Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Nutrition Plan

I thought it would be a good idea if we shared our nutrition plans for the race here. Really, I'm being selfish and looking for a little insight as what to do. Most of you out there have a plan, and a lot of you have done this before. I know everyone is different but at a comparison, or for me, a starting place would be nice.

On my long rides (between 4-5 hours, have not gone longer yet), I have been consuming 4 bottles of liquids (64 ounces). 2 water and 2 sports drink. This is probably not enough as I did not have to use the bathroom until after I got off my 5 hour ride last weekend.

I try to consume 150-200 calories an hour but usually fall around 130 (not including the sports drinks.

So after a 4 hour ride I typically have ingested about 1000 calories.

Does this come close to what you are all doing, or am I way off??

10 comments:

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Iron Krista, "The Dog Mom" said...

Well, we all metabolize differently, based on our bodies ability to burn fat vs carbs. I did a VO2 Max test last year and found out my burning rates. The highter my HR the more calories I have to take in.

Avg HR of 145 I burn 530 cals and about a 300 Fat, 200 carbs so I'm pretty good there. Assuming I can push my HR a bit more (my aerobic threshold is 164) I need to take in about 200calories an hour.

I do 100-130 calories of food every 40mins (just works for me) and I sip on a bottle of carbo-pro gatorade totalling about 300calories.

I did this for my last ride that was just under 6 hrs and felt fantastic. My avg HR was pretty low on that ride though, so if I'm feeling hungry after the bike I will have something solid in my transition bag, like a bagel or something. I was STARVING last year on the run

I average just under a bottle of water an hour, but that is in Phoenix heat. I do have to stop 1-2 times in 6 hrs to go potty though so I'm hydrated.

In CDA last year I followed a similar plan, but I drank too much water. I had to pee pretty much the entire bike ride. It wasn't as hot so my sweat rate was much lower. I'm going to try to back that down a bit this year...

This is getting long, but one last thing. My nutrition (other than the liquid cal mix) = Power Gel and Nutter butters.

Supalinds said...

Mmmm....nutter butters, I'm going to have to try that one!!

Thanks for the insight. I might have to get a VO2 test.

Wedgie said...

I pack a small ham sandwich on my long rides. Basically a small dinner roll with slices of ham and some butter. The fat is very satisfying, and it provides some more salt. And it's a good mental break. Some people avoid all solids, but I find if I eat at least an hour or two before the end of the ride, I have no digestive problems going into the run. Beyond that I live off of Shot Blocks, water, and Gatorade.

Iron Krista, "The Dog Mom" said...

The Vo2 test really helped me! Funny thing, it actually gave me the same Z-2 as Mark Allen did with his calculation... but I learned that I had about 5 additional beats above that before I turned anaerobic. The calories burned really helped me as well.. Learning it's better (for me) to keep my HR in the lower Z2 to burn fat vs carbs and bonking!

Nutter Butters.. got the idea from Andra Sue... Shane's eating them now too. I break them in half and do 2 (full) cookies at once.. that's 130 cals. It helps break up eating all the gels and is a little more filling!

Last year I did fig newtons but they were a little too dry.

momo said...

ok, i'm going to give a completely dissenting pov here. tri-dogmom and i had the same test done and we are very similar in our caloric needs during training. i can actually get away with less as apparently, my body works pretty efficiently in burning fat for fuel. during a race, i aim for between 150 - 200 calories per hour on the bike, but i up this (if i can stomach it) on the run to almost 300.

however - i cannot, CANNOT, cannot do solids on the bike or even on the run. i get major upset stomach - i also cannot do any type of protein or i am in bad shape and looking for every portapotty along the course.

my solution last year for cda was carbo-pro mixed with a touch of gatorade for flavor. i still ended up with some (sorry for the tmi) pretty painful gas on the bike and run with this combo.

this year, i'm doing only water and gel. on the bike - a gel every 30 minutes and on the run (right now) the same. i know the gels get old, but they are the only thing i can stomach right now. oh, that and salt cuz it is damn hot here in az! :-)

also - at about the half way point of the marathon, everything kind of goes out the window because i am sugared out... :-) that's when i'm looking for chicken broth and coke.

Tea said...

Ok-I don't have the experience that everyone else here has. But here's what works for me.
I have 1 clif bar per hour for the first half of a long ride with water/nuun. I usually try to eat a third of it every 20 minutes. During the second half I switch to GU's and/or carbo-pro mixed with nuun and water.

I've been testing the minimum amount that I can get by with, and so far, it seems to be about 200 calories per hour. If I go lower than that, then I start running out of gas as the ride goes on.

SingletrackJenny (formerly known as IronJenny) said...

If you want another two cents... and remember that this stuff is sooo personal - it'll vary widely, but here's my scoop:
I eat solid food (Clif bars, pbj, banana) on the bike, and mix that with gatorades and waters pretty much whenever anyone hands me one.I also eat about 10 salt tabs on the bike.
On the run, I get my calories mostly from gels or gatorade, but I do eat the nilla wafers, or a pretzel stick (salty!). I just carry whatever they are giving out in my hand, and nibble if I can. If not, I toss it to a squirrel.I continue taking myu salt tabs, but my best tip is Immodium. I take one in the morning, and carry one throughout the day. I usually take the 2nd one about halfway through the run whether or not I actually need it. I've done 5 IM's, and used Immodium for all but Zurich last year (lost my bag 'cuz I couldn't read German), and pretty much had diarrhea for 10 miles. But the IM's I had my Immodium, I was siging and dancin' all the way through the finish line.

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