Minimizing water retention/weight for a 1hr event?

Triathlon Forum
1

sup folks,

so i posted here a week or so ago about how much weight would be feasible to lose 5.5 weeks before a 1hr hillclimb event. after some deliberation and taking in the opinions of those here, i’ve decided that it would be best to simply clean up my diet without worrying too much about the actual fat loss and thus risk power loss.

however, i do think that there is the potential for some water weight optimization. i am primarily a roadie focusing on PRT stage races and long road races. my “base” weight is about 147lb, though i often try and start a long race well-hydrated and completely glycogen-stocked at say 152lb (recall that glycogen is stored ~1:3 g/g with water). this is actually a large advantage i have found in long road races when others are hitting a wall around the 4th hour and i still have plenty left in the tank due to my “pre-fueling” overload. however, those races are often 3500-4500 kj whereas this hillclimb is no more than 1300kj.

thus, being completely stocked on glycogen (and the associated water) seems unnecessary and could be counterproductive from a weight strategy. sorta like an F1 race - why do I need a completely full gas tank when i know at most i’ll use half of it? the rest is just dead weight.

so, does anyone have experience or tips for fueling “just enough” to maintain power and feel strong without lugging around pounds and pounds of excess glycogen and water?

jj

2

Simply race at your base weight of 147lbs. No need for the extra 5lbs of overload fuel.

3

This is a suuuuper hard balance and I’m more replying to keep this at the top :slight_smile:

I’m also a lighter rider, but do struggle with the balance between fueling and carrying too much weight when it might matter. Curious as to strategies others use as I can also fluctuate between mid 140’s and mid 150’s! I also do creatine so that just compounds the water weight problem.

4

Way overthinking it.

5

perhaps overthinking it… but the math on this hillclimb is that 1lb = 20sec approximately over the course of an hour and last year i missed the podium by 30 sec lolz

6

Maybe true. But you’re risking losing way more if you don’t perfectly nail it. You’ve had a year to train, hopefully you’ve been focusing on upping your power and not just dropping weight

7

Maybe true. But you’re risking losing way more if you don’t perfectly nail it. You’ve had a year to train, hopefully you’ve been focusing on upping your power and not just dropping weight

yezzir, my power is basically at its feasible limit for what i can hold for an hour and now i’m just trying to eek out that last 1-4% of performance, if possible. already have a tricked-out lightweight bike lolz