I’m doing an Ironman this year and I’m worried I won’t have a nutritional plan in place for the race. I have I.B.S. and trying to find the right nutrition plan for training and racing has been quite difficult. I tried the Gatorade/gel combo on long rides, but my stomach did not like all the sugar. I have had success with Hammer Perpetuem on long training rides, but when I did a half IM my stomach rebelled. It actually started hurting right when I started biking and before I took in any Perpetuem.
I’d be much appreciative of any suggestions or information on what has worked for others. The clock is ticking for me to figure this out!
Try infinit. I’ve been using it for a year and love it. By the run on my first ironman my teeth hurt from all the sugar in gatorade and gels. Inifinit is not as sweet and you can customize the formula based on your needs. I haven’t had any issues since I switched. Good luck!
I just finished my first half IM. 4 months out from the race I was suffering from IBS related symptoms. Everyone will be different but what worked for me was Cytomax, fig newtons, ensure (very easy to digest and I downed one before the bike and again before the run…and they can be quite yummy too!) , sharkies, and bananas. I did eat a gel during my race but I only had one and it didn’t seem to create too many problems.
Good luck…
You might also want to look at what you are eating before your long training days…again everyone is different but when I reduced my consumption of dairy and soy I managed to see positive results. This food intolerance was identified by a ND with some kind of blood test. Hey it might be hokey but it worked for me.
Make sure your energy drink does not have any protein in it. Whey protein will not be good with your condition. Infinit works great for me. I created a mixture with no protein and about 250 calories and a ton of salt. If the sweet taste bothers you, get a mixture with little taste. I also think power gels work really well. Also, I like E-gels because they have eloctrolites and 150 calories instead of 100. I try to get 250-300 calories an hour with a mixture of my Infinit mixture and power gels. I have no issues with this in a 1/2 IM, but I bonked in the 2nd half of the marathon in both IMs I did. Also, be careful about having too much fiber. I’ve been eating a really simple breakfast of rice crispies (the whole foods brand) with rice milk and a bananna, and my digestion has been really good. Stay away from dairy; stay away from whey protein which is the protein left over from cheese and which is the protein used in most energy drinks that contain protein (including perpetuem).
PM me anytime, this is something I’m intimately familiar with.
I’ve found that there isn’t a one-thing-cures-all product or strategy. That said, I know professional athletes going sub-9 hours with Crohn’s disease, and I figure if they can do it, then anyone can finish an Ironman with the right training and personal body knowledge.
I am unsure what you mean when you say “Gatorade/gel combo.” I see no mention of water. I hope you are taking the gel with water and not with only Gatorade. Many an upset stomach has been caused by too much sugar…Gatorade and gel is too much sugar.
Check out www.genkifoods.com . We have been supplying practioners for the last 4 years, and are able to cure IBS, crohn’s, and colitis, in addition to other digestive related challenges.
I’ve had success **controlling **symptoms of IBS and I know people who have had success controlling symptoms of other intestinal diseases/inflammatory bowel diseases using products similar to what you offer: probiotics, whole foods, raw etc. I’ve explored and am a big advocate of naturopathy, Traditional Chinese Medicine/Acupuncture and Western Herbology, however, there are no known cures for Crohn’s, Ulcerative Colitis and IBS. For people looking for more information on IBD you can check out http://www.ideaskids.com.
The information on iDEAS KiDS is not necessarily child/teen specific. There are links to many informative resources on that site. The IDEAS site can be found at http://www.ideas-na.com. The IDEAS site is currently being redesigned and will feature considerable more information about ID, treatments and lifestyle adaptations in the very near future.
Full disclosure: I’m a board member (voluntary) of the Intestinal Disease Education and Awareness Society (IDEAS). We are a Vancouver, Canada-based non-profit organization.
We don’t advertise, and we basically only supply to the Calgary market right now. Our product is all hand made in our facility, and we know it works from the response we have had back from the practioners we supply. I understand your response, as it is the generally accepted one, however with around a decade of experience helping people with these types of digestive challenges, and 4 years of making our own products, we are able to do some pretty neat things. I would suggest you have a look at our website, as there is no other product available on the market with the same strength and potency of our ferment.
Sorry I should have clarified. Yes I take gels with water. I was doing this on the hour and half hour, and drinking Gatorade every 10 minutes aside from that.
my biggest advice for you is to learn to relax and make sure you take only easy food for you in the few days leading up to the race. if it works in training, there is no reason to not work in racing…
i have crohn and had succes with maltodextrine that i mix with gatorade and other stuff like electrolythe pills. Recently, i been experimenting with Infinit and i m very suprise with the results and i would recommend you to explore this option. In racing, it s important to understand your body reactions to food and calories…
i beleive it s not a good idea to have a fix plan for nutrition, you have to have many calories wiht you and eat as much as you can without getting sick… if you get sick…stop and take water only, if you feel good…it s the very important sign to reconise that your body is asking for more calories so pound it down!!!
it s important to be flexible and learn as in hot weather…you will need more diluted calories and cold weather,…more concentrated and less liquide… if the pace goes up for a reason, you need to reduce or stop taking calories for a moment… if you have a long downhill, get the food in as much as you can…
for exemple… richter pass at imc isnt a good time to eat food… it s too easy to get sick as the intensity goes up… you need to have the calorie in you before and dont eat before you are at the top 30-40 minutes later…
I just finished my first half IM. 4 months out from the race I was suffering from IBS related symptoms. Everyone will be different but what worked for me was Cytomax, fig newtons, ensure (very easy to digest and I downed one before the bike and again before the run…and they can be quite yummy too!) , sharkies, and bananas. I did eat a gel during my race but I only had one and it didn’t seem to create too many problems.
Good luck…
You might also want to look at what you are eating before your long training days…again everyone is different but when I reduced my consumption of dairy and soy I managed to see positive results. This food intolerance was identified by a ND with some kind of blood test. Hey it might be hokey but it worked for me.
Just a comment here…the ingredients list for Ensure Vanilla (not the high protein one) is:
water, sugar, corn maltodextrin, milk protein concentrate, soy oil, canola oil, soy protein concentrate, corn oil, natural and artificial flavor, soy lecithin and carrageenan.
It only has 9g of protein per shake, but that is all from soy and milk, so if you have serious problems with those sources then stay away. I don’t have issues with either whey or soy protein mixes, but the stuff they put in Accelerade and all the drink mixes gives me the Dreaded Atomic Gut Bomb within 2-3hrs on the bike. I have yet to try Ensure as race nutrition, kind of nervous doing so…
Perpetuem has a soy protein, not why protein. The infinit has the whey protein, but I know you can dial it down. Is there any info out there about whey protein and IBS?
ok…the issu is very simple… NO protein…NO protein… if you have crohn’s or somehting else serious, give yourself a chance and dont tax your digestive systeme with something you dont use in a race… i only use infinit without protein and it works great, i try to keep it simple stupid and it s important to do so if you dont have a stomach/intestin of steel…
So you are saying no protein, right? haha. Got it! Have you tried perpetuem before? (just curious as I’ve used it in training and it’s been the best product so far…admittadely I haven’t tried Infinit though.) Have you used Inifit in a race situation or just in training? I’ll assume if you have in a race that it did the job for you. One thing that worries me about the Infinit is the sucrose they have in it. I’d rather have no sugars in my drink other than the maltodextrin. I’m planning on taking in fluids only becaue my stomach will not tolerate solids in a race situation.
Thanks muchly for your reply - and to the others that have replied too. I really appreciate it!!!