General Discussion Triathlon Talk » hydration/fuel combo Rss Feed  
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2015-04-09 11:12 PM

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Subject: hydration/fuel combo
Hello BT, what is your "favorite/effective" hydration / energy nutrients? I think I found mine, Hoist and Electrofuse. Both do not give me side effect like feeling more fatigue because of sugar crash.

I'm training for my second sprint tri next week. Hopefully these hydration/fuel stuff will help me. In the past races (1st sprint tri, 5k's), I felt fatigue although I ate lots of carbs. I think my problem is hydration (although I drank lots of water the night before).

My longest workout last week, I drank these nutrients before doing a brick - 300 M freestyle / 23 miles cycling ( 1,050 ft climbed) / 2 mile run (200 feet climbed).

How about you, what seems to help you in your longer workout or your tri race?


My background:
I'm almost 50
Never athletic in younger years
Only been training for less than a year

Thanks


2015-04-10 7:29 AM
in reply to: Phebes

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Master
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Subject: RE: hydration/fuel combo
Hydration: Nuun Lemon-Lime (or Hammer Endurolyte Fizz, same flavor). Nun has more sodium per tablet so in really hot conditions I go for that, though I like the flavor of the Hammer product a bit better. I think pretty much everything else is too sweet/disgusting. (Picky, I know.) I detest sweet drinks.

Fuel: Cliff Mojo Bars, Peanut Butter Pretzel or Chocolate Almond Coconut. They are brown-rice based, which works better for me than wheat-based, and have a lower glycemic index than a lot of bars, more fat from nuts or nut butter along with the carbs. Maybe a gu or two. (Really, the only ones I like are Cliff Turbo Chocolate Cherry, Gu Roctane Chocolate Raspberry, and, kinda sorta, Hammer Apple Cinnamon.) Lately I have been experimenting with dark chocolate, since the fat/carb combo seems to prevent the sugar crash for me. Only Ritter Sport dark chocolate with mint has passed the Vietnam "no melt" test so far.

For training, I really like a kind of small, thick semi-sweet banana that's called a "Thai banana" here. Have taken one in a race once (when I was was going in with a bad cold and was afraid I'd start coughing if I ate an energy bar) but it was kind of a mess and had to come out of aero for a while to do it! In the US I also like to take another kind of bar called Probar. It's bigger than most energy bars and has more fat than most from nuts, carob, nut butter, etc. Comes in awesome flavors like carob-pistachio and PBJ! A bit heavy for races but great for long rides.
2015-04-10 4:18 PM
in reply to: Hot Runner

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Subject: RE: hydration/fuel combo
Originally posted by Hot Runner

Hydration: Nuun Lemon-Lime (or Hammer Endurolyte Fizz, same flavor). Nun has more sodium per tablet so in really hot conditions I go for that, though I like the flavor of the Hammer product a bit better. I think pretty much everything else is too sweet/disgusting. (Picky, I know.) I detest sweet drinks.

Fuel: Cliff Mojo Bars, Peanut Butter Pretzel or Chocolate Almond Coconut. They are brown-rice based, which works better for me than wheat-based, and have a lower glycemic index than a lot of bars, more fat from nuts or nut butter along with the carbs. Maybe a gu or two. (Really, the only ones I like are Cliff Turbo Chocolate Cherry, Gu Roctane Chocolate Raspberry, and, kinda sorta, Hammer Apple Cinnamon.) Lately I have been experimenting with dark chocolate, since the fat/carb combo seems to prevent the sugar crash for me. Only Ritter Sport dark chocolate with mint has passed the Vietnam "no melt" test so far.

For training, I really like a kind of small, thick semi-sweet banana that's called a "Thai banana" here. Have taken one in a race once (when I was was going in with a bad cold and was afraid I'd start coughing if I ate an energy bar) but it was kind of a mess and had to come out of aero for a while to do it! In the US I also like to take another kind of bar called Probar. It's bigger than most energy bars and has more fat than most from nuts, carob, nut butter, etc. Comes in awesome flavors like carob-pistachio and PBJ! A bit heavy for races but great for long rides.


I LOVE LOVE dark chocolate , will experiment 7 days before the race to see if it works. Some energy bars make me gain weight. I'm 5'2" and 110 lbs (small frame). I used to take energy bars and gained weight all the way to 124 lbs YIKES!!!!

After my tri next week, I'll try Hammer (to get ready for another tri in May).
2015-04-10 8:28 PM
in reply to: 0

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Subject: RE: hydration/fuel combo
When I started the chocolate experiment, got a lot of advice on the Iron Distance forum that it could cause gut issues or make me too thirsty, but no such problems. One caveat--I've been using it for earlier snacks during long rides, and plan to use it within the first 60-75 minutes of the bike leg of a HIM. Mainly because it would probably melt into messy gu after that; also to minimize the chance that it might lead to digestive havoc on the run. I wouldn't consider eating it on a long run--sticking to gu for that for portability reasons. Only dark chocolate works--milk chocolate has a much lower melt point and the extra fat might not work for the gut as well.

No worries here about calories in energy bars. I'm nearly 5'8" and struggle to keep my weight at 115-120 when training for longer events. Some of it has to do with living in the tropics and in Vietnam, which isn't the wonderland of hi-cal foods that the US is. I import my energy bars and ration them, mostly for races and a few race simulations. What I have against most bars isn't calories, but texture and taste--normal Cliff bars taste like I'm chewing on overly sweetened shoe leather!

Also: Nuun and Endurolyte Fizz are not energy drinks, just electrolytes. Hammer does make liquid nutrition products, though. I separate my nutrition and hydration. Most of the drinks with substantial calories are too sweet for my taste; the ones that have less sweet options (like Infinite) aren't available locally, and many such products tend to do disgusting things in the tropical heat, like separate, curdle, etc. I take in crazy amounts of liquids on long workouts here (4-5 liters of water/electrolyte drink is possible in a long brick) and it works better to be washing down solids with water or light-tasting electrolyte drink than using drinks with lots of calories in them. May be different for those training/racing in cooler conditions.

Edited by Hot Runner 2015-04-10 8:38 PM
2015-04-10 10:09 PM
in reply to: Phebes

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Subject: RE: hydration/fuel combo

Originally posted by Phebes

How about you, what seems to help you in your longer workout or your tri race?

Infinit Performance

http://www.infinitnutrition.us/

The last word in training and race day nutrition.

2015-04-11 1:15 PM
in reply to: k9car363

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Subject: RE: hydration/fuel combo

pineapple juice



2015-04-12 12:52 PM
in reply to: Phebes

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Subject: RE: hydration/fuel combo
Originally posted by Phebes

Hello BT, what is your "favorite/effective" hydration / energy nutrients? I think I found mine, Hoist and Electrofuse. Both do not give me side effect like feeling more fatigue because of sugar crash.

I'm training for my second sprint tri next week. Hopefully these hydration/fuel stuff will help me. In the past races (1st sprint tri, 5k's), I felt fatigue although I ate lots of carbs. I think my problem is hydration (although I drank lots of water the night before).

My longest workout last week, I drank these nutrients before doing a brick - 300 M freestyle / 23 miles cycling ( 1,050 ft climbed) / 2 mile run (200 feet climbed).

How about you, what seems to help you in your longer workout or your tri race?


My background:
I'm almost 50
Never athletic in younger years
Only been training for less than a year

Thanks

I have used Gatorade & Powerade drinks and Gu & Hammer gels. I haven't really had any problems with anything that I have tried. During training, when I'm running I generally just bring water with me. On the bike i tend to bring water and add a snack (real food) when I get beyond about 90 minutes. Other than racing and some testing during training I don't tend to use the sports-specific products much.

For concerns about a sprint or Olympic distance race experience, I wouldn't be too quick to blame nutrition or hydration. You say that you felt fatigue - that's to be expected in a race. If you are fatigued to the point where you can't maintain your pace, then you should probably race at a slower pace and/or your improve your fitness in order to keep up the pace that you're trying to maintain.

If you're not doing longer races I don't think it needs to be complicated.
Don
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