The time
to dial in your nutrition plan is well in advance of your key
race. There is a lot of information out there, some of it
conflicting, and you don't want to make it up as you go
along. A few guidelines that most of us should follow:
Don't
try something new on race day. A new breakfast, a new
drink, a new supplement, (a new wetsuit) - none of it.
Practice
your race plan on your long training days. Don't forget to
drink for 2 hours just because it is cool out on your practice
day.
Don't
rely on the race to supply what you need, even if they advertise
that they will provide X Y and Z. Even the most well organized
events run out of nutrition, water, and sports drink, or forget
to get supplement Y to race point 2, and so on.
You need
a plan that accounts for total calorie intake, hydration, and
electrolytes. Everyone is different.
My
experience is that a higher number of athletes experience GI
issues when supplementing with protein during an event, so if you
plan to use a drink or supplement that contains protein, you must
run this plan through a long distance training day more than
once.
If you
are a regular caffeine user, you will want to consume some before
and during your event. There are many products that include
caffeine.
Solid
foods are more difficult to digest and tougher to eat while
exercising.
On
average, athletes should target 4-5 calories per kilogram of
bodyweight per hour on the bike, and 2-3 calories per kilogram
per hour on the run. For example, a 60kg athlete would
intake 240-300 calories per hour on the bike and 120-180 calories
per hour on the run. Your specific needs may be more or
less than this but use this as your starting point in practice
and adjust from there.
During
hotter events, your fluid requirements will be higher than during
cooler events. Go figure.Your starting point is about 20oz
per hour. Smaller athletes might start at 16oz per hour and
larger athletes at 24oz per hour.
A few
product recommendations with links to their websites to get you
started:
Gatorade Endurance
EFS
Carbo Pro (you add this to any
drink for extra carbohydrates)
Gu chomps
Clif Shot bloks
PowerGels
Sustained Energy (contains
protein)
Links to
four OSB presentations with additional information:
Ironman Race Nutrition
Race Day Nutrition
Half-Ironman Specific Training
Ironman Pacing
