I bought a fuel belt brand little pouch that i just slide onto my race belt. They have a bigger one as well. So that might be a good "simple" solution.

Is this for the run as well, or just the bike?

For the run, you could get one with a few small bottles on it and a pouch and just have your drink mixed already and in the bottles. Use aid stations for water.

For the bike, check out bento boxes... those are awesome! And use jersey pockets for some. I found that worked really well in my half and full IMs. As for water, maybe find a way to get 2 bottles of mixed drink on your bike, and one water? Then you could refill the water one as needed. Not sure how much you rely on sport drink though.

Yeah, I'd definitely go with a Bento box for the bike. What I did was cut up my power bars into bite size pieces then store them in the snack-size Ziplocks. This takes up less space and makes it much easier to nibble.

Your LBS should have Bento boxes (they come in large and small sizes). I have the large one and it's pretty roomy for food and my Gu bottle with gel.

Good luck!

Ok. Definitely check out [URL=http://www.trisports.com/benbakil.html]Bento Boxes[/URL]

I did the same... baggies of stuff, and packets of gu. It worked really well.

In that case check out the pouches that can be added to a race belt (if you plan to wear one). I don't like tons of things around me.

For half IM, I've done one, and was really unprepared, but ended up having a fine solution. I didn't have a nutrition plan really at all! Ended up getting and using a bento box (2 days before the race) and putting some gels in it. I only had one water bottle spot on my bike, so I used that and replaced it at aid stations as I went (that had been a plan). I had never tried solid food during training, so I just stuck to gels on the bike. During the run, I carried a flask of gel and used aid stations for water, fruit, sport drink, etc.

For an IM, I was much more prepared, and have way more faith in suggestions here (although I lived through the half easily).

On the bike I had an Aero waterbottle of water (which I refilled at aid stations by asking for an open water and just dumping it in) and a cage waterbottle of cytomax (became gatorade during the event once I ran out). I had a bento box of chopped up energy bars and candy bars (Take 5 is one of my favorite racing foods... chocolate, pretzels, caramel, peanuts, peanut butter... mmm), along with gels. In my jersey pocket I had another bag of chopped bars, a peanut butter sandwhich, tums/ibuprofen, chapstick, etc. I only used aid stations for water and gatorade (you could solve that with a baggie of accelerade in your pocket if you wanted). I ended up not having anything I wanted in my special needs bag (available at the half way point).

On the run I carried a gel out of transition with me and ate it as I started, and had ibuprofen/tums/chapstick in a little pouch on my race belt. I used aid stations to alternate water, coke, gatorade, and chicken soup broth followed by water. I didn't want or need any solid food or gel for that part. However, with a running background I'm fairly used to relying on aid stations for running events, so that helped me be comfortable with it.

More details of my Full IM nutrition are in [URL=http://kyillee.triathlonlife.com/post/general/2005/04/15/not_sore_but_ti... blog[/URL].

On the bike I have used a bento box as others have previously posted.

I agree what kyillee posted ,for the run the aid stations are usually pretty well equipped.

I wouldn't load your self down.

For other stuff you want to carry use pockets on your tri shorts.

Here are a couple of shorts I use

Race ready

[url]http://www.raceready.com/mldshorts/index.html[/url]

or

Desoto 4-Pocket Power Tri Short

[url]http://www.desotosport.com/products/racing.asp[/url]

nice! Good luck! And any more question remember that we love answering them :-)

Good Lunk on the 1/2 IM. Let us know how you made out.

Gammy, which half-IM are you doing? My first half was last October in Conroe at the Ironstar Half-IM. It's a great event. My race report is on my blog.

I would be doing it again but sticking to marathon training this year (my first) and trying to save money for a new tri bike!

Good luck!

Good luck in your HI quest. Please make sure to practice with any fuel or fluids you plan to take in during the event. When your system is under stress, you'd be amazed what you cannot tollerate. Since I wear my bike jersey on the bike and run, my pockets typically hold all my needs in a HI. I do use a bento box on IM distance races. I recently discovered Rice Krispy Treats as fuel and will use them as a solid food option from now on. Good Luck!

Here's an idea:

3-24oz bottles (on bike) filled with your accelerade.

Gels, Bars, Tubes, Cream, Ibuprofen can all go in your cycling/tri shirt pockets. IIf you run with the same shirt you can leave the food and IBUprofen in it.

Get a fuelbelt 3 or 4 bottle variety or a camelback for your hydration and have them already set up in your bag when you transition. I stick my gels with the bottle in the holders.

Use the water at the aid stations to cool off and wash down the powerbars etc.

My two cents.

Try and find out ahead of time what they will be providing at the aid stations along the way.

You can decide how it fits in with your fueling plan, and then carry what you think you need.

I know you want to make sure you have what you need.

You also don't want to carry more than you need either.