I have my first Half IM race coming up and I would like to hear your thoughts about my nutrition plan.
You should know that I use Hammer products (HEED, Perpetuem, etc.) and have used them consistently in training and shorter races. As it turns out, the amounts that work for me are pretty close to what Hammer suggests, with some variations depending on the heat and humidity of the day. If you are not familiar with the Hammer products and doses, it may be difficult to comment on this but I welcome your thoughts just the same.
I don’t eat breakfast before a race. I started doing this a while back and it seems to work for me. I load up the night before and rarely have that “hungry feeling” before the swim. So, with all that said, here’s my plan:
Five minutes prior to the start, one packet of Gel.
On the bike, I will carry three 24 oz. bottles of Perpetuem. Based upon my experience, one bottle an hour is about right for me so having two behind the seat and one in the aero bottle is more than enough. Of course, I will supplement with Gel if I need to change up the taste
On the run, I plan to carry 24 oz. of Perpetuem on my fuel belt (along wtih a Gel or two). However, that won’t be enough to get me to the finish. The problem I have is there is no “bottle stash” or special needs area in this Half IM and I am reluctant to go “off program” for the second half of the run. There are ample aid stations with water and Gatorade, but Gatorade has never worked particulalry well for me (at least not as well as the stuff I use now). Perhaps I am being paranoid since this is my first half, but does anyone have any suggestions, comments, etc.
Go with what’s worked for you in training and other races.
I Perpetuem works, you gotta go with it. I’d suggest more gels and water on the run if you can’t carry more Perpetuem. Most HIMs have gels at the aid stations. If you want to use Hammer (and it’s not at the stations), you’ll need a place to carry it. I suggest the De Soto 4-pocket Tri shorts. If I want, I can put two gel packets in each pocket (8 packs would always be WAY more than I’d ever need). Combined with a Fuel Belt, you should have plenty to eat.
FWIW, I usually use what’s on the course. I’ll put a gatorade bottle and a water bottle on my bike, and supplement as needed at the aid stations. Same for the run. Nothing (or maybe a couple of gels) with me, and only what’s at the aid stations.
I have a big plate of pancakes and banana around 5 am.
I take a gel 30 minutes before the swim.
I start taking gels every 30 minutes after I start the bike. I take one
gel right before I complete the bike, and take one gel 30 minutes into the run. Has worked perfect for me. Of course, I take as much liquids as I can remember to take also.
I don’t have anything good to say about perpetuem, so I am not going to say anything at all.
re: nutrition on the run. consider concentrated sports drink in the fuel belt that you can squirt in to an Ultimate hand held water bottle - mix with water at an aid station.
You should really reconsider the idea of skipping breakfast before an HIM. That sounds totally wrong from my point of view. Anyway, I’ve used hammer gel (both Jugs and single-servings pouch) and despite a bad experience with the chocolate flavor, they all work out ok for me.
Ok, so the idea is to put 400-500 kcal per hour on the bike and you can do that by using 4 gels (single-servings) or 2 gels and one bar (powerbar or something…). Personally I like to eat at least one energy bar on the first hour and stay with gels on the second. Three things you can’t forget: At least one bottle with pure water so you drink a little when you put a gel or a bar ; every 15’ you gotta put something in, even if you don’t feel like it ; never break that 15’ rule.
As for the run, I haven’t yet found the exact “formula” for me, so I won’t help you much with that.
first like others have already said do not change anything now that you have perfected in training.
down the road you may want to consider some things which i base on my own experience with perp and other hg products in HIM and IM distance.
get used to eating breakfast. in a sprint or oly you can get away without, for HIM and IM you are eventually going to regret this decision.
forget about the perp altogether, i used to believe what hg says about protien but don’t anymore, especially whan it’s hot out. anything with protien in it that gets all warm begins to taste like drywall mud and digests about the same. stick with carbs, they digest easier and don’t taste as bad warm.
on the bike for a HIM mix up one concentrated fuel bottle and take the required number of sips every 15’ and chase with water from your jetstream. anything other than water in the jetstream is a gooey mess anyway. by doing this you get rid of a bunch of weight, pick up water at the aid stations which is cold, and keep all your fuel in the seat/down tube cage reducing the chance of losing your fuel bottle out of a behind the seat bottle launcher. if you stay with perp you can do this or what i did was switch to gatorade (i never liked it much either but have trained myself to use it as it’s almost always the on course fluid) and carbo-pro.
like someone else said if you want to stick with the perp on the run mix your fuel belt flasks more concentrated and take plain water from the aid stations. i wouldn’t bother with transfering to another bottle though, just figure out what you need for volume of fuel and water and drink accordingly every 15’.
i did my first HIM in 2003 so it’s not so long ago that i don’t know what you are going through as it is exactly what i did down to the products the volumes etc. like i said at the start trust your training and you will have a great time, as you gain experience you will start looking for ways to race light and function with on course fluid/fuel.
My only comment would be that’s a lot of stuff to carry for a half. Have you tried the perpespeum when it’s been out in the sun all day? I liked it when it was cold but couldn’t stomach it warm. I ended up switching to flasks of hammergel or gu, and whatever drink is available on course. I take some salt tabs when it’s hot. I’ve run best not carrying anything on the run and finishing up my gels about 3/4’s through the ride. I found it much easier to load up on calories on the bike ride then run on water and gatorade from the stations and maybe 1 or 2 gels. A lot also depends on how hard you intend to run.
forget the fuel belt - it’s extra weight and uneeded if the course is well-stocked as most 1/2im’s are. you could do water and gu (assuming the aid stations have them).
on the bike, i would make a super-concentrated bottle of perpetuem and pick up water at the aid stations. that way you only need to carry 1 or 2 bottle of perpetuem on the bike instead of 3.
Here’s what I’ve been doing in training, on my 90k ride/25k run bricks and it has worked surprisingly well:
On the ride, I have 1 full bottle of gatorade (which works well for me, never had problems with it) and one 5-shot flask of ClifShot RazzSorbet. I take a small shot of gel every 30min (about 1/2 a pack) and chase it with the gatorade. Seriously. Then I drink the gatorade as much as I see fit, usually a big swig every 15min. If it’s smokingly hot, I will take a 2nd bottle of gatorade.
On the run, I take my gel flask with what’s left (or restock if nec.) and take a half-shot every 30min with water (my run is along a nice trail that has fountains every 10min or so).
It has worked out far far better than I expected. I was always told “water only with gel” but by only taking a half-shot, I seem to have zero problems. This is exactly what I intend on doing for my 1/2IM in Aug.
are you using a front aero bottle? If so, I second the notion of super potent mixed Perpetuem for both the bike and run. Number one, this allows you to start off with less bottles, number 2 by 30 min in your Perpetuem will probably pretty warm and that aid station water will probably be nice and cold… I’m doing the Honu half this weekend and here’s my plan:
Start the bike with one bottle double strength Perpetuem and a front aero bottle with water, plus a flask of gel and some endurolyte tabs. I’ll probably just drink water for the first 15min or so then I’ll dump a quarter or so of the perpetuem bottle into the remaining aerobottle water. Pick up a bottle at an aid station and top off the aero bottle adding more perpetuem as well. So I’ll basically continue this for the first two hours which gives me 2.5 bottles of drink, and then finish off with water and gel for the last 40 min or so.
On the run, again, if you really must have your perpetuem I’d agree with the double or even triple mix plan. A swig of perpetuem before you hit an aid station and a cup of cold water. You can probably do it with two mini bottles instead of 4.
