Seriously, this is what I often order when we stop ½ way through a five hour training ride. My bike mates all restock their powerbars and gu’s and think I’m crazy. But I prefer real food on the course, and I’ve found there is no right answer with respect to nutrition during training or racing, only lots of wrong ones. I over did it on gu’s one race and now can’t stomach them. Most powerbars and other “energy” bars are so full of sugars and other artificial ingredients that they don’t do much for me except cause my stomach to do somersaults. Granted, there are some natural bars that do lack preservatives, but then again, aren't they the same thing as real food?
I read somewhere that most energy bars and gu’s are no better in terms of performance enhancing than a banana. The problem is however, that a banana is hard to transport to a race and around on a bike ride or a run without falling apart, so bars and gu’s become the more practical alternative. I'm hear to tell you anything goes with respect to food when you train and race. Do what feels good, tastes good and is easy to access so that you are not a liability to other participants or worse, a statistic.
It is true that good nutrition during the season and during the races limits gastric distress, actively replaces your glycogen and carbs while they are used up by your exertion (glycogen is just another word for stored carbohydrates in your muscles), and gives you the energy you need to complete what it is you are doing. Good nutrition after a race or training session keeps your energy level high, helps your muscles recover faster and stronger, and restores your glycogen levels that were just depleted.
“Nutrition is 50% of the puzzle” a triathlete friend said to me. The other 50% is training. If you peg the nutrition, you recover better and faster for your next workout and you perform better on the course. I didn’t know how right she was until well after my first Olympic distance race 3 years ago. Let’s just say I did all the wrong things and that my stomach went into gastric distress during the run, forcing me to get creative in local woods bordering the course. That cost me energy and time. Lots of time.
Let me start by saying what I did wrong, and then I’ll address how to avoid those mistakes and make nutrition work for you. But realize something. Nutrition is very important to training and to racing, but it is completely individualized. Completely. Therefore, take what I say with a grain of salt and I will do my best to generalize my comments so that they apply to the masses.
Mistakes and lessons learned
Train under racing conditions to avoid gastric distress:
To start with, I would recommend training under racing conditions occasionally, including consuming food and beverages that work with your body type and metabolism. I never got my personalized formula down before my first race, never having found the appropriate mix of electrolytes, carbohydrates and protein to make me perform at my highest level. Therefore, I was bringing drinks to races with me that had way too much protein in them. I had recovery drinks that acted more like Draino than energy, electrolyte and carbohydrate replenishers. And I had food that brought me down as quickly as it brought me up. My stomach was in a constant state of cramping, the question was always to what degree the cramping was going to incapacitate me, and when. Was it going to pre-race, during the race, or post race.
Protein and sugars can be your friend, but it can also be your worst enemy. I have found that it is used best for recovery, and even then, it should be carefully taken over a period of time that allows you to properly absorb it. For example, never drink 36 ounces of a recovery drink immediately after a long run unless you have a bathroom near by. There is a glycogen window that closes 30-45 mins after a hard workout (including a race) and it is important to get carbohydrates into your system during this time for full and efficient replenishment, but be careful of the protein absorption. It is a key ingredient for muscles to recover and rebuild after being torn apart by a hard workout or race.
Proteins and protein powders come in all different shapes, sizes, flavors, textures, mixes, etc., and therefore, time and attention should be paid to what works best for you. I’ve been told Soy Protein should be avoided at all costs, especially for men, and instead, I should drink / eat a high quality Whey Protein mixed in with a whole bunch of other ingredients I can’t pronounce.
Don’t overdo the liquids:
The stomach can absorb approximately 8 ounces of liquid every 20 mins. Period. The rule varies slightly from athlete to athlete. If you are a sweater like me, (we call ourselves puddlers) on a hot day, I can lose 3-4 lbs per hour through perspiration alone. Looking at the numbers, that doesn’t work. On a hot day with strenuous exercise, I can lose a net of 1.5 – 2.0lbs an hour in weight if I’m not careful even when drinking lots of fluids.
Personally, I can consume 24 ounces per hour without my stomach cramping, but I’ll have to go to the bathroom on the course, which is a good thing for everything except time. Therefore, over the course of a race on a hot day, by definition, I will dehydrate at some level depending on the distance.
Figure out your sweat rate:
Therefore, I’d recommend that you really get to know your body by figuring out how much you sweat on hot days and cool days, and what you’ll need to consume in fluid replacement. It becomes a bit of a science for each athlete, but it’s something you’ll need to learn about yourself if you wish to keep increasing the race distances as well as the number of races during a season.
Here is one way of figuring this out.
- Workout for an hour, weighing yourself naked before and after the workout. Don’t take fluids during the hour and make sure the scale is accurate to .10lbs.
- Make sure you dry yourself off after the workout before weighing in.
- Now figure out how many bottles of fluids you will need on the course, with each bottle either being 2/3 of a lb (12 ounces) or 1 lb (16 ounces).
- Figure out how many rest stops / aid stations will be on the bike course giving out fluids and then ask yourself if those fluids are similar to the ones you train with. If so, that’s great. You will need to bring only enough fluid with you on the bike to make it to the aid station where you can replenish your supply.
- Too many people bring too many bottles with them on the bike, weighing themselves down considerably with an extra 2-3lbs of fluid, when they could easily ditch 1 or 2 bottles and instead replace their one empty one with another on the course.
- Personally, I train with Gatorade Endurance formula as it has twice the electrolytes of regular Gatorade, and works for me. Also, it seems to be the most common drink on the race course so I don’t need to worry about bringing my creative mixture with me on the bike because the official drink of the race is what I’ve become accustomed to.
Remember not to drink too much in the last 15-20 mins of the bike as you do not want to hit the run with a stomach full of fluids.
Remember electrolytes are part of sweat and need to be replaced to avoid cramping, or worse. A lot of the electrolyte replacement drinks don’t have enough sodium, chloride or potassium to replenish what was lost in sweat. An example is regular Gatorade. It’s all sugar, with a bit of salt. Again, this is a science and what works for you might be quite different than what works for others. But a trick I learned is that consuming between 2 and 4 electrolyte / salt tablets sold at various bike and triathlon stores every hour during the bike rides or runs are excellent ways of restoring what you lose to sweat. Then, you really don’t need to worry about the electrolyte drink that much. Water will do just fine.
Salt / Electrolyte Tablets are a good thing.
Another trick I learned is that electrolyte tablets come in all different formulations, shapes and sizes. One brand I might need 4 / hour while another I might need 2. Therefore, I figured out that when my hands start to swell, that’s when I’ve taken too much and I can subtract 1 or 2 of them per hour from my next workout or race.
Remember: You don’t need anything more than water if you are working out an hour or less. Sugary drinks will just keep weight on by loading you up with useless calories.
Food:
With respect to solid foods, bars and gu’s, I can’t give you much advice here besides telling you that carrying regular food on a bike course might invite ridicule from your friends, that is until they smell the sweet smell of bacon, eggs and cheese, on a hard roll, or even a toasted PB&J on 7 grain bread. I guarantee you that they’ll go from astonishment to envy quite quickly. Next thing you realize is that they are tossing their gel bites and instead, bringing with them a home-made, roasted turkey on wheat, lettuce tomato and mayo, comfortably tucked in their rear pocket of their bike jersey.