almost all cases...


For a sprint, I would eat a light breakfast of a bagle and banana or some oatmeal or something and make sure I hydrate.  I would pack ONE bottle of water on the bike and drink when I felt thirsty.  I don't drink on the run unless I feel like I need to and then only what's on the course.

An oly is about the same thing.  Light breakfast and hydrate and I have TWO bottles on the bike and I make sure I get most of it down while riding.  They can be gatorade or water, most likely one of each.  As for the run, again, I only drink a sip or two at random aid stations.

There you go.  When you are out there 6 or more hours, then you need to plan more.  The longer the race, the more planning you need.  For sprints and Oly's take a minimum and just hammer through it, IMO.

x3

WAYYYYYYY too much thought into this.  You barely have to eat/drink anything before or during in most sprints and olys.

Here's my nutrition "plan" for an olympic:

Wake up.  Get dressed.  Get in the car.  Drive to race site.

At race site, set up transition, put ONE bottle on the bike with either all water or Gu20 mixture (tops out at most 150 calories if I were to actually drink the whole thing).

45 minutes before race, take a Gu ROctane and a swig of Gu20.  15 minutes before race, another ROctane and swig of Gu20.  So about 250 calories right before the race.

Race.  Swim, get out of wetsuit and onto bike.  Maybe swish around some of my bottle.  Push hard, if I remember to drink - drink.  MAYBE ......... and not often ........ take one ROctane gel on the bike (I carry one, usually don't use it).  Get off bike.  Run.  Grab a cup or two from the aid stations and splash it in my mouth just to keep the cotton mouth at bay.

That's it.  All told I might drink about 30 oz. the entire time.  And at most 3 gels (including the two before the race) so 300 calories from that.

In a sprint, I don't even bother drinking the whole time other than my pre-race ritual (which is the same all the way up to marathons).

Keep it simple!!!!  Don't overthink it.  It is only 2-1/2 hours of exercise!

Edited by Daremo 2009-09-10 12:44 PM

Here is my last plan for an Oly
Up 2.5 hours before race.  toast and PB&J, juice and coffee
hour ahead coffee and a gel
one gel on bike with a bottle of water
Run- water at stops when thirsty, one HEED 8oz.     

To me too too much stuff. 

Wow, that's a lot of stuff - I would get crazy sick trying to take half of that in...

For my Oly, I had a banana and coffee in the morning.

I had one bottle of water on the bike (plenty).

For the run, I took one water and one Heed at two of the stops and had a gel in there at some point because I happened to have one in my pocket.  I would've been fine without it though...

Cheers, Chris

I'll agree with the others that it SEEMS like way too much fluid/calories. My best suggestion would be to take this plan and try it out. Set up a simulated triathlon and follow your nutrition plan and see what happens.

My current fear is that you follow this plan to the letter, and then slosh around peeing every 200 yds on the run. :0

For sprints - My usual breakfast is PB and honey on wheat (one sandwich) a couple hours before race time with some OJ. I'll sip water up until I'm line for the swim start. I have one small water bottle on the bike with ZYM in it, and I generally only finish about 1/2 of that. Couple gulps of water/gatorade on the run.

For Olympic, I'll about double the above for in race hydration and add a gu, maybe two.

When I first read your plan, I thought you were going for a HIM or IM.

John

HAHAHA 5 water bottles from 8am to 11:25am? LOL do 1 more bottle of water and your about 4oz from a gallon. Way too much! Im racing an Olympic this weekend. I might eat a cliff bar an hr before the race along with a cup of coffee. I will have 1 water bottle on my bike w/a nuun tablet in it. Thats about it. No water on the run well i might have 1 cup from the aid station. My last run, I ran 16 miles and finished one water bottle by the time i got back home.

Seriously that plan would kill me.  No way I could consume half of that...

1 gu before swim,

100-200 cal on the bike based on weight, pace, etc.   water based on  temp

100 cal (1 gu) on the run 4-8 oz water depends alot on the temp.

Edited by Baowolf 2009-09-11 12:09 AM