For a HIM.....yes. 100% liquid.

First full will be LOU. I plan to take a gel every 40' on the run....up to mile 16.

It would be interesting to know what nutrition was like back in the early days. I can only assume everything most people are dependent upon now wasn't there.

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haven't used gels for two years during any races from halves to fulls. I use honey stinger waffles as my food source. Something to chew on and feel like I am getting real food. Some bananas on the bike and pretzels on the run. The rest is water and my mix of liquid calories on the bike and gatorade and red bull on the run

edit: I forgot i eat a butterfinger bar at special needs during the bike!! Delicious treat

How is it working in training? How many calories are you going to try and take in during the run? I see the biggest challenge is carrying all of that fuel, even with a special needs bag. They will have bananas on course during the run and sometimes the bike. I find these easier on my stomach than gels. You will also have pretzels that are similar to your biscuits. So, yeah, completely doable without gels.

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Oui, mais pas de femme toute de suite (yes, but I am not ready for a woman straight away) -Stephen Roche's reply when asked whether he was okay after collapsing at the finish in the La Plagne stage of the 1987 Tour

Training with only drinks and the dried fruit and baby biscuits at the moment,a bit hungry towards the end of each brick but its the only thing i can handle

Still in the testing phase so thanks all for the input

See how important forcing food down is as the distance increases. You can skip a bite and still make it through in a olympic or 70.3, not the case when clock goes into the 10 11hour mark from what i see .Will need to adjust fueling as i go

Carrying real foods on the bike is a bit tricky as things get bulky and not aero at all.
After searching online and in the forum i see very few run these distances with no gels

Fig newtons are great on the bike.

peeled boiled finger potatoes sprinkled with salt.

Dates

All easy for me to eat on long distances and I have a notorioisly weak stomach during exercise.

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who's smarter than you're? i'm!

On the bike for a 70.3 Clif bars (likely any flapjack type item) work well for me, fit nicely in a bento.

what happens at mile 16?

100% liquid (water & Gatorade) up to and including 140.6

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Pink? Maybe. Maybe not. You decide.

I think that's the city limits of cokeville.

I ask because I'm using my first IM in less than a month and am planning on liquid only nutrition on bike then gels and gatorade on the run.

That's my plan, too. I've used it in training for all my long runs and bricks (bricks up to 90/14 and runs to 18 mi). 20 mi, run this Sunday.

You can make your own gels (http://www.nomeatathlete.com/...e-energy-gel-recipe/) if you are looking to avoid all of the additives in the gel packets. Figure out the calories you need, make a batch, put it in a bottle and add water to the desired consistency. If really thick, split it in to two bottles and leave one bottle in your bike special needs.

The boiled potatoes mentioned above are tasty, but they would take up a lot of space on the bike for a 112 mi. ride. When you are done, we would love to hear a race recap with the success of the gelless race.

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Oui, mais pas de femme toute de suite (yes, but I am not ready for a woman straight away) -Stephen Roche's reply when asked whether he was okay after collapsing at the finish in the La Plagne stage of the 1987 Tour

I haven't had a gel in years, but I often put honey in a Hammer flask. It's a lot easier on the stomach than traditional gels.

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I went to a lecture by this guy and tried his rice cakes. Very good.

Did my last IM (in 2014) on no gels at all. Just water, Scratch Labs, bananas, cashews, raisins and coke after around mile 15 on the run. I didn't win my age group, or come anywhere close to it, but I did not do any worse than the 8 IM's before that.

The IM before that (2013) I did pretty much the same thing but did have 2 gels. One about 30 mins before the swim and the other at the start of the run.

While my times were no better or worse than previous races I did experience significantly less stomach distress.

I don't think I've had a gel since that 2013 race and while I'm not doing tri's any longer I do train and race ultras as well as did a 7 day cycle tour through the Austrian Alps this summer. All gel free.

I'm surprised people find that a meaningful caloric quantity of either dried fruit or nuts is easy on the digestive system. Those digestible carbs come with some serious fiber.

But personally, I don't find the natural/synthetic heuristic to be very useful, in terms of assessing either whether my system can handle food or what its nutritional value is.

Nutrition varies by individual and race conditions...that said.....

Why is everyone talking about calories? It's carbs that matter, not calories.

40-90g of carbs per hour is a ballpark range for most athletes.

I aim for 60g per hour starting on the bike.

Before the swim, I use a 32GI energy chew and caffeine shot about 30-45 minutes before my start.

On the bike, all liquid. I run a concentrated mixture on the back in a marked bottle. That way I know how much I need to add to my front bottle to hit my carb intake goals. Keeps things simple; I start out with an hour of fuel/drink in my front bottle, and add fuel from my rear cage and water from aid stations. For HIM, even in hot conditions (above 95 degrees) I don't even need to add water. For IM or when I'm thirsty...I can fill my front bottle with more water, diluting the concentration of fuel, allowing me to increase my fluid consumption without taking in excess carbs. The drink mix I use is a mixture of 32GI Race and 32GI Endure. The endure version has a slightly different sugar molecule that slows absorption into the body and helps me keep a stable energy. The Race really hits quick and works VERY well as long as I continue to take small sips on a regular basis.

The run...I live off the course. My preference would be for 32GI race, but I'm not going to carry a bottle for 3.5 hours with me. I will keep a couple of gels in reserve in case. Also, I use the 32GI G-shot caffeine shots throughout HIM and IM. I'm used to it and it substantially helps my performance. At Kona...I forgo the caffeine shots and motivate myself to get to the Red Bull aid station in the energy lab..god that stuff tastes amazing somehow at that point...almost like the red and white elixir we all know and love...have to admit more than a few IM run legs have been run on it alone!

This is the nutrition plan I follow for sub 10 IM.

I think if I'm out on the course longer, I would want some solid food, and I would assume my body could handle it given the lower intensity it's working at. Honeystinger waffles are super delish. The 32GI energy chews also work really well for me. Natural is super ok with me too, but as someone else said, I'd REALLY REALLY stay away from all the fiber that's been suggested above. Fiber and endurance sports...not a good combination for most people. I don't consumer fiber from the day before the race never mind in the race.

There's two sides to this I would think. Long distance = lower intensity. That's likely to help with digestion compared to the higher intensity of a HIM. On the other hand, any shortfall in nutrition is going to become considerably more problematic at full distance.

Naturals are slow burners compared to the "boom" you get out of the gels
I dont have a full under my below yet but the HIM went down with all Naturals as mentioned

In detail: Swim - banana 30 min before start & x2 haribo sweeties.
Bike- 3x rice cakes,5x figs ,3 biscuits and many haribos. electrolytes and water. Pinch of salt every hour or so
Run - water,sweeties,nuts,orange and coke towards the end


Thanks again all for the input

I'm giving you bonus iron-gut points....I'd be totally wrecked on this food and wouldn't even know where to start in terms of carrying it all!

I don't know much about Hariboo...looking at the info it seems they are quite similar to gels? Lots of sugar in a gummy candy. Seems the same as the 32GI energy chews but made with glucose instead of isomaltulose.

I also used to steer clear of gels b/c it caused air build up in my gut (burping, slight puke) hard to choke down without gagging. The last year I moved to Hammer and dilute the gel 50/50 with water using a gel flask. That made the difference and all good since.