I posted this in another post but thought I would create a new thread so that people may have greater access to this:
I have been planning using Infinit nutrition and a fluid only nutrition strategy. I have yet to race this year (doing Mont-Tremblant 70.3 & Mont-Tremblant IM in June and August respectively) but training results yielded very positive outcomes. The most effective way to plan is get a general idea of caloric expenditure as well as fluid loss. For my race I plan on using a concentrate Infinit solution and chase it down with water form the aid stations that way I don't need as many bottles or food items, which should reduce weight.
I can go up to ~1000 calories/bottle, so 2 bottles on the bike + 1 in special needs should be plenty of calories for the bike portion of the race. For the run I might have some concentrated run formula in bottles on a race belt, or use on course nutrition - it will depend how I feel and how the remainder of my training goes.
To plan adequately, I use a power meter to pace myself and also to accurately calculate caloric expenditure from work performed, and from this I get a good idea of how many calories I need to ingest. Literature seems to suggest to replace approximately 30-50% of calories during training and racing, but this is up to the individual to test and see what works best. I also performed a sweat test to give me a ballpark idea of how many fluids I need to consume hourly for optimal race performance.
I devised a small tool (spreadsheet in GoogleSheets) that calculates a calorie range dependent on how much work is performed, from there I enter the nutrition information of my Infinit (from the product's label) and how much I wish to concentrate. The tool then calculates recommended hourly caloric replacement, total calories that should be consumed, and how much water should be consumed with each "shot" of concentrated solution (as to maintain the original concentration "intended for" concentration of the solution - this is crucial to prevent dehydration or overhydration).
From the information entered and sweat rate calculated, the tool then calculates the optimal hourly fluid consumption to ensure proper nutrition and hydration.
The tool is optimized for Infinit nutrition and the use of a power meter, but any other liquid only plan should work just fine. Also, if a power meter isn't available, a general idea of calories expended (using HR or any other way) would also be effective, although the accuracy will most likely be reduced due to metabolic inconsistencies from one person to the next. Again, I stress that this tool shouldn't be regarded as an absolute measure, but can be used to give you an idea of what you might need to ingest to perform optimally - it all comes down to practicing while training so that the race just feels like any other day.
If interested, please copy it or download it once in GoogleSheets: go to File->Make a Copy or File->Download As (if not, any change that you made will be saved to the sheet and might damage it for other people)
Here is a link for the tool (you might need a gmail account to access GoogleSheets):
https://docs.google.com/...vy0/edit?usp=sharing
And here is a link just to see what it looks like (if the other link doesn't work)
https://docs.google.com/...76M2-IMa7vy0/pubhtml
If anyone else is employing a liquid only nutrition strategy and would like to contribute or comment on the tool, please feel free to do so!
Joey
I have been planning using Infinit nutrition and a fluid only nutrition strategy. I have yet to race this year (doing Mont-Tremblant 70.3 & Mont-Tremblant IM in June and August respectively) but training results yielded very positive outcomes. The most effective way to plan is get a general idea of caloric expenditure as well as fluid loss. For my race I plan on using a concentrate Infinit solution and chase it down with water form the aid stations that way I don't need as many bottles or food items, which should reduce weight.
I can go up to ~1000 calories/bottle, so 2 bottles on the bike + 1 in special needs should be plenty of calories for the bike portion of the race. For the run I might have some concentrated run formula in bottles on a race belt, or use on course nutrition - it will depend how I feel and how the remainder of my training goes.
To plan adequately, I use a power meter to pace myself and also to accurately calculate caloric expenditure from work performed, and from this I get a good idea of how many calories I need to ingest. Literature seems to suggest to replace approximately 30-50% of calories during training and racing, but this is up to the individual to test and see what works best. I also performed a sweat test to give me a ballpark idea of how many fluids I need to consume hourly for optimal race performance.
I devised a small tool (spreadsheet in GoogleSheets) that calculates a calorie range dependent on how much work is performed, from there I enter the nutrition information of my Infinit (from the product's label) and how much I wish to concentrate. The tool then calculates recommended hourly caloric replacement, total calories that should be consumed, and how much water should be consumed with each "shot" of concentrated solution (as to maintain the original concentration "intended for" concentration of the solution - this is crucial to prevent dehydration or overhydration).
From the information entered and sweat rate calculated, the tool then calculates the optimal hourly fluid consumption to ensure proper nutrition and hydration.
The tool is optimized for Infinit nutrition and the use of a power meter, but any other liquid only plan should work just fine. Also, if a power meter isn't available, a general idea of calories expended (using HR or any other way) would also be effective, although the accuracy will most likely be reduced due to metabolic inconsistencies from one person to the next. Again, I stress that this tool shouldn't be regarded as an absolute measure, but can be used to give you an idea of what you might need to ingest to perform optimally - it all comes down to practicing while training so that the race just feels like any other day.
If interested, please copy it or download it once in GoogleSheets: go to File->Make a Copy or File->Download As (if not, any change that you made will be saved to the sheet and might damage it for other people)
Here is a link for the tool (you might need a gmail account to access GoogleSheets):
https://docs.google.com/...vy0/edit?usp=sharing
And here is a link just to see what it looks like (if the other link doesn't work)
https://docs.google.com/...76M2-IMa7vy0/pubhtml
If anyone else is employing a liquid only nutrition strategy and would like to contribute or comment on the tool, please feel free to do so!
Joey