For biking I try and get 300 cal/hr, but I'm usually closer to 250-275 cal/hr. I find it easier to get the calories in during races than training b/c I have less going on (no cue sheets, less traffic, etc). If I'm doing gels, I have my watch set to beep every 20 minutes. If I'm doing Infinit, I have it beep every 10 or 12 minutes.

Running is 200 cal/hr. I'm usually right on target with this, but I have a routine: 1 gel every half hour starting 15-20 minutes in.

FWIW, I'm 5'7" and 140ish. It took me a few months of training my gut to be able to process as much as I do. I found that keeping the protein in the drinks/gels to a minimum helped. I feel more full if I have a little in the mix, but its not a huge amount.

At Oliver 1/2IM last month, I drank alot and took in three gels on the bike. Felt terrible and bloated and peeing at too many aid stations, so didn't drink or eat too much on that leg, a bit of flat cola late in the game.

At Van 1/2IM today, I took in 4 gels on the bike and HALF a big bottle of Gatorade (so maybe 400Mls). Felt GREAT off the bike. On the run, drank about 30mL of Gatorade every 4th aid station or so with a very small sip of water if I was sucking on a gel (I tend to eat my gel in about 4 or 5 "slurps" over maybe an hour when running).

Not a lot of calories I know, but I feel better when I take more gel/less liquid on the bike, and even less on the run. Probably close to the 150cal/hr you list...

AP

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"How bad could it be?" - SimpleS

On a long run I would take in one gel every 45 minutes. For a half marathon I would take two - @ 40 minutes and @ 80 minutes. So that is equivalent to about 130-150 calories per hour.

On a long ride I would take one bottle of Accelerade and one granola bar. That would be about 300 calories per hour.

In an international distance duathlon 10-40-5, I would take one bottle of Accelerade and two gels and sips of whatever sports drink are on the run course. That would probably work out to about 150 calories per hour. Oh yeah, plus I always take one gel immediately before the start, so including that would bring the average to about 180 calories per hour.

I am 5'2" (and 46 years old, so slowing metabolism) and I find I have to really watch my caloric intake during training and afterwards. It is very easy to overeat just on training foods. I didn't lose any weight at all last summer in spite of having about 10 lbs of excess and training 10-14 hours per week. This year I'm trying to find the fine line between getting enough calories for effective training and not just feeding my butt :( I've lost 5 lbs in the past 8 weeks and feel that it is all fat loss.

I found it very interesting to read about people like Peter Reid and Simon Whitfield saying that they are frequently famished but that they have to be that way to be lean enough to be fast. I had always assumed that the top endurance athletes would be able to eat whatever quantities of quality food that they wanted.

I'm about 400 cal/hour on the bike and 250-300 on the run.

It's a lot compared to what it sounds like most people take in, but it's what i need and I've never really had a problem with my stomach saying no to food.

I'm guessing pace/effort has something to do with too. You are about twice as fast as I am. OK maybe not twice as fast, but way, way faster. :-)

I use infinit for bike and run...

Bike is usually right around 200 calories/hour and run is usually 100-150 cal/hour. I did notice through this year's training for CDA I did not take in as much on the bike as I used to - I just didn't really want it. My CDA bike split was right at 7 hours and I had 1400+ calories of infinit with me but probably only ended up taking in 1000-1100, so a little less than 200 cal/hour overall. It was also cold outside which probably made some sort of difference. For my 5 hour run at CDA I had ~600 calories of infinit, 2 oreos (~120 calories) and a few other random calories here and there (broth, maybe a few sips of coke, and who knows what else).

I'm 5'5" and 120-125 and not super speedy.

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Kathleen
http://kcwoodhead.blogspot.com/

I have noticed that I need more calories on the bike this year. I am going way harder on the bike than in years past.

My body is kinda happy around 200 - 250 cal/hr....I'm pretty reliable with Gu and Gu2O (I don't tolerate Heed and Gatorade has too strong a flavor and I'm a pufferfish if I have too much over time)....I shoot for a 24oz bottle of Gu2O and a gel an hour...at Silverman I threw down a salt tab an hour as well - though had that off-cycle - so a bottle throughout the hour, a gel on the hour and an endurolyte at the 1/2 hr...kept me thinking, anyway, and my head in the game. I ratchet that back just a tad on the run, shoot for about the same overall but go more on feel as I'm slurping concentrated Gu2O out of my fuel bottles or flasks and adding water from the aid stations.

But I'm not a skinny little thing, I'm about 5'6" and hover around 150 - 160. If I stopped eating throughout the year, I could probably race with less fuel...but what's the fun in that?

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AW

For IM CdA last year I took in ~200 calories/hr on the bike and my stomach felt great. I was so concerned in my previous races about getting in 250/hr that I was cramming too much in my belly. With running, most people take in about 100 - 150. The body has a much harder time processing calories when it is bouncing up and down. I also always have protein in my nutrition. Accelerade and Accel gel on the run, Perpetuem and Accel Gel on the ride. Seems to keep my stomach settled.

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Jen

"In order to keep a true perspective on one's importance, everyone should have a dog that worships him and a cat that will ignore him." - Dereke Bruce

200 cal for 30 mi bike + 8 mi run this AM, which works out to <100 calories per hour. I need twice that but rarely do it.

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maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

Wow, I really never eat on the bike unless I'm going 4+ hours. I have some gatorade sometimes, but just try to eat a lot beforehand. For long runs, I don't eat anything, sometimes drink (I've done up to 16 miles long runs). The pace on my long runs is from 6:45-7:30, I can't imagine keeping that pace up while trying to eat something, and those gels are so expensive! How do you do it? Do you slow down while ingesting?

On topic, does anyone eat during sprint tris, and if so, how much and at what point in the race?

I could probably go for a 4 hour ride/2 hour run and not eat, but I like to make sure I eat for a couple reasons:

1) Practice for long races. If you don't eat during the first four hours of an IM bike, you'll bonk somewhere.
2) I like to not be STARVING when I finish a workout
3) I like to constantly fuel my body, and since I'm pretty sure after about 90-120 hours I've used up most of my glycogen, I need something else. I have a hard time keeping weight on when I train a lot, so I eat when I train so it's a little less I have to eat after. And believe me I eat a lot. More than most guys who are training for IMs.

As for sprint tris, i usually have breakfast, sip gatorade while setting up, then have a gel 5-10 minutes before the start. I have a bottle of gatorade on my downtube and usually have 1-2 drinks of it, depending on how hot it is. Then I grab a water/gatorade leaving T2 and sometimes one at the half way point.

If I don't eat anything in the morning (even skip breakfast), it doesn't really seem to hurt my performance, but my stomach growls and then I'm STARVING after the race.

Your best bet for fueling during a sprint is before or during the bike. On the run you are usually running to hard and it will be too hard for your stomach to absorb whatever you put into it.

I rarely eat during a 2 hour run.

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Jen

"In order to keep a true perspective on one's importance, everyone should have a dog that worships him and a cat that will ignore him." - Dereke Bruce

my nutritionist say honey works just as well as gel for most people, and is far less expensive.

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maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

even if you are teeny....100-150 cal/hour I think is low...maybe during a running race but not training. I try to get 250-300. Some calories in a drink and a gel and that is enough and not hard to stomach.

I manage to handle 200-225 cal/hour on epic bike rides. Less on runs.

I'm training for the NY marathon and am considering switching from gels/water to liquid only (infinit or something similar). On my long training runs, I wear a camelback. I'm assuming if I switch to liquid nutrition, I'd have to wear the camelback during the race too. Is there a better way to get liquid nutrition in a long race?

I super concentrate the infinit into gu flasks.

I can usually get 13-15 miles worth in one flask. Most flasks are 4oz but I have recently found fuel belt flasks that are 6oz so you can fit a little more in.

You have to work with it a bit, but I was able to get 500 calories (5 scoops) into the 6oz flask. The infinit powder reduces in water so you have to go back and forth adding water and powder each a little at a time.

I don't mind having the flask in my hand, so normally I just carry it, take a swig right before the aid station, and take water to wash it down. The flask can also go in a pocket, down the front of your top, or in the back of your sports bra.

I am spoiled at most of the marathons I have run and have been able to pick up stuff from my family along the way, so I could trade flasks. If I was racing away from my hometown marathon, I'd probably go with a 500 calorie gu flask, then also carry a pack of cliff blocks or something similar to top me off once the infinit is done.

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Kathleen
http://kcwoodhead.blogspot.com/