I’m doing my half ironman in two weeks and I decided to pay attention to nutrition more then ever. Please help me for the carbo load and pre race meal and nutrition during the race. I’m 185lbs and my stomach can handle, power gel, power bar, nuun and cytomax energie.
thank you so much for your help.
Stef
If you search on half ironman (or HIM) nutrition, you’ll find a ton of useful stuff on this forum. Basically, stick with whatever has worked in the past on shorter races or training. Have a good meal the night before and the morning of the race (at least a few hours beforehand). Don’t eat anything that isn’t in your normal diet. Aim to get down 3-400 calories per hour on the bike. Stay hydrated. Take on whatever you’re comfortable with on the run - you will need some calories or may bonk, but you want to avoid any stomach problems so try to stick with what you know.
I tend to get my calories from bars, bananas and gatorade or similar on the bike, and from gels and flat coke on the run, and then drink as much water as necessary to stay hydrated on top of that.
Good luck!
Hate to disagree with cartsman but I will…
I’d say it was more important to count your carb intake, not your calorie intake, whilst working out your nutrition strategy.
Race how you have been training. How many carbs/hour have you been training with? What works for you? I know if I was putting down 400 cals per hour in a race I’d be on the side of the road puking before I hit T2. 180 cals per hour is perfect for me even at IM distance. Maybe you need 500… Everyone is different. You should have race day nutrition nailed by now.
As far as carb loading, my nutritionist had me drinking gatorade all week instead of water, a big carb loading dinner 2 nights before, and a light, early dinner the night before (a bagel and cereal for me). Then I take in a bagel and banana the morning of the race 2-3 hours before race start. That has always worked great for me.
Good luck and have fun!
Jodi
<<Aim to get down 3-400 calories per hour on the bike.>>
Cartsman,
Dont you think 3-400 calories on the bike is a bit excessive?
I could understand this logic if your doing a full Ironman(need the extra calories on the bike to carry you through the run).
I guess everyone is different,but I’ve done fine with 2-250 calories an hour on the bike for a 1/2.
Sorry - guess I should have put more of a disclaimer in there about nutrition being personal! I guess it depends on size, pace and what your body can handle. I’m a larger triathlete (175-180lbs) and find that I need to take on 3-400 an hour on the bike in order to get through the run without bonking. Another factor is that the fitter I am and the faster my run pace, the harder it is for me to absorb nutrition on the run. Not a problem at IM distance where the pace is slower, but at HIM I try to get as many of my calories as possible on the bike so that I can get through the run with just a couple of gels and a few cokes.
A smaller or slower athlete would need a lower calorific intake I guess.
Thanks everybody.
Since you asked…Carbo-loading has morphed a great deal over the past decades, and at this point the recommendation is this: take in 5grams of carbs/kg of body weight per day for the 4-7 days prior to your ½ IM race (185# = 84kg x 5gm carb/day = 420 grams of carbs/day). Increase this further to 10gm carbs per day for the final 1-3 days pre race (again, 84kg x 10gm = 840gms/day). This translates to mostly carbs just prior to the race, so you are eating much less protein and fat in those final days. Be sure to hydrate well that week (as always), especially with increased fluid needs to go along with your higher carb intake. During the race you should, (as others have said), practice what you know for this event. Nothing new on race day! For future reference, at 185#, you should aim for the higher end of 30-60 grams of total carbs per hour during the event (or at least during the bike and run J). Start with a sports drink with about 14-15 grams of carbohydrate and 200mg sodium per 8oz, then add gels and bars until you are taking in your 40-60 grams of total carbs each hour and feeling good throughout your workouts and race. Good luck in the ½!
Lauren Antonucci RD, CSSD
Registered Dietitian Certified* as a Specialist in Sports Dietetics*
Member of the GSSI sports nutrition network
Stef-
from what i know, carb loading is a specific protocol that if you don’t do it exactly right, you don’t get the full benefits. i have also read that it does not work well for women as it does for men. so if you have never carb loaded before, then you may not want to experiment with it the week before your key half iM race.
also, you do not want to try to get 300-400 calories in as someone had suggested. typically teh body only is able to absorb about 250-30 calories max per hour depending on the activity. if you try to get in more calories on the bike, then you may just shut your system down for the run. you won’t be bonking, you will jsut have to stop.
you may also experience stomach upset if you take in too many simple sugars during the event. you may have been ok in training, but you also have not done a 5-7 hour event before non-stop like a half IM race. when you are exercising, the last thing your body wants to do is digest solid foods. so don’t try to eat solids. stick with the powders in water drinks or gels or a combination of the two. you also want to make sure you get enough electrolytes as well. if you use a high sugar product (like gatorade) you may experience stomach upset later on in the race. the stomach won’t want to empty out because of the high concentration of sugar. if you do use a gatorade type of producct, you will have to dilute it by half. sugar aslo impedes the bodies ability to absorb the electrolytes, so you may want to use some electrolyte capsules to make sure you get adequate electrolytes.
i could go on and on. but if you really want specific advice based on yoru particular needs, best thing may be to spend the money to talk to a nutritionist who specializes in triathlons. it may be the best money you spent. and it may help you put it all into play rather then guessing.
good luck!
joanna chodorowska, BA, NC
personal nutrition coach, swim instructor and triathlon coach
www.nutrition-in-motion.net
I am not a nutritionist…this is just from personal experience in 1/2s. It is more about timing for me than anything.
Large carb meal–2 nights before
Some kind of bland, regular, well-cooked (not to get sick) meal that is not TOO big the night before.
Day of: Rise early (3 hours before race start–i.e. 4am) and eat a tad more than normal for breakfast (like an extra banana or half a pb and J) and make sure you clean out the pipes.
During race: I would not eat anything (drink however) until 20 mins into the bike. I find that once the engine is going I can handle some food. For me–in a half–it is one power bar and several GUs depending on how I feel. Mix that in with about 2-3 bottles of liquid (water and or gatorade) during the bike. For the run, I try to take in whatever I can stomach for the first 8 miles and then realize that nothing will help after that point.
That’s my strategy–I couldn’t tell you how many calories that actually is but I think it is important to eat breakfast and move the bowels to avoid stomach upset during the race.
Good luck.