I'm generally a middle/back of pack person. For a sprint, I don't fuel. I eat a banana right before the swim, make sure I drink on the bike and run, and I'm fine.

I do fuel for an Olympic. I do liquid fuel (Skratch) in my bike bottles, and then take chews on the run.

I would think that water would be fine for a 3 hour or less race.

I’m water only for anything less than a 70.3 distance.

I imagine this can vary from person to person, but I have found that for me, my performance declines after about 2.5 hours if I don't fuel. I can train or race for about that long and be fine with nothing more than water. But things tend to get rough if I need to go beyond that time, so I have a plan for fueling if I think I'll to be out there for more than 2 hours, just to be safe. That is my general plan, whether I'm training or racing.

So I guess to answer your original question directly, yes, I think different people should probably have different fueling plans, even for the same race. Most fueling plans are based on the amount of time you'll be exercising, so it makes sense that someone who will be out there longer will need to fuel differently than someone who will done in half the time.

Especially if it is on the warmer side of things, you are going to need something other than just water. I can use more than just water for a 3 hr bike ride...so...

I would have some electrolyte replacement drink like Nuun on the bike, and then have a Gu pack or similar just in case on the run.

Ok, so we've heard from one end of the spectrum........how long you guys on the course for? How close to your max are you pushing it? Would you be faster IF???

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http://www.fitspeek.com the Fraser Valley's fitness, wellness, and endurance sports podcast

Big dinner night before should provide over 2 hours of fueling

I'm a novice triathlete, but I have some running experience that I think translates: it depends how hard you are going relative to your ability. I can do a 3 hour EZ run (~21 miles for me) without fueling, but for a 3 hour marathon (hard for me) I take 6 maurten gels and gatorade. I would bonk big time in a 3 hour race if I was going hard.

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Better late than never.

Not all people burn through calories the same way. Taking in nothing for the race will work for some, but even the ITU pro's eat something for sprint and Olympic distance races. If you aren't rested for the race and are training through, your glycogen stores won't be at their max.

You can definitely over-do fueling for a short race, personally I need enough sugar to keep my brain going. I've done the no nutrition thing several times, doesn't work for me.

Then there is warm up time, 10 minutes of jogging, roll around the bike for 10 min, 10 min of swimming total 30 min. That energy comes from somewhere.

Sprint distance for me: (normally around 1:10)
Normal breakfast
1 gel before start
1 gel at beginning of bike
Maybe 1 get at end of bike.

Olympic distance for me: (normally around 2:15-20)
Normal breakfast
1 gel before start
1 gel at beginning of bike
1 gel 30 min into bike
1 gel at the end of bike
I carry one for the run but I rarely ever use it

For each race I drink to thirst. Maybe half a bottle of sportsdrink for a sprint (if any), a little more for an Olympic. I'm well hydrated before the race so I don't need much during unless I'm sweating a lot.

Sprint - usually 1:15 - 1:20. I've found, in my area, sprint distances vary on the exact swim/bike distance.

Olympic - around 3 hours.

My personal rule, and what I have found works best for me, is that any race or long bike ride that's going to go over 90 minutes, I fuel. If it's a training run, I'll fuel for anything over an hour. When it gets hot/humid, I switch from regular water to some type of Skratch. I love their hydration wellness with extra sodium - I did a sweat test and know I lose a lot of salt, so getting that back in does more for me than anything.

But so much of this is subjective and dependent on you - you need to play around with it a bit.

Very true and this is sort of the point of my question, winning a race and going hard, esp. at in short course is very simple - but to maximize your performance as a BOP/MOP is more complicated... I think.

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http://www.fitspeek.com the Fraser Valley's fitness, wellness, and endurance sports podcast

For sprint (1:10-1:30), I don't fuel at all - just make sure I'm topped up with some fruit or gels before the swim. For olympic/international distance (2:30-2:50), I'll usually do 100-200 calories of gels/chews - maybe midpoint during the bike and early on the run. I definitely cannot do that distance/time at my best effort without some fueling.

I haven't done anything longer than sprints since 2006, and haven't raced yet since the Covid shutdown. But the last year I raced, my times ranged from 58 minutes to 1:20 depending on bike and swim distances.

Typical race morning was a light breakfast about 3 hours before (wheat toast, or bagel, or oatmeal, with OJ), then a glass of beet juice about 1.5 hours before the start. Then 1 gel 15 minutes before the start, for a little caffeine/sugar kick, and then nothing but water out on course. In the past, I've found that when at going at 100%, I have trouble getting and keeping down anything on the run, including water. So its usually just a few gulps of water on the bike, and nothing on the run...

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"I'm thinking of a number between 1 and 10, and I don't know why!"

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I'll mention these two events for comparison because you know them
Sprint:Peachland Tri..PR is 1:01 and breakfast very early...Can of Ensure on the drive up from Penticton..Nothing else for the race

Olympic: Peach Classic (The old,hard one) PR 2:07..Same pre race..One 600ml bottle of electrolyte mixed with malto on the bike fuels both bike and run...Aid station water on the run is for dumping over my head if it is hot.

People finishing at the BOP need more fuel because their 3hr+ Oly is vastly different to what I am doing.

I did the Peach one year straight after the late shift at Boston Pizza where we drank Naramata Nut Brown until 4am after closing. That was an "interesting" race.
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I burned nearly 2300 calories in my last Oly (2:19 total) and maybe 1500 calories in a sprint (longer sprint bike). Can’t imagine going without any calories for a 3+ hour race. Could you avoid calories and liquids? Probably. Should you? I don’t see why you wouldn’t want to take some in.

You sure? They’ll be racing at a lower percentage of threshold than you, and also their threshold will be lower. E.g. let’s say your FTP is 300 watts and you’re riding at 280 watts (93%) for an hour. That’s about 840 kcal burnt on the bike. A BOPer may have a 210 watt threshold and ride at 180 watts (85%) for 1:25, burning about 765 kcal.

They can save a lot of energy at a cost of not as much speed.

In fact I’m in awe of how little nutrition you need to maintain high speeds. Maybe you’re light, or burn a lot of fat, I have no idea how those things work.

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"FTP is a bit 2015, don't you think?" - Gustav Iden

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But are they racing at a lower percentage of threshold or are they really struggling far more than I am on difficult courses.I have been fit at the front of the pack and fat at the back of the pack and being at the front was "easier" every single time.

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Assuming our hypothetical BOP athlete is racing/trying to set a pb, I don't see any reason why their optimal fueling would be massively different to the FOP athletes They can probably get away with less carb intake per hour, and may need a little more hydration than FOP. But the general guidelines for FOP work just as well for BOP.

Right, it would be fuel per time per kg of athlete body weight...MOP to BOP will be out there for longer...so they need more fuel. Also, one might be able to correctly assume that MOP or BOP will weigh more than FOPer...

I know that when I am going out on a run with my wife at a much slower pace than I would normally, I need more fuel than normal because I am out there for longer.

I ran an olympic last weekend and finished about 15% from the top overall. I'm old (66). I drank a bottle of regular gatorade on the bike (21 oz). A couple hours before the race I had 200-250 calories of cookies and a little gatorade 30-60 minutes before the start. I might benefit from something in T2 or on the run, I'm not sure. I think it takes too long for me to digest solid food to eat during a sub 3-hour race. I don't eat or drink anything during a sprint.

Why not both? Racing feels easier for me when I'm fitter, too, even though I'm going faster. That doesn't change the calories math.



Because (1) it's a longer effort and (2) fitter people can generally maintain the same % of threshold for longer. Kipchoge runs a marathon at 95% of threshold. A four-hour marathoner will maintain what, 70%? Because it's 4 hours and because he couldn't hold 95% even for two hours.

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"FTP is a bit 2015, don't you think?" - Gustav Iden

Haha..... this is brilliant...