disclaimer – i’m sponsored by powerbar so I get some free food. Having said that, I almost always eat on my training rides the way I will eat on race day – i.e. nothing new on race day.
No stomach issues with dates and figs on training rides and moderate intensity runs. I find them much easier to digest than muesli bars.
Wouldn’t use them in a race.
Gels are $1 each so I don’t consider that prohibitively expensive for training, it’s only a handful for even a long ride, and usually just one will suffice. Plus, the convenience factor is a big one for me. I use sports drink too, but in the biggest tubs you can buy so that becomes not too bad either. The only thing I change for races are Roctanes instead of regular Gu (now those get expensive).
So what’s up with Mars bars? Two people so far…
Am I missing out on something?
chocolate is without a doubt one of the best nutrition items for ultra endurance sports. It does not upset your stomach, you can eat it as your only nutrition for days and you don’t get sick. That is the reason that early mountaineers, explorers and soldiers carried this stuff. Two bars only get you through one day. The reason it does not hurt the stomach as much as sports nutrition is in my opinion that there is a little fat and protein in the bars. Most peoples stomachs go wrong after 4-5 hours of digesting only one substance. That is why sports nutrition has more value for half IM and shorter, and much less for the full distance. That is in my opinion also why the malto dextrine users get through 5 hrs easy riding on the bike but not through the IM with this stuff. It is only pure carbohydrates and the body simply get tired of digesting only this. Off course there will be someone reacting on this that they can do IM with malto dextrine only, but many people I know can not.
The mars bars is a little different then pure chocolate, but still very good. The reason why I use these bars instead of chocolate bars is the heat. If the sun is shining these mars bars melt indeed as someone mentioned. I take the stupid mini version with me, and you can really eat it like a gel.
The other important feature of chocolate that many folks seem to overlook is that chocolate is not a solid. Yes, you carry it most of the time as solid food if your from a mild climate. But on body temperature it is not a solid but a fluid. Therefore the chocolate in your stomach does not need to absorb water first. Especially on hot days this makes a huge difference.
Interestting, thats what I thought would be common. Have only done one 2hr swim myself. Boy that is a long time to be swimming. If I swim that long again it will be along the side of a lake(more varied scenery so more enjoyable for me0.
thanks.
G.
(all what I write apply to HIM in my case)
For each training session, I drink as if I was racing. I never drink pure water but only isotonic drinks, hypotonic drinks (with high carbo content) or drinks with some amount of proteins in them. For preparing the drinks, I only buy them as powder to dissolve (it’s also a lot cheaper).
For swimming sessions:
30 min before starting the session: 300-400ml of isotonic drink as a booster.For running sessions:
30 min before starting the session: 300-400ml of isotonic drink as a booster.
< 45 min (nothing)45 min ↔ 2h30: isotonic drink in small bottles (4 of them), I drink 150ml each 15 min (depends on temperatures) and then refill them as I encounter water springs during the session (very common in country villages in Switzerland). Either I finish the session with plain water, either I dilute the drink powder I prepared in small plastic bags.150ml per 15 min or 4-5 sips each 7-10 minutes (depending on outside temperature).
For bike sessions:
30 min before: 300 ml of isotonic drink as a booster
< 1 hour: isotonic drink (750ml)1 - 2 hours: isotonic drink (750ml) + hypotonic drink (750ml with high carbo content but still hypotonic)2 - 3 hours: same as 1-2 hours + isotonic drink with some protein content (750ml) - proteins works for me but not with all people…
3 hours: same as 2-3 hours + additional isotonic drink3 sips each 10 minutes.
Notes:
the goal is to (try to) maintain hydration AND carbo level AND mineral salts all the time (if you don’t train yourself with this spirit, how could it be different the race day? - You need to learn your stomach to get used to absorb carbos during efforts, otherwize you’ll get sick pretty soon, e.g. nausea).
**by drinking plain water you ****don’t maintain the level of sodium lost in your sweat and levels of magnesium + potassium (-> loss of muscle efficiency + possibly cramps).**when temperatures is around 25-30 Celsius degree → it’s 900ml per hour for running and biking, when temperature is low (10-15 Celsius degree), it’s more around 500-600 ml.and sport drinks are expensive? Oh, yeah?!? So, you prefer to buy this superb/expensive aero thingamajig for gaining speed and not waste your money on sport drinks… Could you imagine buying a Ferrari sport car and putting unrefined/raw oil in the engine? Uh? What the heck?
Results:
after all training session, I feel well hydrated and most of my mineral salts are more of less replenished → easier recovery.
I don’t increase my intakes during the meals for counterbalancing the carbo lost during the training sessions → easier body weight control.
for all of the HIM I finished, I was definitely not thirsty nor starving at the finish line.the “booster” trick comes from some IM books I read. This works very well for me.
I never eat any solid nutriment when training or during the race. It’s a hint from a friend of mine that did several IMs for 7-8 years. It depends on your body physiology but this works for me → it’s also a lot easier to control hypo/iso/hypertonic balance of what you absorb.
I am not a “pro” nor affiliated to any sport drink company. I just follow the sentence of my IM friend that told me one day: “what’s really mandatory for IM is controlling your nutrition”. Even though I currently race only HIMs, I humbly apply his principle. In 1-2 years, I’ll be racing IM but I am not ready yet… at least for the bike leg
_michel
I try to train with what I’m going to race with - at least for my long sessions. Gels (usually Chocolate PowerGel or Blueberry Pom Roctane), sports drink, water during.
After a hard training session I’ll usually have a protein bar (Zone Perfect - inexpensive at Costco) or a protein shake (mixed from powder) for recovery.
I don’t take any nutrition DURING the swim but that’s for two reasons:
-
99% of my swim workouts are open water and it’s sort of hard to access any nutrition out there.
-
There aren’t any aid stations in the swim during the race and I do prefer to train like I race.
Post-swim workout it’s a protein bar and water for me.
I do always carry a little cash with me on bike rides and runs, though. In case of emergency I can duck into a 7-Eleven for Coke, water or some other kind of snack.