Paul-

Sorry I can't offer any sources. I'm sure someone else out there can. Just a little advice from my own experiences of moving up in distance and adjusting nutrition. There are a lot of good products out there, but if you can't stomach them or just don't like the taste they won't help you one bit. Experiment with different drinks, gels, bars and find what you like best. As far as how much / how often - start training now. Most products have pretty good recommendations as to how often they should be consumed during exercise. I like to start in the offseason by building up how much I can take. EX: start with X amount of fluid every X min/miles and 1 gel pack every X minutes. Then gradually increase amounts / frequency. This is something your body has to adjust to, just like the longer distance. Generally, I believe the more you can take in (comfortably, and within reason) the better (esp. fluids). You never know when its going to turn out to be super-humid on race day.

Best of luck.

P.S. Just curious, which half IM?

Utah

DISCALIMER: I AM NOT AN EXPERT AND RESEARCHING THE SAME ISSUE MYSELF FOR MY FIRST TWO 1/2 IMs THIS YEAR.

Hammer Gel's website has an "Edurance Athlete's Nutrition Handbook" on it. Lots of good information -- plus the usual plugs for their products -- but it seems to make sense to me. Go to www.hammergel.com.

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"We will either find a way, or make one." -- Hannibal, General of the Carthaginian Army

http://www.slowtwitch.com/...chcorn/racefuel.html

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"It is better to just strike a straight blow with a crooked stick than to spend your whole life trying to straighten the damn thing out!" (Bill Oncken)

Check out www.coachgordo.com and look at the tips page. He has some great info on 1/2 IM pacing and nutrition. Good luck. I am also doing my first 1/2 IM this year.

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Embrace the suck--Anon.

Eagles Race Team--Napa CA

Paul,

I am doing my first 1/2 IM in Utah as well. I have been training/experimenting with three different energy gels (Clifshot, GU, and Hammergel). I have found that Hammergel works the best for me. It is easy to digest and it doesn't upset my stomach at all. When I am on the bike, I usually mix Hammergel right into my water bottle. Since I am not a HUGE fan of water anyway, adding the hammergel sort of makes the water taste like Propel (At least that's what I tell myself). When I run, I usually just carry the squeeze bottle full of gel. Either way, the gel is really easy to take in.

The nice thing about GU is that it will be available at the aid stations (they are a sponsor). It couldn't hurt you to try GU while training. If it does upset your stomach, it's better to find out now than on race day.

The website for hammergel is www.hammergel.com You can order almost everything from their website. However, if you call them, you can buy the individual packets of hammergel. The packets are nice because you can get several different flavors and see which one you like the best. If you call in or go online, you can use coupon #39306 for 15% off your first order.

See you in Utah!


Craig

My 1st 1/2 was Wildflower last year. I got caught up in the whole "science of nutrition" thing in a huge way. I did this race on Hammergel and Sustained Energy. Remember that you will need eCaps as well if you go with a Hammer mix as there are no electrolytes in Hammergel. This is so you can more closely regulate e-lytes using eCaps. I won't use Hammer/Sustained again as it made me quite ill. I know others that have had the same experience. I'm racing multiple 1/2's and an IM this year and am sticking with much simpler (and "real") foods this year. Whatever you do, make sure you train a lot (esp on long rides and bricks) with your race food in order to make sure you can handle. Also, it can be easy to over-ingest calories with stuff like Sustained....if you use something like this, make sure you've got your calories right. PS: I love Cytomax....easy on the stomach. I combine with Clifs and Gu without problems.

Chris - How do you feel about using Gatorade to replace electrolytes? I assume Gatorade will be at the aid stations since they are a sponsor. Also, what kind of "real" foods are you talking about? I have been training with Hammergel but not Sustained Energy or E-caps.

I also did my first 1/2 IM last year at Wildflower. I was surprized at how hungry I was during the race. On the ride, I ate the two bars I had with me, and part of one they handed out, plus two or three gels and some pretzels I had placed loose in my bento box. I stopped eating with about 18 miles to go. I had cytomax with me, then took the gatorade they were handing out + water. I got kinda sick of the gatorade, its so sickly sweet, and wished I had more cytomax. As for the run, I had a gel during the transition, then nothing for quite a while since they ran out of everything but water at the rest stops, around mile 11 I finally found a rather gross coffee gel. I wished I'd brought a gel or two along. I felt like this worked well for me, I agree with the other posters that making sure your system works for you is important, and real food is good. The pretzels were excellent and easily munchable! Bring along an extra bar in case you drop yours or feel particularly hungry.

For me real food means pretzels and a peanut butter sandwich. I also ingest Gu and Clif Bars along with Cytomax. I've drank Gatorade on the run before and it's just too sweet/salty. At Ralphs and Wildflower I'm going to attempt to reduce fuel intake on the run as I think in past races I've taken in too much while running. This means making sure I come off the bike well nourished, and keep to Gu and water on the run. I'm just trying to make sure my gut feels good in these long races.

I'll be doing a half this year as well. You requested some literature that might help. Call Hammer Nutrition at 1-800-336-1977 and request "The Endurance Athlete's Fueling Handbook." Everything you need (and in more detail than you need) is there. I'm sponsored by E-caps/Hammer Nutrition and would recommend nothing else (not because of the sponsorship, but because I've tried about everything else). If they ask who sent you, my customer number is 35975 (Trifort Triathletes). Best of luck to you. By the way, they can also set you up with training recommendations.