I am training for an IM and while on the bike I am eating gels/water and gatorade for calories. I read an article stating carbo pro or another similar product with water provides 115 cal per scoop. Should I fill my two cages with the right amount of carbo pro to fuel me for the IM and eat a lot less gels? It seems that route is simpler than eating 2 gel packets every hr. Suggestions?
Thanks Barry. I see myself doing about what you did. I use Succeed and weigh about 190, so I have to figure how many scoops I need to get enough cal. I will use an e-gel once an hr as well as you did. Thanks again.
I do just about the same thing for an IM. The only difference is that I don’t put the salt in the drink since I am afraid it would be unpalitable. I just throw some salt tablets in a Tic Tac container. Works great.
The other thing I do is freeze the mixture into as many ice cubes as will fit in a water bottle and put them in along with the rest of mixture. Letting the drink stay hot for too long worries me since it seems like something that would spoil very quickly.
To keep drinks in a special needs bag I have frozen the bottle in question and placed it in a padded envelope for insulation. These are the manilla envelopes which have the bubble material on the inside of them. You can pick them up at office supply stores very cheap. It works great.
I found a simple solution to all of this, it’s called Vitafit. They will custom make a powder for you based on how many carbs, protien, sodium, potassium etc you want. you just mix it with water and you have everything you need already in there. No need to mess with gels, pills or bars. I’ll probably still take a couple of food items with me in my next Ironman, but they will be extra in case I feel the need to munch on something.
I do about the same, but instead of Carbo Pro I buy pure Maltodextrin in a 50 pound bag (70cts/pound) which is exactly the same stuff, the guys from Carbo Pro are using, except I think this stuff is more pure and has no addatives at all. I can dilute 900cal in a small bottle or even mix it as a gel for my flasks. It has no flavor and is not too sweet (well at 900cal it is sweet) and I add some juice for flavor. I also add salt tabs depending on the weather. Since I don’t just want to rely on Maltodextrin alone I have a second bottle with 2 cans of Ensure Plus - 700cal. and one King Size Snickers for the early part of the bike. the stuff will get warm either way, but as long as you can wash it down with some cold water its ok. I also like Maltodextrin because it has no lingering aftertaste at all, even at high concentrations.
Great Idea I just bought a 50 lb bag at: http://www.grainprocessing.com/food/malinfo.html
for $24.
That’s interesting.
Which of the Maltrin products are you buying? It seems like they have a significant number of options.
Also, did you try their sample recipes?