3 Ensures? Ick. Do you do that on training days?

You can try all fluids. Some have success with switch to Tailwind or Perpetuum. You might also want to experiment with Pedialyte. I have used this for super hot races with success. Pro tip: you can use your HSA/FSA dollars to buy Pedialyte.

Have you tried making your own from CarboPro or something similar? Maybe it’s the makeup of the gels. I find that the brand really makes a difference for me, GU are ok, Hammer is an absolute no-go, and Clif Bloks work ok.

Thanks.
I did try all fluid with different brands, I had more bloating/sloshing during the bike and similar painful results on the run.
Combination of solid food (home made banana bread) and gels feels really good during the bike, but when I get to the run I'm having the same stomach pain issue.

I am also thinking it may be the ensure at 4am; its the one thing I have not changed as I figured it will all be gone by the time I get to the run.

A month before a race try to drink and eat the same stuff you would use on race day daily.

Find out what they are serving at the race, drink this daily too, playing with the mixture from heavy to diluted, so your gut is ready for it.

Just like training your body you have to train your belly. Good Luck!

I have a very sensitive stomach as well, and I cut out all fiber starting about 3 days out from a race, and the day before the race I eat some easy to digest carbs in the a.m. (usually just some short grain rice, saltines and/or white bread) and then liquids only until after I finish the race. I've tried Ensure and Boost and my stomach cannot handle them. I now go with Carbo Pro and SIS. I can't handle more then about 600 liquid calories race morning, and on the bike I found that 150 calories/hour is all I need. When I aimed for 200 calories/hour on the bike I would end up vomiting before I even got off the bike. I cannot tolerate any solid food on race day.

thanks, this is very helpful. I can probably take a bit more, but not much. I think I did not think enough about nutrition before the race.

Eat normally on race week.
Eat your final supper no later than 5-6pm the day before the race. Forget the pasta dinner, just give you the carbo shits. But get some solid protein in so you're not hungry.

Ditch the bread and gels. Both are bad for racing.
Isotonic gels are ok.
water and solids until later in the bike.
Coke and water on the run.
If it's cold, eat more solids. It's it's hot, drink more liquid.

ucan has been a game changer for me. i mix a concentrated bottle for each loop and have water in my aero bottle. works really well for me in all conditions. good luck!

How many calories in your concentrated bottles?

Try Hammer Perpetuem - it's like chalk. Flavoured chalk, but bland and easy on most stomachs. I mix up two sludge bottles with 1200-1500 calories each and those get me through 180km of moderate-speed biking.

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"It's Ironman - it's supposed to be hard!"

Author of "Letters to a Driving Nation: Exploring the Conflict between Drivers and Cyclists." http://www.brucebutler.ca

What the heck is a sludge bottle?

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IG - @ryanppax
http://www.geluminati.com
Use code ST5 for $5 off your order

800 in each bottle.... 2 bottles for the whole course. I also carry a few picky bars in case I need some more calories. I’m a small rider...125lbs. I mix a few scoops of the unflavored, and a few scoops of a flavor. Only water in my aero bottle, and base salts if hot/humid. Good luck!

A really, really, really thick mix in a water bottle. So thick that I can only take small sips during the event and have to chase them down with water.

I freeze the bottles the night before the event, then put one on my bike in T1; the other goes in my special-needs bag.

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"It's Ironman - it's supposed to be hard!"

Author of "Letters to a Driving Nation: Exploring the Conflict between Drivers and Cyclists." http://www.brucebutler.ca

I think you should look into some probiotics and also boost your immune system. I'd recommend 10,000IU of D3 to boost the immune system each day and Goat Milk Kefir for the stomach.

https://products.wholefoodsmarket.com/...at-milk-kefir-09e91b


https://redwoodhill.com/goat-milk-benefits/

"Our goat milk yogurt and kefir are fermented with live and active cultures, resulting in hundreds of billions of probiotics per serving. Eating probiotic-rich foods like yogurt and kefir is an important strategy for overall health, according to Tamara Duker Freuman, MS, RD, CDN. Bacteria in our guts play a significant role in immune function, helping to protect us against disease and infection"

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https://www.strava.com/...tes/zachary_mckinney

I also have stomach issues and finally hired a sports nutritionist to help me. After testing my sweat rate and composition, she recommended this stuff: https://www.precisionhydration.com/

I was skeptical, but I gave it a shot and now I love it. It has a super mild taste and zero impact on my gut. It's lower in carbs, so I add some honey stinger gels every hour or so on the bike depending on length. I use the PH 1000, which is based on my sweat rate apparently, and add an S-Cap if its a hot day. They have mixes with higher or lower doses of sodium, depending on your sweat needs.

Of course then I start the run and have to take that Endurance crap, but I train with it, so I get by with it.

Try the Precision stuff... I highly recommend it.

UCAN saved the day for me. I started back in 2014 when my sports nutritionist recommended it (I had never heard of it). Prior to that, lots of GI distress and bonking (especially in my Full Irons). Raced IMMD in 2014, my first race using it and had zero GI distress, no bonking threats, 94c/hr, had a 51 minute PR to go 8:51 and win the race. Raced Kona 2015 and went 72nd overall (no GI Distress, bonked a bit since I got overly-confident with how little I could take. I had only 68c/hr). Full story here.

It's easy on the stomach not just because people say it is. It actually is, based on the science. Dr. Krista Austin speaks to the osmolality of SuperStarch (the complex carb in UCAN)...it's near 0 for pure SuperStarch (so clears as fast as water) versus a typical maltodextrin solution at about 280 and a typical simple sugar drink (i.e. Gatorade) at ~360. The lower the better - it means that it clears the stomach faster which means no sloshing or stomachaches. Big molecules don't need as many transporters, and SuperStarch is a really really really big molecule (Simple Sugars = 180, Maltodextrin = 500, SuperStarch = 600,000)

**I love UCAN so much I actually work for the company now (started in January)

The UCAN Tri Starter Pack is the way to go if you want to try it (and it's here for 50% off). The product speaks for itself so it makes my job easy

Also - Tim O'Donnell just used it in Kona. We have a live webinar with TO on Monday, October 21st at 7:30pm ET if you want to hear how he uses it in training and racing. Free and you can sign up here:
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/7325576886600376588?source=SLOWTWITCH

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Matthew J Bach
Director - Triathlon Business
The UCAN Company
matthew.bach@ucanco.com

Thanks Matt
I used ucan for a season a few years ago - it tastes like shit and is super chalky.
but the problem was I could not get enough energy from it, it required crazy concentration to get reasonable calories and there's a limit to how much liquid chalk I can swallow.
But it may be good for other people. Good luck on your job there.

lol ouch

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https://www.strava.com/...tes/zachary_mckinney

Perpetuem goes sour if it's out too long in a hot race.

+1 on this.

I used to have no end of gut issues late in the bike and into the run. Was using largely solids, such as bars (Cliff, Powerbar, etc). Everything was good using solids in training, but things are different on race day - maybe the excitement, stress, etc make the body react differently.

This year I race IM using only liquid nutrition on the bike and gels on the run, with lots of water throughout. No gut issues at all and energy was great throughout the race. Used a product called F2C. 2 bottles during bike, about 900 cal each.

I’ve been using tailwind. I used to think it was okay warm until my last really hot race and it got very warm and I just could not stomach it and had to grab cold liquids at the aid stations

Gels absolutely WRECK my stomach. For me, they would be an impediment at any distance.

I would also be suspect of slamming down that much Ensure (or any) all at once. I don't think I would function well on that, either. Probably wouldn't absorb much of it and it would make me want to go to the bathroom.

I go with recipes (mainly high-carb moist rice cakes) from Allen Lim's "Feed Zone Portables" cookbook. I can eat them all day, they don't make me go to the bathroom, they never feel heavy on my stomach, and I never feel weak or bonk, even in a 20-hour bike race. For ultra-endurance races, I hydrate using Skratch.

thanks. yes, i think its the ensure that did me in since i tried so many different strategies in the race, but never changed the morning meal
more testing to come and hopefully get this sorted

Luckily I very rarely hear someone complain about the taste. More often we do hear about the consistency being thick and chalky. There are some things you can do to make it less chalky:
1.) Mix it the night before and stick it in the fridge until you use it in the morning. For whatever reason, it dissolves better with the time and the cold makes it more enjoyable as well.
2.) Use a wire ball shaker bottle to make sure it fully mixes and doesn't get clumpy
3.) Do 2/3 full of water, UCAN, shake, then top off with water and shake again

Regarding calories - a little bit goes a long way with UCAN. You don't need to take as many calories worth of UCAN that you do with other products due to the more efficiency delivery of energy. Most people find they can take 80-130 calories per hour during training and perform optimally. During racing, it's more like 100-150c/hr. I typically go up to 3-4 servings in one bottle while others I've heard go as high as 7 servings. Some like it smoother and go with 1 serving in 20oz. Another thing you might try is taking UCAN in conjunction with a high glycemic carb of your choice. I do that, particularly late in races, and TO does that throughout his races.

I hear you - everyone is different so you have to find what works best for you. Given the GI distress I was experiencing trying to get in 300c/hr of sugary stuff, UCAN was a no-brainer for me. Some people can't get over the "chalkiness" but lucky for us, that's a very small percentage of the population - most find the that benefits performance-wise of UCAN outweigh any taste or consistency issues they may have with it.

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Matthew J Bach
Director - Triathlon Business
The UCAN Company
matthew.bach@ucanco.com