Race Nutrition

From Hammer Nutrition and Coach Vance:

1. Do not eat within 3 hours of event. It will adversely impact glycogen stores due to digestion requirements
2. Replenish fluid at a rate of 20-28 oz./hour.
3. Replenish calories at a rate of 240-300 cal/hour. On the bike expect 300-400 cal/hr. On the run in a triathlon expect 150-250 cal/hr.
4. Avoid any fuel the contains carbs with -ose in the name: fructose, sucrose, dextrose, and glucose. They provide very inconsistent and short-term peaks and valleys type energy. The body can't assimilate a sports drink with a concentration of higher than 6-8% of simple sugars (which equals an inadequate ~100 cal solution). Higher concentrations lead to delays and digestion inefficiency. Simple sugars and complex carbs consumed together or near each other increases the solution concentration beyond what either source can be efficiently digested at. Go with complex carbs. Avoid fat. (Hammer Gel and HEED are good fuel sources. HEED also supplies a portion of electrolyte requirements.)
5. Replenish electrolytes, including sodium, calcium, magnesium, and potassium. Its as important as the water and calories you take in. Start at ~200-400 mg NaCl, but no more than 400-600 mg. Don't rely on salt tabs. It's ideal to satisfy the majority, if not all, electrolyte needs from a source independent of your fuel. Endurolytes capsules contain needed minerals in rapidly assimilated form.
6. Add protein for events exceeding 2 hours. This can be the primary-to-sole fuel source from beginning to end, replacing Gel or HEED. Use soy based proteins. No whey, which can cause gas formation. Perpetuem is a highly digestible soy protein.
7. Liquid fuels and gels combined with water tend to digest and absorb better and faster. Use very little solid fuel.
8. Be flexible in a race. May not be able to handle as much in take at normal due to stress. Body may not be digesting optimally.

According to Coach Vance, when discussing a Half Ironman (modified below):

Figure approximately how long you will be on the bike, and how long out on the run course. Next, figure out how you will meet your caloric needs based on those estimations of time.

One choice some people opt for is gels during the bike. But why fumble with wrappers and worry about trash and litter? Though you can place a flask in your pocket, or on the bike, they are still small to handle, and easy to drop. On the run is a better time to utilize gels and gel packets.

On my bike, most have the ability to hold 3 water bottles, 2 in the frame, and I place one aero-bottle in the front aerobars. In the aero-bottle and in one bottle on the frame, it’s probably best to go with strictly water. In the other bottle, store your calories.

You can pack one 24 ounce water bottle with the calories you need, and then topped off with water and dissolved. It makes a giant gel-like substance, but easy with you bottle, and requiring less water than a gel.

Obviously, each taken from the calorie-packed bottle will need to be followed with a drink of plain water. This you get from the aero-bottle. When the aero-bottle is empty, refill it with the bottle in the frame. When approaching an aid station, first replace the empty bottle, and then fill the aero-bottle.

If you use a clear 24 ounce bottle for calories, you can get visual feedback of how your nutrition intake is going. Since the course is marked in 5 mile increments, you can estimate, or use your odometer on a bike computer. When you hit 14 miles you should look down at the bottle and see that ¼ of it is empty. At 28 miles half of the bottle is gone, and so on. This is excellent visual feedback, which is obvious, and does not require any complex calculations to know if you’re doing things correctly. Positive feedback also boosts your confidence, since you are following the plan perfectly! If you are a little off, you can adjust to get back on track. Either way, you’re doing the things you need to do to have a great race.

If you can not store enough calories in one bottle, then you need to come up with some other sources at the aid stations, in order to get what you need. However, this should be minimal and fairly easy. Although, it is good to know what the aid stations have as a contingency plan, should something go awry with your original one, such as a dropped bottle, spilt contents, upset stomach, etc.

On the run, figure out your plan as well. Taking in a gel at every aid station would not be a wise decision. If it’s going to take you 2 hours to do the run, you will need 400-500 calories total, 200 to 250 an hour. To take a gel at every aid station would give you 1200 calories! OUCH! That’s way too many. Don’t forget that Gatorade has calories in it too, about 50 per 8 ounce cup you consume.

Too many calories has negative effects, as your body must send water to the stomach and intestines to break down and attempt to absorb the calories you have consumed. This means pulling water away from the muscles, which need it badly. This is also why liquid calories are great, as they are already partially broken down and easier for the body to absorb. This is also why you need to be sure and follow any caloric intake with water, in order to aid the breakdown and absorption process without disturbing the water needed in the muscles.

The last item to consider is electrolytes. The more you sweat, the more you lose, and the more important it is to replace them. This means if it’s super hot, you will need more than if it’s chilly outside. One idea would be to have the electrolytes already included in the drink.

Whatever you do, do not make race day your first time testing your nutrition plan! PLEASE! Save yourself some hard lessons, (and expensive lessons given the cost of race entry), and learn this stuff in your training. There is still plenty of time to do a workout or two and see what you can do to tweak the plan to make sure your stomach can handle everything you put into it. This includes cola on the run! If you’ve never run with flat cola in your stomach, I would not advise doing it on race day for the first time, even though it will be offered.

The nutrition aspect of the race can seem mysterious and a lot to think about, but if you follow this advice, you’ll be able to solve the mystery and make it much easier, not even having to think about it. Less thinking about the peripheral means more focus on going hard and fast!