I’m not sure what your definition of fast is, but I’m sub-10 and only do liquid calories.... no solid food after my breakfast clif bar 3 hrs before race start.

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Your speed matters a lot, sometimes you need to be very fast, where sometimes you need to breakdown your speed.

Yes, I wasn't sure how to define 'fast' sorry. Appreciate your input.

Mid 9 athlete. All liquid.

MOP athlete - all liquid nutrition.

Spicy pepperoni sticks.

The faster you are, the harder it is for you to digest/absorb/breakdown calories, especially non liquid calories.

I think you are going to find that the overwhelming majority of folks that race under 10 hours, are taking in purely liquid calories.

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I use solid food during the first half of the bike and transition to gels/liquids during the second half. At IM race pace, even “fast” folks aren’t going so hard that their stomach can’t digest some solid food, especially early in the bike. If they are, they are setting themselves up for disaster. I think the key when eating solid food is to take in small amounts at a regular basis to help your body digest is consistently rather than try to break down a large amount all at once. I set an alarm for 12 minutes and eat every time it beeps.

I use Clif bars and Honey Stinger gummies through the first half and then my preferred gels the second half.

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Really? I’m not sure I buy this...I just assume that fast guys are (generally) doing IMs at the same perceived exhaustion/HR relative to as slower guys, they are just doing it...faster. How is their body processing food differenty at the same HR and % FTP than a slower athlete just because their bike is moving along at 24 MPH rather than 21 MPH??

Pacing for an 8-9 hour event can be very different than pacing for a 13-14 hour event. If you're out on the bike course for 4:30, you'd be able to target a higher IF - and with it, higher RPE and relative effort - than if you were out fro 6:30.

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ZONE3 - We Last Longer

As a 9:30ish finisher, I use a combo of liquid nutrition, chomp blocks, and Zbars (kids version of Cliff Bars)

Top male pro bike splits are around 78-85% of their FTP. How many people in the field are able to ride that for 112 miles (not even including running well afterward)?

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What is your current nutrition plan and what is happening that you are losing confidence in?

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Winner.

You are assuming the slower finisher isn’t as relatively fit. They could be and able to sustain similar numbers but are just slower.

Valid point but if was really responding to the poster about the body’s ability to process foods for athletes of various speeds less than the caloric needs of an IMer.

Almost half (42%) of the calories in honey waffles are from fat, which is of little value to ingest during a race. It's taking up valuable GI effort that would be better spent on carbohydrate. I would start by using something that's mostly carbohydrate, and consider liquid only. There is no reason to eat solid food.

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Are you ready to do an Ultraman? | How I calculate Ironman race fueling | Strength Training for Athletes |

Except you can't sustain that kind of IF for longer. The faster you go, the higher intensity you can ride. It's like in an olympic tri, if you ride sub 1 hour you can ride closer to an IF of 1 than if you did a 1:30 bike split

I understand. I am merely talking about the ability of those two athletes’ bodies to process food. The fact that one is biking faster by itself doesn’t mean his or her body can process foods less effectively. I’m done-let the thread get back on track.

I'm sub 12, trying to break the 11 barrier (so not terribly fast) but I went mostly liquid a while ago. I keep a chocolate chip Clif bar. I used to love when I could find the "sample" bars, now I just eat 1/2 of the bar at about mile 35-40, and the other 1/2 at 80 or so.

I'll put Fig Newtons in my special needs and eat them if I need a treat. I can't do gels after about 2-3 hours of work. EFS liquid shot is OK if it's not hot out, otherwise I just stick with the EFS mix.

Liquid, it was pretty much the key to being able to sustain a higher output on the bike over IM without any GI issues. I'll keep part of a bar cut up to grab a few bites just in case I feel like I can tolerate it, but its more just to have a different taste to chew on than of any nutritional value.

Also......Isn't honey stinger products mostly simple sugars and not maltodextrin?

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Question to those who use all liquid (pretty much all of you) -

How do you get enough calories?

I was planning on taking in almost 375 calories per hour.

On average, that would be 1 Nutrigrain bar, 1 gel shot from my flask, and a bottle of Gatorade every hour.

If I skip the Nutrigrain bar, how do I replace the missing 120 calories? Would it just be more gel, or do you guys add in extra powder to the on course Gatorade?

Nutrigrain bars work pretty well for me because they are soft and I can fit 6 of them in a jersey pocket unwrapped in a plastic bag. I just jam the whole thing in my mouth and let it slowly dissolve., wash down with Gatorade.

My gut can handle pretty much anything and I have experience eating without bonking on rides lasting up to 16 hours. Edit: 16 hour rides I am at 135 watts 130 BPM but for IM I am targeting 180 watts 145 BPM, so maybe that plays a factor in the need to take liquid instead?

Thoughts, suggestions? Stick to my plan? Replace with liquid? Help?

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"If it costs you 30 minutes at Maryland so what" -dwreal

I see this as an interesting topic. The full IM pace, while at power beyond what I can sniff at, is still at a relatively lower % of 20min or hour power.

There are world tour cyclists who eat solid food day in and day out on month long tours. They might not eat solid right before a mountain climb attack for 45 minutes. But they certainly are taking solid food in the feed bags at some point in the stages.

Its just a matter of a heavily caloric drink solution. Gatorade likely isnt it. Infinit is the choice of many because you can tailor the calories in the formula (and many other aspects of the formula) and then just concentrate the powder between bottles. I can cram about 1400 calories into a single 26oz bottle that becomes a slurry with some water, then I dilute that mixture in a BTA bottle with water while riding. 1/4 of the slurry bottle each hour (starting with about 500 in the BTA already) gets me about 2000 calories for a 5 hour ride.