....are a good investment. I have "Complete Guide to Sports Nutrition" by Monique Ryan.

There is no different way to eat, really, for any distance triathlon, other than that when your training hours increase, so do your calories, and you do need to adjust for the amount of carbs you eat as you train more and more.

So you won't find a "1/2 IM training diet" and a "IM training diet" in here--just how to structure your nutrition (before, during and after workouts, and taper stuff) based on how much training you are doing.

Knowledge is truly power. If you read this and still are confused, you should contact a sports nutritionist for some 1 on 1 counseling.

It's really important for women not to undereat, as can be our tendency for vanity reasons. You basically want to maintain a healthy body comp and take in enough nutrients to support your training.

One can become puritanical about their diet, but as long as you have a solid foundation, there are no foods that should be forbidden--especially after you've trained 4+ hours in one day! This is not to say that there is a certain amount of discipline that we can all benefit from. If you are good 6 days out of the week, you can go a little crazy one day out of 7. The key to healthful eating is, IMHO, to not believe you deserve some sort of treat every day. If you are truly eating to live, you will strive to make the best choices on a daily basis.

Good luck!

60% carbs is a starting point. As training increases, so does the % of carbs you take in. Nutrition books will tell you how many grams of carbs to eat per kg or lb. of body weight. At the low end, it might be 3g/lb.; at the high end it might be 5+g/lb.

As training increases, you tend to need mostly just more carbs, not the corresponding amount of proteins and fats, since after all it's the carbs you are using up.

I stick with my recommendation of buying a sports nutrition book. Small investment with a potentially big return. There's just too much to try and post here about nutrition.

On the bike, I use the large Bento Box to store all my gels, and salt tablets (put salt capsules into a "crack baggy," which is a tiny zip loc bag you can get at a craft store--get the 2" x 1.5"--then you can just squeeze the pills out). A large Bento Box can hold enough gels for an Ironman race.

Some people, however, tape their gels to the top tube using duct tape. Whichever method floats your boat. I don't believe either one is more or less aerodynamic than the other.

If you use bars, best to cut them in half (leave the wrapper on!) and put them cut side up into the Bento Box.

Some people, however, cut Power Bars into halves or thirds and just stick them (without the wrapper) onto the top tube. This works, too.

Just remember that littering during a ride or race is illegal (and mean, frankly), so either stuff your wrappers back into the Bento Box or in your jersey pocket. During a race, you're allowed to toss stuff at the aid station toss zone (for bottles and anything else).

For fluids, I use a Profile Jet Stream bottle that sits in between my aerobars, and since I do long distance and like to carry some extra, I have an XLAB Saddle Wing mounted on my saddle. It holds 2 cages and you can also get straps that screw into it to hold spare tubes. It also has a holder where you can screw in a Co2 cartridge holder and the inflator. This really isn't necessary except for IM distance, but it's nice that between the Jet Stream, the down tube cage and the XLAB, I can carry 4 bottles in case I go riding 4 hours unsupported, and I can carry all my own stuff. If you mount the XLAB properly, you still have room underneath it for a small saddle bag, which is where you'd put your tire levers, car keys, patch kits, etc.

If you really want to race light in your 1/2 IM, though, I would only have the Jet Stream and maybe one other bottle on board (a "just in case" bottle). You should be able to grab all your fluids at the aid stations, and work with someone to practice refilling the Jet Stream while you keep riding. What I do during a race (most of them have Gatorade), is yell real loudly when I'm near the station, "GATORADE NO TOP." The volunteer will then remove the top FOR YOU, and then you can just dump the contents into your Jet Stream. Saves precious seconds, and that way if you want, you have time to grab another bottle of water maybe. Depending on how far apart the aid stations are, I might take Gatorade at one, and water at the next.

If you're picky and need to mix your own custom fluid nutrition, then you'll probably need to carry the power in baggies in your jersey, OR if you have the XLAB, put the powder only into bottles in the cages, dump the powder into the Jet Stream before you get to the aid station, then ask for water NO TOP and dump that into the Jet Stream. But this is dicey, so most people I know who mix custom stuff just premix it and store it in the cages. Again, if you want to race as light as possible, what I would do is drink a bottle of Gatorade, rinse out the bottle, then put my mixed stuff in there, so that after I use it I can toss the bottle aside.

I never use my own "good" bottles during races. Always previously emptied Gatorade bottles.

You didn't ask the question about peeing on your bike--just do it! Make sure nobody is behind you, stand up and let it go. At the next aid station or if you already have it on your bike, just squirt water on yourself. You're good to go!

Play around with the position and you shouldn't douse your shoes.

Most IM races have porta johns, but stopping costs you time--if you don't care about time, you can stop.

Some people even pee while running. I haven't advanced that far yet. Once I get faster on the run and am in shooting distance for qualifying for IMH, then I'll probably do this, too.

I just wanted to say thanks to kona expat for all the great information! For Christmas I received the book "Complete Guide to Sports Nutrition" by Monique Ryan that you recommended and it is a terrific book! Lots of great and valuable information. Reading the book makes me never want to touch junk food again (and I love sugary foods like jelly belly candy!) - or at least not too often.

Thanks to everyone else for their input as well - more knowledge about nutrition and diet can never hurt!

kona expat,

I just received the XLAB Saddle Wing for X-mas and was wondering how well it worked? It was recommended to me because I have a Softride bike and not only does it allow you to carry extra water bottles and tires, but it has a little adaptor that makes it easier to rack your bike. Do you have that adaptor? Does it work? I haven't installed mine yet, but I'm excited to try it. What's your opinion on it overall? I'm planning on doing a Half IM and IM WI this year so I feel that that plus my Profile areo drink and one bike mounted bottle will help me sustain enough fluids throughout the bike. I'm also interested in the Bento Box because of the gels, salt tablets, and Vivarin that I want to take along on the ride. Does it work nicely? Thanks for all of your input.

Also, anyone know if Cytomax is any better for an IM than the standard Gatorade? I like Gatorade, but I also like Cytomax as well and would like to use whichever is best. Gatorade would obviously be easier to get during the race, but I could use one of my bottles for a super mix that could be dumped into my profile bottle with added water to make the right concentration. Any thoughts? Past experience? Thanks in advance. :)

ThommyM,

Thanks for the reply. It's good to hear the high praise for the X-wing. I just installed mine last night and can't wait to try it out. Did you secure the straps to the CO2 holder, or somewhere else on the X-wing? Right now I've secured one of the straps (for spare tire) under the CO2 holder, but wasn't sure where to put the other strap. Any suggestions?

Thanks again for the great info on the XLAB Saddle Wing. I'll make my adjustments tonight so it's ready to go when Iowa thaws out. This info should be helpful to anyone considering purchasing a Saddle Wing because you two have given proven accounts as to it's usefulness. I'm looking forward to using mine this season (especially at IM WI) along with my new bike. Maybe our paths will cross out there on the triathlon circuit? Hope your season is as rewarding as possible.

Thanks again,

Mike

1000 cal/hour? Where did you get that from?

First off, only the very fastest are possibly burning that many calories per hour on the bike (maybe Lance), and even if you burn 1000 cal/hour, there is no way your gut can absorb that many calories per hour while you are exercising.

The rule of thumb is that you should take in 250-400 cal/hour on the bike, and the amount you take in is influenced by several factors:

1. how much you weigh
2. how fit you are (the more fit you are, the less you can get by with)
3. whether you will be eating on the run or not (not eating on run means load up during bike if possible)
4. how much YOUR gut can absorb
5. the weather: in hot weather it's going to be tougher to absorb your "usual" intake than when it's cooler

As an example, I am quite fit, weigh 113, and have found that I do well on about 300-350 calories per hour, and I do NOT eat during the marathon (I only ingest cola/Gatorade/chicken broth). My burn rate while on the bike is about 450-550 cal./hour.

How do you find out how much you can tolerate? Trial and error. Remember, though, that in a racing situation, no matter how well prepared you are, there will always be the nerves factor, which has a tendency to slow down the gut, thus you may find your stomach gives you issues on the same good old stuff you used in training. Plus, in training, you are generally not swimming 2.4 miles before you bike, and you definitely aren't worried about being fueled up to run 26.2 miles afterwards.

When you look at IM finishing stats, you can assume that most of the DNF's were caused by failed nutrition or failed pacing. The two are interconnected. The faster you go, the less calories you can take in because your body is spending its energy making you go faster rather than digesting. The slower you go, the more calories you can take in. But then it all comes down to the run, and the big question is did you take in enough calories on the bike to have something left on the run?

At any point during an IM, if your stomach gets bloated, slow down and stop eating for a bit. This means you are going too fast to process what's in your stomach (or plan B puke, which works pretty well, too). Note that it's possible to be both bloated and dehydrated, so if you are first not taking in enough fluids, then you are going to fast to process what little you have taken in, you are in a dangerous spot because the only way to fix this is to slow down and take in lots of liquids.

What I'm trying to say is that IM race nutrition is complicated, but if you try out in training what works for you on the bike, then that's a place to start during the race. But you have to be tuned in to what's going on in your body, so that if your plan isn't working, you learn to make adjustments.

Another key factor is your sodium intake. If during the bike or run your hands get puffy (or that little prison bracelet they put on you gets tight), odds are you are borderline hyponatremic and need to take in salt. Even if you're a little bloated when this happens: 1) slow down and 2) take in some salt--either tablets or chicken broth. I say this from the voice of experience.

I've done 6 IM's and it took me 4 to get my nutrition plan to work well for me, where I can ride well and still run afterwards and not have too much stomach trouble. Trust me, nobody's stomach feels "great" the entire time during an IM. I typically want to puke about 6 miles into the run, but haven't actually done so yet. You need to be constantly monitoring yourself as to your hydration, sodium and feeding status in relation to your pacing, and as I said earlier, the answer isn't always to adjust your nutrition; it may just be you need to slow down.

Lesser tri distances are not as iffy when it comes to nutrition, thankfully. For example, I can get away with about 250 cal./hour on the bike during a 1/2 IM.

Oh--forgot one thing--you also need to try out different combinations of solid and liquid nutrition on the bike. I get by on gel and Gatorade; some people can't stand the sweetness and go with full liquid nutrition, carrying powder that they mix with bottles of water. Some go with bars. Whatever works for you, it's going to be individual.

cruciblefitness.com is my coach's website.

I knew a lot about IM nutrition before I started working with this coach, and I'm always refining my own knowledge. Like I said, you find a starting point and then customize it to yourself.

Nobody can tell you which type of nutrition will work for you or exactly how many calories will work for you or whether you will need to eat during the marathon or not.

My personal formula is 250-350 cal./hour on the bike in the form of gel & Gatorade (I don't start anything until at least 15 min. in the bike to give my body time to adjust from swimming to biking; this is also pretty standard) plus 1-2 Succeed! tabs per hour, and then on the run I just take a cup of cola and maybe a water at each aid station. So I'm getting maybe 200-300 cal/hour during the marathon.

This is what works for me TODAY. As I get fitter and faster, I will need to tweak this, but most likely it will be under race conditions. You can err a lot on your nutrition while training because it's just not as stressful as racing.

Find your starting point and learn how to make adjustments!

I heard that it is not THAT accurate, but the key is to use it as a relative assessment. I use mine religiously to monitor what I output for all workouts. That way I have a rough estimation, ongoing, of what I have used each time. It works for me because the meal plans and energy loss (i.e., calories) seems to be accurate to some degree. I have lost weight and gained as I wanted over time. One thing, be sure that the weight set in the watch is 2-3 lbs of your weight. It determines the amount of calories you burn.
BBB