I am trying to find a new product for training and racing. I have for the past year been using the Ironman Perform.
To be clear, in anything below an hour of training, I use NUUN. But, for longer training sessions or for Olympic/HIM/HIM looking to make a switch. Why? I drink a considerable amount when I am riding. I know this compared to the rest of
my triathlon team. I can realistically go through about 30/35 OZ per hour. I have found that the perform, just makes me feel really dehydrated after a few hours. I am dying for water. But because I have been relying on about 2/3’s of my hourly caloric
intake from liquid, it ended up screwing me up during the IM last year…got really nauseous.
I was considering Scratch or Osmo which would require me to figure out a way to get more calories from food and allow me to drink more water per hour too. Anyone out there racing HIM/IM that uses Scratch/Osmo etc? Whats your approach?
All advice welcome as I am just trying to figure this out.
I also drink a lot during the really hot summer months. What I’m currently doing is concentrating my calorie/electrolyte mix in a bottle in my down tube and then every hour adding 1/3 (assuming I made a 3 hour bottle) of it to water in my aero bottle. I make sure I finish the aero bottle water by the next hour, but if I’m drinking more than that, I just top it off with water in between.
The only downside is that the concentration of flavor in your aero bottle differs depending on how much water you’ve added to it recently. It doesn’t bother me, but I could see that being annoying.
I try to avoid Gatorade & Powerade since they are loaded with chemically processed sugars. I like using coconut water instead of fizzy tabs or processed drink mixes. Over two hour workouts I agree with those who have mentioned Infinit. I don’t care for processed products, but I tend to make an exception with Infinit.
I can realistically go through about 30/35 OZ per hour.
So you are drinking up to and over 1 liter of liquid an hour? Perhaps you are nauseous due to that? I tend to feel sick when I take in too much of anything in a short period of time then try to go fast.
Following the lead of some friends that do marathons and some ultra running, I went to “Truenutrition.com” and made my own custom mix. I also use Perform, since it’s the on course drink at all my LC races this year, so I want to be used to it. Its sort of like Infinit, but you have to determine the exact ratios yourself in more detail. You also can to add a little Citric Acid (most for flavor), Sodium Citrate and a little Potassium Citrate if desired as an emulsifier for the protein and a PH buffer. I use Mio for flavoring. The cost is about 2/3rds of Perform… and probably 1/2 of Infinit… maybe less. That stuff is pricey.
So right now I have 2 blends with just a little protein (long course) and a 3rd with no protein (short course). One is higher in Maltodextrin, the other higher in Dextrose and both have some fructose as well.
I try to avoid Gatorade & Powerade since they are loaded with chemically processed sugars. I like using coconut water instead of fizzy tabs or processed drink mixes. Over two hour workouts I agree with those who have mentioned Infinit. I don’t care for processed products, but I tend to make an exception with Infinit.
I prefer my sugars only to be chemically processed with acids and enzymes in my stomach rather than those in a large stainless steel vessel.
The dextrose in Infinit I’m sure is fundamentally different than that used in Gatorade. Infinit has their own special organic and all natural corn refineries powered by wind turbines, solar panels and cute little puppies and bunnies on treadmills, I’m sure they don’t buy it on the open market.
Sorry, I have to jump on silly posts like this. You might not like powerade or Gatorade because of the ratio of sugars they use and other coloring and flavor additives or that it doesn’t have maltodextrine (primary difference in Infinit vs. others), but saying that their dextrose is somehow special is just silly. Dextrose is even more “processed” and refined than fructose or Maltodextrine. MD actually isn’t far from corn starch. Both Infinit and Gatorde use Sucrose (cane sugar) as well. Remember that Sucrose is simply a Dextrose and Fructose molecule combined. They are quickly separated in your stomach and probably partly separated by enzymes in your saliva before they even get there. ALL sugars will get separated into glucose. Maltodextrine simply takes longer to break down and therefor has a lower glycemic index, by it also carries the risk of carrying over before being processed, which can lead to gas, bloating, cramping and GI issues. SO you usually blend it and are careful about not consuming too much at a time.
Just a refresher for those that don’t know what "chemically’ processed actually means in corn refining. It involves using simple acids and sometimes enzymes and an evaporator to remove water at a lower temp than boiling so you don’t “cook” it. Then in the later, highly refined stages you use a SMB which is full of a resin that attracts/separates the desired sugar compounds from a less refined blend. In between you’re clarifying it with carbon filtration, filtration through filter media (diatomaceous earth) and mechanical filters to remove any residual proteins and trace minerals that impact color. PH is adjusted with acid or soda ash. Then you evaporate it some more and then finally you simply change it from a syrup to a crystal by cooling it down below it’s saturation point, then you dewater it usually in centrifuges, then dry it. There’s really not much to it. Its’ incredibly comparable to what you stomach does naturally during digestion.
I think some get the perception that there’s all these wild toxic chemicals being used. Actually I don’t think that most understand human biochemical processes to begin with so I’m not sure how you can compare a industrial chemical process to a natural one. You body is one hell of a chemical plant that rivals a corn refinery. Actually it would be pretty damn challenging to build a human body on an industrial scale. Some many chemical compounds being created, consumed and processes going on concurrently.
Can you share the formulas? I’m using TrueNutrition.com as well.
What I have is: 85% maltodexrin, 5% Dextrose, 10% Soy Non-GMO protein.
I use this mix in flask or bottle diluted with water.
Following the lead of some friends that do marathons and some ultra running, I went to “Truenutrition.com” and made my own custom mix. I also use Perform, since it’s the on course drink at all my LC races this year, so I want to be used to it. Its sort of like Infinit, but you have to determine the exact ratios yourself in more detail. You also can to add a little Citric Acid (most for flavor), Sodium Citrate and a little Potassium Citrate if desired as an emulsifier for the protein and a PH buffer. I use Mio for flavoring. The cost is about 2/3rds of Perform… and probably 1/2 of Infinit… maybe less. That stuff is pricey.
So right now I have 2 blends with just a little protein (long course) and a 3rd with no protein (short course). One is higher in Maltodextrin, the other higher in Dextrose and both have some fructose as well.
Sorry, I have to jump on silly posts like this. You might not like powerade or Gatorade because of the ratio of sugars they use and other coloring and flavor additives or that it doesn’t have maltodextrine (primary difference in Infinit vs. others), but saying that their dextrose is somehow special is just silly. Dextrose is even more “processed” and refined than fructose or Maltodextrine.
Not true. Fructose is not metabolized the same way and is now increasingly thought to be one of the worse things in the modern American diet.
Sorry, I have to jump on silly posts like this. You might not like powerade or Gatorade because of the ratio of sugars they use and other coloring and flavor additives or that it doesn’t have maltodextrine (primary difference in Infinit vs. others), but saying that their dextrose is somehow special is just silly. Dextrose is even more “processed” and refined than fructose or Maltodextrine.
**Not true. Fructose is not metabolized the same way and is now increasingly thought to be one of the worse things in the modern American diet. **
I won’t touch it anymore.
But I’m no Doctor so what do I know…
not true? where did he say *it is metabolized the same way? *he simply said that dextrose is more processed, which is true.
The first thing that happens to Sucrose when you digest it, is that it’s broken down into Fructose and Dextrose and Dextrose is further broken into Glucose. HFCS & honey both contain vary ratios of Fructose and Glucose. All fruit contains fructose.
The issue is the quantity and other ingredients of the food it’s consumed with. Not the chemical itself. IT’s naturally occurring, and in the case of HFCS it derived by breaking down corn starch.
Can you share the formulas? I’m using TrueNutrition.com as well.
What I have is: 85% maltodexrin, 5% Dextrose, 10% Soy Non-GMO protein.
I use this mix in flask or bottle diluted with water.
Following the lead of some friends that do marathons and some ultra running, I went to “Truenutrition.com” and made my own custom mix. I also use Perform, since it’s the on course drink at all my LC races this year, so I want to be used to it. Its sort of like Infinit, but you have to determine the exact ratios yourself in more detail. You also can to add a little Citric Acid (most for flavor), Sodium Citrate and a little Potassium Citrate if desired as an emulsifier for the protein and a PH buffer. I use Mio for flavoring. The cost is about 2/3rds of Perform… and probably 1/2 of Infinit… maybe less. That stuff is pricey.
So right now I have 2 blends with just a little protein (long course) and a 3rd with no protein (short course). One is higher in Maltodextrin, the other higher in Dextrose and both have some fructose as well.
I wish I had written it down because you can’t go back and view the ratios on their site. I have the custom mix numbers, but I’d have to call them.
I think I went with 60% Maltodextrine, 25% Dextrose, 20% Fructose and 5% High Quality Soy Protein. The other two have I think 40% Malto, 35% Dextrose, and 20-25% Fructose.
I think I may switch to a slightly high Maltodextrine, use a little more dextrose and less fructose but keep protein the same.
In a 20-24 oz. bottle, 3 tbsp sugar, 30 dashes of salt from my shaker (you can even get some fancy powdered fruit to flavor). That’s it for drink for me. I get my main calories from Cliff Blocks and Gu gels.
I used to pack my bottles with 300-350 calories. It seemed to work at the time. Now my above concoction works for me whether it be sprint, or a Leadman 135-miler and I have some money left over for other stuff like tires, parts and BEER!