IM nutrition

I'm still working on this.

My plan - for now - is to take in one serving (for me, that's 217 calories) if Infinit per hour on the bike.  My plan is to make 2 concentrated bottles and take small sips every 15 minutes.  For something to chew - and a different flavor - I'm going to get a king size Payday bar and eat 1/3 at mile 30, mile 60, and mile 90.

For the run -- whatever I can hold down.  I train w gatorade endurance and will use that and water on the course, plus one GU every 60 min.

I know it's an individual thing, but I'd love to hear from everyone !

Butting in...  just from personal experience I couldn't do my concentrated Infinit every 15 minutes, my stomach didn't like that many calories at once (my serving is 300, and i use a 3 hour bottle).  That was 1/4 of the bottle at once.  I bumped it down to 12, and finally to 10.  My tummy was much happier.  YMMV   BTW, i did the exact same thing with the payday, 1/3 per loop at imaz

Edited by ChrisM 2009-07-31 12:29 PM

Fred, It is not specifically a fueling plan but I posted this on another thread: http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=170446&posts=25#M2315864

Plus I *think* you train with a power meter no? if so using the kJ, watts and intensity (plus some other variables such as efficiency and diet) whould give you all the data you need to get your nutrition dial in very precisely in temr sof Kcal/grams of CHO x hour. I am doing this for my athletes training with power using data from race pace effort rides and test it out in terms of their gavorite source of CHO (sports drinks, gels, bars, food, etc) 

For running if you have a GPS or know the distance, pace (speed) and your current weight you can estimate pretty accurate your kJ and define a fueling strategy.

Oh yeah, it was you I got the Payday idea from ! thanks, Chris !
I'll try breaking it down to every 10 min.. dumb question: did you just look at your watch ?  b/c when I tried to do even every 15 min, I'd forget to drink sometimes.. I'm thinking of getting a watch that beeps every 10 min to remind me to drink.

I think you are already pretty familiar with mine from previous discussions. I live off the course for the most part. Prior to the swim, I eat 2 CliffBars early and a gel righ before the start. Once on the bike, I drink Gatorade and water from the course. I carry 2 additional CliffBars on the bike to be eaten prior to mile 80 or so. I also carry 6 gels in a flask which I make sure I finish. I alternate the gatorade and water, drinking when thirsty. On the run, I acrry an additional gel flask with 5 gels in it. I hit every aid station for a sip of water of gatorade early. I never do finish the gels as i get sick of them 10K into the run it seems. then it's time to hit the coke!

Edited by bryancd 2009-07-31 1:06 PM

Yup, I put an old timex watch on my aerobar HRM mount, set to repeat beep every 10 minutes, I forget too.  HRM Was on my wrist.    I actually had to train to drink every time the watch went off unless I was descending. I tend to get tired and a bit cranky near the end fo long rides, and I'd hear the beep and just ignore it.  You gotta be pavlovian about it, or I did, or I would fall behind in my nutrition and not be able to catch up.  I'd think it's more so true in hot and windy Coz

I'm not disagreeing with anyone but do want to put this thought out there. I think the majority of IM athletes suffer GI distress to to excessive calorie and fluid ingestion. I think one of the culprits of this is eating and drinking to a plan. They say in a battle, the first thing that get's thrown out the window is a plan. Race day just can't always be simulated by a training day. So many variables come into play. Even a nutrition plan based on power like Jorge suggests can target the amount of calories you may be depleting but doesn't having any bearing on the umber of calories you will be able to absorb effectively. I think IM nutrition is more art than science.

Wow.  Great post Bryan.  One of the things Jorge told me on Saturday before the race was not to be too rigid on my nutrition.  And as I posted in my RR, to keep asking myself what i can do to feel better right now, and what i can do right now so that i'll feel good in 20-30 minutes.  I asked myself these questions many many times throughout the day in regards to my nutrition.

Here's what I did and i wouldn't change a thing... (& it's funny that I'm replying to this thread b/c Fred you taught me the Carbo-Pro slurry).   I do realize that I race at a very different intensity than you, but I'll share it anyway.  I kept hearing over and over that less is more.  And that it's far easier to correct things if you're under than if you're over.  Also, Jorge saying that the body can really only process a certain # of CHO per hour, I wanted to err that i was not putting more in my gut than could be processed b/c i just pictured it sitting there.  My nutrition is almost exclusively from carbo-pro & gels.  Seemed like when i did food i wasn't digesting it and absorbing it fast enough to use it as fuel.

1.  1 bottle of a Carbo-Pro Slurry per loop (which for me is 3.5-3.75 hours ish)...which is 5 scoops of Carbo-Pro (140g CHO) & 1 scoop of powdered G-ade.  

2.  Gel approx every 45 mins starting at minute 0 in the race.  I start at minute 45 in training.  

**So with the carbo pro & gels that's about 65ish g of CHO per hour.

3.  Salt pills.   At least one per hour (200 mg salt).  Kurt (coaches w/ Jorge) suggested min. 600mg salt per hour to start and to go up from there, but I'm new to using salt pills, so i didn't want to do that much without knowing how i'd react.  

4.  Bananas on the bike course 3 times.  Which is the equivalent of 2 bites of banana each time.  This was an on the fly decision to grab the bananas with the forethought that they are still easy to digest, but that it would take a schmidge longer to digest than the liquid stuff so it might be more likely to be with me on the run.  I have no idea, but that's how i rationalized it on the course.  When i took a banana i just bumped back the time for my gel by 15-20 mins.  Again, never being too rigid about it all, but just being aware that i never felt full and i never felt like i was starting to fade.  

Other than that, I had water.  I would take water w/ every gel and every time i took a swig of the carbo pro slurry.  I had about 2/3 of the water bottle per hour and 1/3 of the carbo pro slurry bottle per hour.  One or two of the aid stations I took a G-ade and took a couple swigs and tossed it.

On the run, I just tried to have something at every aid station.  A few of them I had an orange slice, once or twice i had 4 or 5 grapes.  1 gel on the entire run.  The rest was a usually 1 sip of G-ade, 1 sip of water, and then i chewed on ice.  Some of which i spit out, a tiny bit of which i swallowed.  I was drinking a bit too much early on the run, but as soon as I backed it off, my stomach didn't feel so sloshy.  I continued with at least 1 salt pill/hour.

 

Edited by gopennstate 2009-07-31 9:40 PM

While I haven't done my IM yet, I've been practicing this since April and have had two HIMs and two full IM course rides with long runs to tetst it out. I get all of my nutrition/hydration from Gatorade Endurance and gels. I don't drink any water on the bike and will occasionally sip a little on the run just to take a break from the Gatorade taste. I have 25 ounces per hour, basically one bottle and a few mouthfuls of the next. I don't stick to a hard strategy like drink every 10', I just try to drink when it feels right and am sure to finish the bottle in an hour. Likewise if I'm overdrinking I'll slow it down for 15-20'.

I supplement this with one gel every hour starting at the 30' mark. I used a flask so I just take a mouthful each hour. I'm starting to have two flasks, one with caffeine and one without so later in the ride I can get the caffeine boost. I never have solids in a race but have eaten a Luna Bar or similar in the middle of some training rides so I will keep one in special needs in case I have the desire to eat. On training rides with this approach I just skip or delay the next gel to avoid too much CHO in my stomach.

This plan gives me 60-90g CHO per hour and I've never had any GI issues and my energy stays really consistent. We chose GE so I can "live off the land" at most major races and also the extra sodium content means I don't need to supplement with capsules. The simpler approach works well for me and I prefer not having multiple steps.

On the run I drink a few sips of GE at most aid stations and will skip one if I feel sloshy. About every 3 I have a few sips of water. On HIM runs I don't have any gels. I'm guessing I'll have 1-2 during the IM simply from being fatigued and needing energy sources.

Wasn't much of a plan for my first IM, but this year, dependant upon weather temps/heat factor, I usually can do, on a mild day just around 80 degrees and under on the IM WI loop portion of the bike ride (1 loop is approx. 43 miles, and it's hilly) is:

2 or 3 gels - 1 an hour
1 - 24 oz. water (aerobottle)
2 - 24 oz. InfinIT solution (2 - 3 scoops per bottle)
Possibly one banana
Possibly a handful of gummy gel bursts (cola-flavored is awesome)

During the run, I'll carry a 24-oz InfinIT solution (same as bike) and "live off the land", modestly intaking water is available, not to take in too much and get over-filled or sloshy.

UPDATE:  Oh, yeah.  My coach has me trying Endurolytes for the cramps.  I'll start taking 2 - 3 capsules every hour on the bike and possibly the run.
  Before the swim, I'll hydrate with some InfinIT solution or gatorade and water and take a gel 20 min. before the start and a gel right before getting in the water.

Edited by 1stTimeTri 2009-08-01 10:07 AM

Yeah my whole plan went out the window about 60 miles into the bike.  I just started eating whatever was on the course.  For me, it worked well. Like Forrest Gump--When I was hungry, I ate!  Although my only goal was to finish, so if time is your concern, you may need to follow a plan.

I think I definitely had too much for IMKY 07. It was a tough balancing act because of the heat and humidity and wanting to stay hydrated but I think I tried to take in too much and was bloated.

I use Hammer Perp and gels and water. I broke down and took Gatorade during the run for some reason and it doesn't mix well with Hammer Nutrition products so I'm sure that didn't help.

Only 1 IM to date.  Pre-race breakfast about 3 hours prior to start was nearly 1,500cal in total--will cut this back next time to closer to 1,000, as I clearly overcompensated out of first-timer nerves.  I know this is still much more than many people eat pre-race, but even for 'just' an oly I will eat about 750.  This seems to keep me from any pre-race feelings of hunger, yet never feeling like I'm 'full' at the starting line.

Just a bit of sipping on GE between then and race time.  Used only GE and gels on the bike (gels carried from the start in 4 flasks in my jersey pockets).  For this part, I did eat pretty much to a schedule.  Next time I am thinking of mixing up my sources just a bit, going with a 3-hr bottle of Infinit, water, gels & GE.  Want to see if I'm a little less 'weary' of the gels & GE on the run (even though the Infinit is really just a combination of GE & gels, so this may be wishful thinking on my part).

For the run, I used gels & GE for a bit but then became sick of those and stuck mostly with coke.  Not much of a schedule on the run as I just go aid station-to-station.  If I feel good, I try to get some form of calories (GE, gel, coke, etc.).  If I feel like I'm getting full or sloshy or bloated, then I try to stick with water and hope I'm feeling better by the next station.  Plan is basically the same for the next time--just hoping I can push out the point where I'm sick of the GE & gels a little longer.