Sorry to revise an old topic, but I’m hoping that a few of you may have tried the same experiment that I am and could provide some guidance. After concluding that Accelerade and CytoMax don’t work for me after about 4 hours of use (caveat: I love Endurox post-workout and CytoMax for <2 hour bike races), I’m experimenting with most of the alternatives on long rides over the next few months. Here’s what I’m planning to try:
Hammer Sustained Energy + Gel
GPush G3
Carbo-Pro
GPush G3 + Carbo-Pro mixed
So my question is whether any of you have tried each of the above and settled on one. In particular, I’m wondering whether folks have found Carbo-Pro better by itself or used with another drink. Their literature recommends using it with something else - they mention GPush among others - for flavor. If any of you prefer the combo drinks, in which proportions do you use each? If you have tried the combos but prefer sticking exclusively to one drink, which one and why? Finally, if using GPush or Carbo-Pro, what gels work best with them on the run? I’ve been using Gu forever, but I don’t know if it works well with the galactose or malto drinks.
So far, Hammer SE and Gel have worked OK for me, but I’m frustrated with the number of separate pills that go along with them and the million warnings against eating or drinking anything besides Hammer products before or during the race. GPush and Carbo-Pro seem a bit more compatible with other things, which I like. The big question will be which one keeps me feeling lively 7 hours into the race. That may be a very individual question, but I value knowing others’ experiences. For what it’s worth, I read that Reid and DeBoom use Carbo-Pro and Macca uses GPush. I don’t write that off to sponsorship since no one in their right mind would use a nutrition program in an ironman that doesn’t work well for them.
BTW, in my first ironman, I used a combination of 2 bottles Accelerade, lots of Gatorade (the race drink), couple Powerbars, and Gu. That worked terribly. From hours 5:00-10:50 (finish time), my stomach felt like it had a balloon in it to which someone kept adding more air. By the end, I could barely eat anything - total bloatation - and I have to think that cost me 20+ minutes on the run. Finding the magic nutrition formula is my #1 priority for Ironman Brazil in May.
The hammer nutriation products have received high marks from a man whom I respect greatly, efernando on this forum. He has had some success with them and, I believe, one bad experience. I haven’t used them.
I have had excellent results with G-Push products at shorter distances (half Ironman and below).
I’ve also used Accelerade and think it is excellent.
I have used Carbo-Pro and felt it did nothing for me, it was like drinking water. I couldn;t believe it didn;t work better since many others rave about it. -Did nothing for me.
champion Nutrition Metabolol Endurance is also a good “liquid food” for long course stuff. I’ve used it successfully in two Ironmans.
The first Ironman I did on cookies and oranges and Gookinaid ERG. The Powerbar had not yet been invented.
Used sustained energy for aboput a year and after 2 disatrous races, I dumped the SE and now use Carbo-Pro/Accelerade combo. Works great for me.
The SE turns stale when it gets warm. I live warm weather and the SE stuff actually smells like stale milk after sitting in the bottle on those 6hr rides. Try it and you’ll know what I’m talking about. They got some new stuff but since I tried the carbo-pro, I won’t go back.
Just goes to show you what works for some may not work for others.
I have used Carbo Pro with great success in long rides and races. Yes, it tastes like water, but you can get your 400 plus calories per hour without giving it a thought.
I’ve had stomach issues in past Ironman races (using Accelerade, Hammer Gel, gatorade) and couldn’t get in enough calories. I like the presence of protein in Accelerade but the stuff tastes horrible unless very cold. I’d seen a post somewhere about using, believe it or not, Ensure. (yeah, I know - old peoples’ food)
I tested and settled upon Ensure Plus (added protein and calories) strawberry flavor. It ended up being a perfect supplement to Carbo Pro. In T1 I slammed down 1 helping and had a full bottle on the bike. Sipped it throughout the ride along with CarboPro/gatorade for fluids. I had Hammer Gel flasks just in case but only used it once or twice. Drank another serving in T2 and stomach felt great all day long.
Bottomline: I was able to get plenty of easily digestable calories with protein as well. Even when warm, Ensure Plus strawberry taste was decent. I’ll definitely add this to my Ironman nutritional program.
In a half-ironman I used a large water bottle filled with Gatoraid and 8 scoops of Carbo Pro, and three small bottles of Gatoraid and a couple of packs of hammer gel and I felt fantastic. Very concentrated Carbo Pro without some flavor is a little gross.
I have had great success using the GPush system (usually G2 for the first 2 hours, then lots of G3). I have no problem drinking 2 bottles of G3 per hour, for a total of about 380 cals/hour. The only problem with G3 is that if you want to use it for going long, you need to pack lots of baggies that you mix up on route. At IMFL, I felt great all race. Plenty of energy, no bloating, etc…However, it had to stop every 90 minutes on the bike to mix up 3 new bottles. On the run, I carried only 1 bottle, so I stopped every half hour.
Just for laughs, I bought some Spiz to try out this winter. I will mix up a high concentration bottle and suppliment with on-course water. If the Spiz works, I may use it at MOO, purely for the convenience of not having to stop…
I am a huge Perpetuem fan. It’s from the same guys who make Sustained Energy. I use it exclusively on the bike for half and full IMs as my only source of calories and nutrition. I switch to water, gatorade and coke on the run.
I’ve had good results with homebrew for my longest rides which last upto 5hrs. I carry 3 of these bottles.
for a 28oz bottle:
100mL honey
1-1/3 tsp blackstrap molasses
2 pinches salt
water
Per 28oz bottle, there’s about 450 calories and an abundance of all the 5 important electrolytes: Na, K, Ca, Mg, & Zn. And a good dose of vitamins, other minerals and enzymes. I also can also carry about 400 calories of fig bars to supplement.
It was a bit of a process to get to these measurements. Initial version was a straight copy from a formula on roadbikereview.com. But then I increased to dosages to mimic the calorie content of extran & the electrolyte content of e-load.
I tried honey once and my bottle and bike turned into a sticky mess. Maybe it was the bottles, but even the stopper stuck. Did I mix wrong or what. I’ve been using cytomax without problems and now am trying Gpush and really like the taste of Enervit. I seem to be able to use any kind without problems. One complaint with the cytomax is that it tastes too sweet for the amount of carbs you get. I really like their orange pre workout stuff as well as the vanilla after workout mix. One thing I like about the Gpush is that you get a little scoop and it only take one to two per serving. Some of these powders come with a big scoop and the whole big jug lasts only a short while. The gpush comes in a little container (half full) but only requires a little.
Yeah, I get a few drips around the rear hub area and elsewhere. It’s not so bad now with the duoflow stopper. And it’s less convenient to mix for sure.
Why do I keep doing it? What can I say, I love the control & pride I get from homebrew! Doesn’t hurt that it’s natural and minimally processed too.
Have tried Perpetuem and SE, but here’s what works best for me.
Four 20 oz. clear bottles so you can see how much is left. Two on the bike, two at special needs. Each bottle contained 5 scoops of Carbo Pro, one scoop of Gatorade (each bottle was a different flavor Gatorade), and oneThermolyte capsule. 630 cals per bottle plus electolytes times 4 = 2520 calories. Also had a GU flask mounted on the bike with 5 vanilla bean GUs or 500 calories. Wash this down with water from an aero bottle in front.
Carbo-pro by itself in high concentrations is “sticky sweet” without flavor. The gatorade and the Thermolyte offset this quite well. Ends up being salty/sweet/tangy. I have heard of others who use Cytomax instead of gatorade.
I drank 2 cans of Boost at about 2:00 am and one bottle of Metabolol at about 6:00 am. I don’t think either of these would be good for me during the race, but I see others using them. For shorter rides, I just use the Metabolol before.
Whatever you choose, try it out several times on long training days before you risk it on a race.