I’m a newbie on 70.3… I am using GU and Ultima elect drinks now… What else should I consider for fueling during my 70.3? How should I carry it? Pockets, belts? Should I wear a fuel belt when running or just use water stations??? Aaaaahhhhh… So many questions…come on vets… Help out!!! Do’s and Don’ts
I’m a newbie on 70.3… I am using GU and Ultima elect drinks now… What else should I consider for fueling during my 70.3? How should I carry it? Pockets, belts? Should I wear a fuel belt when running or just use water stations??? Aaaaahhhhh… So many questions…come on vets… Help out!!! Do’s and Don’ts
2 Bottles on the bike, one water (for the gels) and one of your drink (grab another bottle of electrolyte drink from an aid station on the bike), 3-4 gels in a bento box. My plan:
- Eat very little fibre and high carbs on the day before (think “unhealthy”, white bread is good, oatmeal is bad)
- Eat a high carb, moderate protein, moderate fat meal 3 hours before the race (no fibre), eg. Bread with Honey and 2 Eggs or Rice and eggs, At least a bottle of sport drink with it
- Eat a banana and half a bottle of sport drink 40 minutes before the race (practice this in training, depends on your insuline reaction, could be an hour or 20 minutes before)
- Don’t eat or drink on the swim (if possible
) - Drink 0,75l of sportdrink per hour (200 cals) and one gel (100 cals) with about 200 ml of water - on the bike
- On the run have a gel with water every 30 minutes
- When things get tough, switch to coke (and water)
- Once you start with coke, don’t stop
7+8 is not intuitive. I do that on the first bike lap, if necessary. But once you start with coke, you need to continue drinking coke. On a perfect day, no coke needed, I will stay with gels and water until the end.
This adds up to: 300 cals per hour on the bike and 200 cals per hour on the run. In an ironman I will add 100 cals per hour, in an Olympic reduce 100 cals per hour. So in an olympic I have a litre of sport drink on the bike and grab some coke and water on the run.
Gels, Water, Sport Drink, Coke!
I always use the sport drink, coke, gel and water on the course, I don’t really care what brand. Don’t have problems, some taste better, some worse, I don’t care. I take a few gels in case I miss an aid station. If there are no gels on the course, I will pack more. GU, Roctane, Powerbar, Squeezy … in the end its all sugar for the engine.
Logistics get a lot easier, if you can use whatever is offered on the course. I never use special needs.
I eat solids only in an ironman (2-3 bars) but reduce them every year and replace them with liquids or semi-liquids.
Some different variables might need you to change this, but this works great for me. (weight, time racing, tolerance to sugar)
Gel 10 min before swim start
Bike - I use an aero box
As soon as I get on the bike, I eat a powerbar.
Gel at 45 min and every 30 after that.
Goal is to get a bottle of sports drink down every 45 min to an hour. Target it to have 3 bottles in me by the end of the bike.
Run - No fuel belt. I run with a gel in each hand.
A little bit of sport drink every aid station. If my stomach starts to act up a bit, I will switch to water. Once things settle down, back to sipping sports drink.
Gel at mile 4 and 9.
You will need to tweak whatever plan you use, but most importantly practice it on training days. (Including race breakfast) I find that a high caloric intake is very beneficial for me, but it can cause havoc on some.
I’m a newbie on 70.3… I am using GU and Ultima elect drinks now… What else should I consider for fueling during my 70.3? How should I carry it? Pockets, belts? Should I wear a fuel belt when running or just use water stations??? Aaaaahhhhh… So many questions…come on vets… Help out!!! Do’s and Don’ts
The only reason to carry anything is if you are using nutrition different than that being offered on course.
Plan on consuming 200-300 calories/hour. If your stomach can handle 300/hour then go for it. Use what ever fuel you are used to in training, it could be all liquids, could be all gels and water, could be some solids on the bike like fig newtons or peanut butter and jelly.
I’m a newbie on 70.3… I am using GU and Ultima elect drinks now… What else should I consider for fueling during my 70.3? How should I carry it? Pockets, belts? Should I wear a fuel belt when running or just use water stations??? Aaaaahhhhh… So many questions…come on vets… Help out!!! Do’s and Don’ts
The only reason to carry anything is if you are using nutrition different than that being offered on course.
Or if you’re on a different fueling schedule.
I am way different, no gels at all. I use larabars on the bike and two sweet potato rice cakes. Rice cakes in early then larabar(s) drink Skratch labs in both bottles. On run its water and margarita shot blocks (extra sodium) and sometimes swig coke at the end if I feel like death.
Oh and breakfast say 90min before race is oatmeal with coconut oil
Keep it simple. Me, honey stinger waffle every 30 minutes plus 20 ounces electrolyte drink every hour on the bike. On the run, just coke every 2 miles all the way (no gels,solids).
Energy drink with 350 cals per 500 ml. Ill have two on the bike with a sachet I mix wih water on the course. One bottle per hour depending on the weather. I take gels or energy shots in my pocket. If its cold and I dont want to pee every hour ill hold back on the drink and have the gel or shots.Larabar would pprobably work for me too. They taste a lot nicer. …
On the bike I rely on gels/liquids only. For HIM St. George I’m going to have 5 gels taped to my top tube. I have a Speedfil Standard system that will have my Cytosport drink in it. I may include a single cage to put a bottle of water in that I might grab along the way, otherwise I’ll just grab a Gatorade and put it in the Speedfil.
On the run I’ll take a two gels on my race/number belt. Other than that I’ll be taking from aid stations along the way, as needed.
In the past I rode with two bottle cages and assumed I’d need to grab one bottle of Gatorade along the way.
you are going to get 100 different responses from 100 different people.
you have to test it out in training. try once or twice a month to do long rides as race sim breakfast and nutrition. i try not to take in race day fueling amounts unless i’m doing a race sim…only bc sports nutrition crap is so expensive.
Mine is a simple setup. Water… 1 between the arms horizontal bottle and 1 behind the seat . 1 bottle an hour; drink every 10 minutes. Refill if it’s hot and humid. Gels… down tube bottle field with gels and a splash of water to thin. I take 3 gels an hour every 20 minutes starting at the 20 minute mark. Run… water at aid stations and small gel flask with 3 gels. 1 gel every 30 minutes.
Lots of different plans (as you can see). Some general guidelines:
Have a gel with water or some energy drink 10-15 min. before the swim start (since you can’t fuel on the swim).
Have a nutrition/hydration schedule for the bike/run and stick to it. If you are aiming for 300cal/hr. you can’t make up for having only 100 cal in hour one by taking 500 cal in hour two. I set an alarm on my watch and take a gel every 20 min.
I like to go with gels and water. The goal is to separate my nutrition and hydration, since some races are hotter than others. Same goes with sodium (I use tablets vs. high-sodium foods/gels).
Always carry a little extra (a spare gel, an extra water bottle) so if you drop something you aren’t screwed.
Have a Plan B thought out (ex. if my calorie bottle on the bike ejects/leaks, what is my plan for using the aid stations for nutrition).
Lastly…don’t use anything in a race you haven’t tried during a long training session.
In general, less is more. 
Lastly…don’t use anything in a race you haven’t tried during a long training session.
This is probably the most important tip… yet we’ve all made this mistake, well at least I have, fully knowing what the consequences can be!