I’ve always considered some peoples nutritional plans over complicated. They have bars, gels, salt tablets along with their carbo drinks.
I’ve always raced with a carb/electrolyte drink on the bike and gels on the run and just relying on the run aid stations for water. I never feel I need to eat something solid, but then I very rarely get that “I must eat” feeling even in everyday life.
If you eat during an IM I’m interested to hear why, and you feel it improves your performance.
Norty
You HAVE to eat in an ironman…burning 700+ calories an hour on the bike would do you in alone. I think bars are way overused recreationally, but its convienient…anyone ever see the Simpsons where Homer made all of his food into bars? hilarious!
With all due respect to Ron G, Nutrition for an IM is much different, I believe, than for a long bike ride because you have to run with the stuff too. I remember once on a seven hour ride we all stopped at a polish sausage place for a quick bite and kept on riding. The only noticeable adverse effect was a little burping and a bit of gas - BUT, no way we could have run.
Here is what I do in an IM. First define what you need in terms of calories and fluid, and then practice, experiment, and practice to see what really works for you!! For example, I try to get 1000 cals or so pre race. I don’t eat or drink, much, during the swim :-). I try for 2000 - 2500 cals during the bike + 1 - 2 bottles of fluid per hour, depending on heat, etc. On the run, I go for about 100 cals ( a gel )every 20 minutes on so, plus fluids …and just hang on.
So, for me, and this is practiced for EVERY long workout to make sure I stay dialed in, it looks like this:
Morning:
5:00 - 2 Bars + 2 Ensure
1 Quart Gatorade - stop drinking ½ hour before race
1 Gel 10 min before start
Sip of water b/f start
Bike:
1 bottle Cytomax mixed double to dilute during ride
1 bottle “Cocktail”
-3 scoops Cytomax
-1 scoop Metabolol II
-2 scoops Metabolol Eundrance
2 Bars - 1st ½ hr into ride, and 2nd after Cocktail
1 Gel flask on bike
Drink 1 bottle every ½ hour
If OK, 1 bar at 95-100 miles
Run:
1 Gel every 20 - 30 min + 1 at the start
Coke sits well - save for 2nd half of run
Then, whatever you can get down!
Remember, this is all very individual and must be tested, tested, tested!
Good Luck!
“anyone ever see the Simpsons where Homer made all of his food into bars? hilarious!”
Powersuace bars. They were made of applesauce. To paraphrase Homer, “Marge, experts know that converting a food into its bar form releases its AWESOME potential!”
I just can’t put my body through that for 12-ish hours and sustain myself on sports drinks and gels. I eat my share of that fruit-flavored snot throughout the bike and run, but I’ve got to eat some kind of “real” food too. Maybe its all in my head, but by the end of the day, I’m craving a roast beef sandwich or something. Something with some texture and natural flavor to it.
Quite simply, if you don’t eat during the Ironman, you will not finish the race.
Roughly, completing an Ironman requires an energy expenditure of about 8000 calories. Dpending on many factors, you can ingest between about 250 to 450 calories an hour, and that brings you a net deficit of about 4000 calories. Those 4000 calories will come from glycogen storage (around 2000 calories) and the rest from fat burning. If you don’t replenish with carbs, you will have to rely almost exclusively on fat burning, and you will go very painfully slow.
For most people, it’s impossible to rely on carb drinks and gels alone for 4000 calories.
Francois in Montreal
I like your routine of eating as much as you can keep down. Do you use this for half IM and Oly too, only cut down some? Or is the intensity too high for that?
I had experimented with trying to down as much as I could while running, I found that I could down a gel every 20 minutes with no problem and felt stronger and stronger as the run went along. For me that would be about 13 gels for a marathon distance run, kind of a lot.
I’m trying to get my nutrition plan down and practice it though the summer to get ready for IM Florida.
jaretj
I should have been a little more specific when I said eat, I meant solids.
I can understand the reasonings for all those that have replied that they need the solid food feeling in their stomach or the texture they get with solid food.
However, looking at it purely from a provision of carbs point of view, then you’ll easily get the same amount if not more carbs from drinking liquid carbs and therefore solids become un-necessary.
It’s interesting though to hear what everyone else thinks
Norty
jaretj,
I’m also planning to exclusively use gels for the run (I’m also racing IMF), and you’re right that will take about 13 gels for the marathon. I weighed 13 packets last night, it came to 1lb, quite a shock, I guess if I halve it and put the second lot in my special needs bag, then it won’t be so bad.
Norty
However, looking at it purely from a provision of carbs point of view, then you’ll easily get the same amount if not more carbs from drinking liquid carbs and therefore solids become un-necessary.
**
It is certainly possible to get though an Ironman without any solid food, although at some point you might crave solid food.
My feeding scheme for my last two Ironman (after 2 Ironman struggling with solid food) has been:
BIKE: 1000 calories of hyperconcentrated Endurox (basically fill half a large bottle with powder and add water), one large sip every 10 km. 400 calories of Gatorade, 300 calories worth of bananas and three gels on the 45k, for about 2000 calories. Drink one to 3 bottles of water depending on temperature.
RUN: I try to ingest gel every 5km and the rest depends on how I feel. Coke, pretzel, fruits, soup whatever works at the moment. By mid-marathon, i’m usually fed up with sugar and gatorade and gels are pretty much out.
Francois in Montreal
“I like your routine of eating as much as you can keep down.”
Sorry for the ambiguity...the eat as much as I can keep down comes at the "hang on" stage of the IM run. At all other times (then too I suppose) it is very scientifically planned and thoroughly tested.
“Do you use this for half IM and Oly too, only cut down some? Or is the intensity too high for that?”
I do the exact same routine pre-race for all distances. For Olympic distance (approx 2 hrs for me) all I need is a bit of cytomax on the bike and water on the run. If properly prepared I find I can pretty much optimize performance with out replacing fuel. For me I believe this theory applies up to about the 2-3 hr range; so, if the race is longer than that then the nutrition route should begin right after the swim. For a 1/2 IM I basically do 50% of my during race IM nutrition plan.
Hoe that helps.
Just by the tone, it sounds like you are asking because you are prepping for your first IM? Well, be happy to know, that you discovered something that many take an IM or two to figure out. I don’t need the buffet I had stuffed in my Bento Box prior to IM Canada in 2000. I think I may have been the only person to actually GAIN weight in the course of the day 
Now, it’s things like Carbo-Pro and salt tabs (along with water, an occasional banana or something from an aid station to break the boredom of being so dang slow ;-). I may also try the gel routine (taped along the top of the bike), but I know if I did that, there would be no way I’d be able to take any on the run (the stomach can only handle so much sugar).
What you have started to figure out is that the nutrition portion of an IM really is a 4th event. There are some athletes who never figure it out, but those who do, usually find it makes their day flow a bit better.
For the record, comparitively speaking, I only take water and/or Gatorade for sprint races, and haven’t done an Oly distance race since I found Carbo Pro, buy may try that. They are higher intensity, and after a lifetime of playing basketball, I figure I’m good at going full bore for about 2 hours before I need to refuel with anything other than water and Gatorade (so perhaps Carbo Pro and a salt tab or two on the bike).