I was about to buy one of those large jugs of my favorite endurance drink, Gu Roctane, for the coming months of Ironman training. However, since I want to improve upon my first Ironman especially in regards to hydration and nutrition, I figure I could see what people think in terms of best endurance drink (one that has calories but not just sugar). Are there particular ingredients one should look for in an endurance drink? For what it’s worth, I’m female, 120lbs and no stomach sensitivities (so far!).
Regarding food, I’d also take suggestions since last Ironman, I ate four powerbars (chocolate caramel fusion?) on the bike. I didn’t bonk but let’s just say I had a tight stomach for the run and a while after I finished, ha. I was happy with my overall finish time in the 13 hour range but would like to go faster (not withstanding solid training), I think a better nutrition/hydration plan might help me.
I was about to buy one of those large jugs of my favorite endurance drink, Gu Roctane, for the coming months of Ironman training. However, since I want to improve upon my first Ironman especially in regards to hydration and nutrition, I figure I could see what people think in terms of best endurance drink (one that has calories but not just sugar). Are there particular ingredients one should look for in an endurance drink? For what it’s worth, I’m female, 120lbs and no stomach sensitivities (so far!).
Regarding food, I’d also take suggestions since last Ironman, I ate four powerbars (chocolate caramel fusion?) on the bike. I didn’t bonk but let’s just say I had a tight stomach for the run and a while after I finished, ha. I was happy with my overall finish time in the 13 hour range but would like to go faster (not withstanding solid training), I think a better nutrition/hydration plan might help me.
Thanks!
Only 4 Powerbars? Those are, what, 230 calories apiece? Granted at only 120lbs you don’t need as much fueling as someone bigger, but <1000 calories over the IM ride is probably not even close to enough.
As for what sports drink to use, I would suggest using whatever is going to be on course at your race. But barring that, really any one will do. They aren’t really that different.
I used GO FAR by Infinit Nutrtition in my training for and racing ironman Chattanooga last year. I mixed triple strength (1000 calories per bottle) in 2 bottles for the bike. It worked great! BTW, I am 180 # male. I took in @ 300 calories/ hour from GO FAR and 100 calories/ hour from a gel.
I was about to buy one of those large jugs of my favorite endurance drink, Gu Roctane, for the coming months of Ironman training. However, since I want to improve upon my first Ironman especially in regards to hydration and nutrition, I figure I could see what people think in terms of best endurance drink (one that has calories but not just sugar). Are there particular ingredients one should look for in an endurance drink? For what it’s worth, I’m female, 120lbs and no stomach sensitivities (so far!).
Regarding food, I’d also take suggestions since last Ironman, I ate four powerbars (chocolate caramel fusion?) on the bike. I didn’t bonk but let’s just say I had a tight stomach for the run and a while after I finished, ha. I was happy with my overall finish time in the 13 hour range but would like to go faster (not withstanding solid training), I think a better nutrition/hydration plan might help me.
Thanks!
Only 4 Powerbars? Those are, what, 230 calories apiece? Granted at only 120lbs you don’t need as much fueling as someone bigger, but <1000 calories over the IM ride is probably not even close to enough.
As for what sports drink to use, I would suggest using whatever is going to be on course at your race. But barring that, really any one will do. They aren’t really that different.
Assuming a ~6hr ride (for a 13hr finisher), I would expect 1600-1800 calories total for the bike ride @ 280-300cal/hr. That might be on the high side for someone 120lbs. So with the Gu Roctane drink, which is 240cal per serving, she would easily be in the right range of calories with just 4 powerbars. 4xpowerbar + 4xdrink = 1920 calories.
To the OP: I like the Roctane drink. I’ve used it for quite a few events and it’s always gone down easily. It’s not overly sweet and doesn’t overdo it on the electrolytes. The caffeine is a nice touch as well.
What works for me on trial and error of long events
I take a bottle of infinit. I can make a concentrated bottle of up to 2000 calories. So at your weight you can get all your calories in one bottle, or split in two and get second bottle at special needs bag. During the race you can just grab water at every aid station. Sipping a concentrate and then using just water by far helps me make sure I get the right amount of calories and stay hydrated. If you are getting warm gatorade, or such, lets just say you will hate drinking it the last 20 miles on a hot day… :o)
I got on the Infinit wagon… started out with one of their stock long-distance blends, tweaked it a little through trial & error over the course of a couple more orders during the spring & early summer aiming towards IM in late summer. For racing, I mix a 3X bottle of concentrate (carried on frame) and then chase small slurps w/ plain water from an aerodrink to dilute. May not have been the fastest/sexiest possible set-up, but worked w/ minimal fuss. I like the all-in one calories/electrolyte mix w/ just a little bit of protein and ability to dial the flavor down for concentrate strength, and then only have to get water at aid stations.
I am about the same size as you, I race around 51 kg. My IM fueling plan involved a mix of Infinit Custom Blend (Salted Carmel) and First Endurance EFS (Vanilla/Kona Mocha). I put 1200 calories in a bottle for the bike. It is super concentrated so it does taste really sweet, but I usually take water before and after taking calories. I also used some homemade Feed Zone Portables sticky bites (sea salt chocolate).
For the run I used about 600-700 calories. Again concentrated in a small bottle. Plus about a dozen salt sticks.
I don’t like and cannot stomach fruity flavored things, so I always carry my nutrition versus use what is on the course. Also, I can have stomach issues, but did ok with the maltodextrin in Inifinit. However, I have moved away from that to First Endurance because it does not have maltodextrin (and comes in non-fruity flavors, as I despise fruity flavors). If you are going to have problems, it likely will be because of the maltodextrin, but some people have problems with fructose. These are things you’ll have to find out yourself by practicing in training. This is probably the most important thing you can do, is practice your nutrition plan in training to simulate race day as much as possible. While you can create exact race conditions, you can still get a good sense of what your body needs and how it handles the fuel. My feelings are that nutrition is the “fourth sport” in long course triathlon.
One of the best resources I have used for racing nutrition/hydration is the beginning of the Feed Zone Portables cook book.
Go with a concentrated “calorie bottle” (for me it’s slightly diluted GUs). It’s helpful to separate your nutrition and hydration so that on a hot day you don’t take in too many calories, and on cooler days getting enough calories doesn’t mean lots of rest stops.
It also helps to set a nutrition schedule (for me it’s 100kcal of gel every 15min on the bike…but I also weigh 50% more than you) based on what your system can handle.
Previous IM races I’ve used gels, pretty much 3 per hour on the bike, so about 16 of them for the whole leg. I’m trying Inifinit next time I race full distance. You can get a chat session with one of their advisors and have a formula made up for your exact requirements - weight, time on the bike, sweat rate etc etc. I’d do that. Nutrition is such a delicate balancing act.