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Posts Tagged ‘triathlon nutrition’

Olympic Triathlon Nutrition Plan

Friday, June 17th, 2011

I think I have finally done it. After soaking up as much race nutrition info as I can and testing out what works for me (and failing several times), I realized after Quassy olympic that I may have perfected my nutrition plan. That isn’t to say that there won’t be bumps in the road or changes in the future, but I think I’ve got 90% of it down.

Here is my own personal plan:

General Nutrition Principles

1) Dont over think it. I used to obsess over how many calories of different mixes and gels I would take at different points of the race. Carefully calculated timing, caloric density and nutritional make up was the name of the game. It didn’t make me any faster and actually distracted me from racing smart.

2) Focus on quality, not quantity. I used to tape a half dozen gel packets to the top tube of my bike frame along with two water bottles full of calories. WAY too much for a 25 mile bike. I could have survived out there for days and had backups in case my backup nutrition dropped off and fell on the road. For a 2-3 hour race, your HR is going to be so high that your stomach won’t have the ability to digest very many calories the first place. My legs have enough stored energy to go about 2 hours without any supplemental calories at all, so my race nutrition doesn’t have to be very calorie heavy. Since my stomach will only digest a finite amount of calories during an olympic distance race, don’t give it any more than it needs and choose my carbohydrate, sugar and electrolyte sources wisely.

Pre Race Nutrition

Since my race nutrition strategy is all around taking in only what little calories my stomach can absorb, pre-race nutrition is key. It is also important to stick with what my stomach is used to. On the average morning, I’ll wake up and have a bowl of Frosted Flakes and water. If my pre-race butterflies are kicking in, I’ll substitute cereal with sipping on a flask of EFS Liquid Shot and wash it down with some water. (Total ~300 Calories)

Race nutrition was designed to go down smoothly under harsh stomach conditions, why not use it when you aren’t even racing yet?

30-60 minutes before the race start I’ll finish off a water bottle of EFS with one scoop of Pre Race. (Total ~100 calories) Pre-race is an awesome supplement that helps your muscles work harder with less fatigue. Despite the name, it is also great to use for key high-intensity workouts too. It is also loaded up with caffiene, so if you aren’t a coffee drinker, make sure you test it out before race day. Coffee can make me REALLY jittery since I don’t drink it often, but PreRace gives me a nice smooth boost. I don’t feel like I’m disoriented and unfocused like I would if I pound a couple of espresso shots.

Here is a whole mess of research on the ingredients in PreRace if you are interested in geeking out: http://www.firstendurance.com/pdf/pre_research_packet_1.4.pdf

Race Nutrition: The Bike

Exiting the water, I’ll grab a cup of water just to wash out my mouth. Once I’m out of T1, I’ll keep it simple, I only loaded one bottle of grape EFS (two scoops) on my bike. (Total ~200 calories) I suck down as much as I’m feeling I need, but make sure I’m at least 3/4 of the way through the bottle at mile 20 of the bike. That gives me time to absorb anything that is left in my stomach before I start out on the run.

Race Nutrition: The Run

The run is the simplest of it all. Because my HR is higher, I won’t be able to absorb much at all. Plus, by the time I take something in at mile 1, it’ll just barely have time to soak in and feed my legs by the time I get to mile 6. With that, I don’t take in ANY calories at all because they’ll either sit in my stomach like a brick or will only make me feel stronger AFTER the finish line.

I’ll take in water at aid stations as needed to keep my mouth from drying out, but that is it. Skip the sports drinks and gels completely for the run.

Post-Race Nutrition

I’ll usually have a water bottle with two scoops of Ultragen Cappuccino (no water) waiting for me back at my transition area. I’ll head over there within 20 minutes of finishing, fill it up with cold water, shake and chug. Gotta replenish the legs ASAP so I can recover and get back to training for the next race!

Tags: efs, efs liquid shot, first endurance, nutrition, olympic triathlon nutrition, olympic triathlon nutrition plan, pre race, prerace, triathlon nutrition, triathlon nutrition plan, triathlon race nutrition plan, ultragen | Posted in Nutrition, Triathlon | 3 Comments »

First Endurance Joins The Trakkers Family

Thursday, October 29th, 2009

With the offseason in full swing, lots of 2010 planning is still in motion. A major part of that is making plans for my involvement with Rev3 and Trakkers for 2010. There is more news in the works that I will share when the time is ready, but I just got the green light being able to make our first big announcement.

First Endurance signed on to Team Trakkers as our official nutrition nutrition sponsor!

I’m brand new to the company, but I’m digging their philosophy: “Our goal is to have 100% of our members finish Ironman with no cramps, no bonk and no gastric distress.”AKA: Get to the finish line happy.

The last two years, I’ve primarily been using a mix of a custom Infinit blend and GU and Clif products. Except for a few bumps in the road, I’ve gotten it down pretty well, but still recognize that I still have a ton to learn.

Going through a lot of the resources they have online tonight has already learned a ton. (I had the idea that caffeine is a diuretic drilled in to my head a million times during cross country practice way back in high school, that that idea will be a tough one to kick.) They have a whole mini social network that is completely focused on athletes educating each other on nutrition. Sweet, right?

Part of that is a whole series of programs, tests and surveys to help you better understand what works for you. That was one of the reasons why I came to love my Infinit blend so much. It was made just how I wanted it and I proved its worth on the course. It is also one of the biggest principles that I learned from Holistic Guru. Bio-individuality. We are all built pretty much the same, but our bodies can react to nutrition plans very differently.

I’m especially psyched to do the caffeine test once I get back into training. Except for some herbal tea one or twice a day and a regular diet of chocolate in any form that I can consume it, I don’t take in much compared to the average American. I’ve always been wary of using it in training/racing since I have such a low tolerance, but am amped to see what their test says.

If you want to check ‘em out, here are some places to start.

main: www.firstendurance.com
social/research: www.team.firstendurance.com
Blog: www.blog.firstendurance.com

Once I get my hands on the goods and put them to a test, expect an honest review coming your way.

Tags: endurance nutrition, first endurance, team trakkers, trakkers gps, triathlon nutrition | Posted in Ironman, Triathlon | No Comments »

Revolution Two-Thirds

Sunday, June 28th, 2009

It was a beautiful day out on the Rev3 course. I’ve been in a major training slump lately and had a major “what the hell am I even doing here?” moment at about mile 5 of the bike. My body just wasn’t there. Thankfully after a few good standing hil climbs and spiking up to z5, I was back in the game 100%. Nothing like some hurtin’ to snap things right back into place.

Minus a few mojitos yesterday, I was all about the pre-workout hydration. I sucked down a bunch of water and gatorade throughout the day, before I went to bed, and as soon as I woke up. It had a major impact on my bike hydration. I was back on schedule, doing one bottle per hour and I was a happy little camper.

Now the run? Not so much. I took in about a half a bottle of gatorade in T2 (the trunk of my car) and carried another bottle of gatorade with me. I felt a lot better starting the run this time than during Rev3, and was totally psyched. I didn’t even need that much extra water, and ended up just swirling it around in my mouth and spitting it out to wet my lips.

That was until my stomach totally cramped up. I think once my HR jumped up during the run, the mix of Infinit, water, GU and gatorade was just too sugary and it seized up. The rest of the run sucked, but at least I learned something. I felt like crap as I shuffled back to the car. I couldn’t even listen to the radio. The noise was pounding through my skull. I got home and took in two glasses of water to dilute the sugary sludge in my stomach, and I was back to normal again.

Next try, JUST water on the run, and maybe a GU or two depending on how I feel. If I can get this down before Timberman in August, I should be ready to tear it up. This is the last piece of the puzzle to fall in place (I hope…).

Tags: BRick workout, gatorade, infinit, stomach cramps, Triathlon, triathlon nutrition | Posted in Training Log, Triathlon | 5 Comments »