Most of the nutrition that people are taking is specifically intended to be consumable without water like the maurteen or precision hydration gels. During a 70.3 I'm personally drinking at least three 20oz bottles of gatorade endurance on the bike (~40g of carb each), plus 4-5 precision hydration gels (30g of carb each). Parse this out over just over two hours and I'm approaching that 120g of carb an hour. The only hard part of this is drinking three bottles if it's not an exceptionally hot day, or if it is an exceptionally hot day and the liquid is warm and disgusting. I usually don't have even a sip of pure water while on the bike, to me that's just wasted consumption effort.

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For a 70.3 I take 1x750ml in the frame bladder with 80g sugar (+salt) to drink as is, and a slightly more concentrated one with 120g with me that I dilute on the go refilling with water from aid station. 200g for just above 2hrs, one 30g gel extra with me if needed (sometimes I take it, sometimes not).
For the full distance I even go 3x dose on the extra bta bottle (so 240g), 80g in the frame, 80g in a gel-like consistency with 150ml water in an elite crono (I used to do isostar, or maurten, but often now it's all out of just plain table sugar + salt). And 2-3 gels. So a total of 450ish grams with me in T1 already, for a good 100g/h. If required a little top-up from an aid station with whatever is available.

For the run I go with a gel every 7k (slightly below 30min) + a bit of coke from aid stations. Around 70g/h or so.

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At pro speed and body composition a 3.30-3:45 race these guys can literally do on a couple of bottles of Gatorage on the bike and a gel or two and a few cups of gatorade/coke on the run. 2 hrs you can race on nothing but last night's pasta and the hydration bound to the glycogen already stored on the body, so they are fueling for barely 1.5 hrs more.

One of the reasons Macca initially struggled at Kona is he could wing it in half ironmans and not think too much about any particular nutrition plan. Then he tried to do that at full IM but only had 2 hrs of stores on his body and rather than another 1.5-2 hrs to fuel for, he needed to fuel for 6.5 more hours and that made a world of difference.

Take Precision Fuel & Hydration, for example. They have a drink mix that's 1000mg sodium + 60g carbs. They have 30g gels but they also have 90g gels. A lot of pros will mix gels directly into their bottles. So measure it out/do the math. 60-90g/carbs/hr. Can't drink on the swim but maybe you're popping a gel in transition. You get on the bike & have 2 or 3 bottles. 120-180g/carbs divided up into them for a 70.3. Then you're taking from the aid stations on the run to carry you to the finish. It's really about fueling well on the bike so that you don't have to think about it too much on the run. You don't want to be playing catch up on the run. By then, it's too late.

I agree with all you said, but make sure you attempt to take 2 maurten gels per aid station. Grab them at speed so you feel like a pro. You might occasionally drop them, but that's ok because seconds matter.

Eat one every 3-4k and pocket the others.

If you want to feel like a pro you gotta grab enough Maurten gels to offset the cost of the race so you too can race for free. That's more than 2 gels per aid station, but not too many more.

I usually don't have even a sip of pure water while on the bike, to me that's just wasted consumption effort.

That seems surprising to me. Do you ever get cramps while on the bike or run? or is your body just
used to it?

I'm not sure this is correct? So you are saying the body burns less fuel the faster you go??

Wouldn't it roughly take the same amount of calories to move a body 21kms on a run irrespective of how fast they do it? Same for the bike etc..

Justin Riele here:

Race morning: 4 x pieces of white bread, peanut butter scoop, 2 bananas, black coffee (2-2.5 hours pre-race right after alarm)
2-3xC30 scoops of Neversecond. (any 2:1 malto fructose drink mix, I like neversecond the best and am not sponsored by one brand but The Feed).
Sip on this carb mix between breakfast and swim start.
One C30 caf gel before swim (20-30mins)

Bike:
One 750mL bottle of 3scoops of Neversecond (90g)
One 950mL bottle of 4 scoops of Neversecond C30 (120g)
+ 2 gels, one caf and one non-caf. The non caf is just a backup, and I'm assuming I won't completely finish one of the bottles.

In chattanooga last weekend the 90g bottle flew off and and was very glad to have those 2 gels to still get me to 90g an hour for a 2:00 bike split.

I totally disagree with the earlier comment about not needing carbs "due to our body makeup." I'm hammering so hard the whole bike right at and above threshold most of the ride, I'm burning a crazy amount of carbs. Most are suggesting the more the better, don't quote me on this but I think Fred Funk Marc Dubrick Sam Long are going up to 120-140g/hour I think on the bike and then maybe taking a little less on the run.

Run:
3 gels. I grab two in my hat in T2 and start running, then put them in my pocket while moving. Grab one maurten caf from aid station. 1:18-1:21 half runner so one at 20, 40, 60 mins basically.

The only changes I'll make based on course conditions:
- size of bottles on the bike: In a cold race I'll go with 2x750ML and no water. In a hot race (cozumel, kona, etc.) I'll go with 2x950mL and grab water. I usually don't grab water from aid stations. If I do, I rip off the top with my teeth and chug half the bottle as fast as possible and chuck it before the trash drop ends.

I'm curious how many pro's not sponsored by a specific brand like PF&H or Maurten are using Never2. I've used it to fuel my last few 70.3's and a 140.6. I had no problems working my way up to 110-115g/hr with their C30 drink mix and gels, just have to supplement with a bit of unflavored LMNT for sodium. The brand doesn't seem super popular in triathlon but their whole "system" seems pretty easy to use.

I think of ‘threshold’ as 95-99% of FTP. Is that where you are riding? I can’t imagine holding that for two hours, even if I didn’t have to run off the bike. Another reminder that life as a pro is very different from that of AG competitor.

Yeah pretty much. Everyone has a different definition of FTP these days (LT2, max one hour power, etc.) but yes 2 hour max power (which is basically how I'm racing a 70.3 to be in the front pack with bike legs empty by the time I get off the bike) is really close to my 1 hour max power (I think like 340-350w vs. 330-335w). I've spent the last 2-3 years basically just training to improve my efficiency and strength endurance at race pace. I'm around 3.2-3.5mMol at 320-330w (LT2) for the real nerds out there who are curious.

I need to make this effort easier obviously to be able to run well, but the way the races are playing out unless you can run like Matt Hanson or Jason West, you're not really in the race if you're not riding front bike pack

Can say with a bit of confidence that the top guys winning 70.3’s are between 120 and 150g carbs through the bike AND run. 1100+mg sodium.

Can also say with some confidence that some top pros who are taller are doing more than 150g carbs per hour on the bike in full ironman races, using 4x1L bottles, carrying all of their own nutrition, and with IM’s switch to diet drinks on the course, these pros are now self sufficient on the run, keeping nutrition in special needs on the run.

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