I’m competing in my first 1/2 IM at the end of the month and was wondering about nutrition. Would you stuff food in your shirt or just go with liquids and Gu shots if thats what I’m used too. Maybe a banana and energy bar? I don’t know. Are cages on my frame plenty, or would you go with an aero attatchment or dual seat post attatchment set up? Any feedback or pointers would be geat! By the way it’s Vineman if that makes a difference with hills, heat etc. Thanks!!!
3 cages (one frame, two behind seat). No solids… 1/2’s are too fast for most to tolerate solid food.
Two bottles of carb solution (400 cals per bottle of sport drink or gel/water mix).
One bottle water… just to clear the palate… or If my stomach feels full I drink water.
Keep it simple, keep everything in your bottles… and keep it liquid.
You don’t need a lot of calories to complete a half… but you need to keep them coming in consistently.
Rock n roll…
I have an excel race nutrition plannning sheet that I use with my athletes. Also included is a sample page with my typical 1/2IM plan.
Send me a mail and I’ll forward it to you.
Scott
Thanks for the info! Sounds like the best plan. Some of my buddies are overthinking the intake, which sounds like issues to me! Much appreciated.
I would love to check out the plan! Any info would be much appreciated. Thanks,
Gary
My nutrition plan for Muncie is 350 to 400 calories/hour
1 bottle gatorade, 1 banana, 1 GU before swim (after breakfast of course)
Bike: 1 gel every 30 minutes, 1 bottle of gatorade to start with and then 2-3 bottles from the aid stations as I go.
Run: 1 gel on miles 2, 5, 8 and 10 if needed. Small amount of Gatorade or water from every aid station.
1 bottle cage is all that should be needed if you plan to use the course nutrition.
Make sure that you do your race sims with your nutrition plan.
jaretj
I should have gone into the gel business! I didn’t know there were that many drink stations. Thanks for the tips!!
I’m going to try a brick in the a.m. with some of the these.
Depends on the temps. In big heat, I like a front bottle. Water only in there. One cage on the down tube with a concentrated mix of my favorite carb/electrolyte solution, ~750 calories. Maybe a half a powerbar midway through. On the run, maybe a gel and then whatever beverage they have (like Gatorade). Next time, I’m going w/ Coke for the latter half of the run, too.
what Aztec said, aero bottle one frame bottle with super mix of your fav drink. A squirt of super mix at every aid station gives you your fav drink COLD vs hot if you were carrying it with you. Plus it’s lighter and simpler. Personally I have the box from a small patch kit glued to my aerobars and filled with Endurolyte tablets as well.
I carry a gel flask with me on the bike, most HIM’s have aid stations that you can pick up drinks about every 10 miles.
Most runs have water and Gatorade every mile with gels every couple of miles. I’ll start the run with one or two gels in my pocket and then use what’s on the course.
Make sure that you check out beforehand what your race will be supplying.
jaretj
You just need one bottle of your favorite fuel on the downtube and thats it, when its done just use whats on the course, no need for any other bottles on the bike.
When training I use multiple bottles and I train like I race nutritionally so If a bottle of my homemade brew works for the first hour and gatorade works for the rest of the training ride then I know its gonna work race day and therefore I will use whats on the course:)))))
Whatever you do practice your nutrition plan for the next couple of weeks… Also, from experience (of only 1 half) Last year, I mixed my accelerade at the same concentration I was during training. At training intensities I was OK, but for racing it was too concentrated. I’d recommend going a little light on the mixture for the race and take in more sips during the bike… I ended up having stomach cramps 1/4 way into the bike and only drank water to dilute what was in my gut… about 2 miles into the run I was feeling good.
That’s exactly what happened to me at IMCDA. Even though I’ve used Accerlade for a long time, I got stomach cramps on the bike that finally went away after drinking only water and taking only gels. Diluting your race drink is a very good idea I wish I had known about earlier.
I have to agree with TargetGoingLong on this one. Practice with what you plan on racing with. I have done 4 HIMs and on 2 of them I have met with nutritional disaster. Perform a brick or 2 at race pace ,obviously not race distance for the race pace portion, but eat and drink all that you plan on during the race. I like the all liquid plan and 800 total cals on the bike, but after much experimentation that is what works for me. Believe me everyone is different and some will eat solids and some just gels and some all liquid. Try it out before you race with it. Much better to sacrafice a training brick then the HIM.
Let us know how it works out. Good luck.
Great advice from all of you!! I’ll keep experimenting a little, but I think I have it figured out. As far as the Accelerade, man, I had issues with the cramping as well. Last year I went to the Gu2o and haven’t had any issues. Maybe it was the protein, I don’t know. Like you all said, everyone is different. Thanks again and good luck back at you!!!
I agree with what everyone said about keeping it all liquid nutrition based. The only thing that I did extra on my 1st 1/2 IM was that I had a small bag of broken up pretzel sticks in my bento box to munch on during the bike to help get rid of that sickly sweet taste that starts to build up after a couple hours in the heat.
Good Luck!