I’m curious to hear about various ST’er nutrition plans for the Iron distance races, how much you weigh, what you eat for dinner the night before the race, breakfast before the race, and does your sports drink have protein in it.
Thanks in advance,
Eric
My plan for IMLP will be:
Night before - large chicken and pasta salad (eaten very early (around 4pm) followed 2 or 3 large glasses of red wine.
Morning of - large bowl of cereal with a banana and yoghurt around 4am followed by lots of water, HEED and black coffee up until the off. Maybe some Hammer gel last thing.
Bike - one super concentrated bottle of Pertpetuem, water and maybe a cliff bar and or some more gel for variety only.
Run - Hammer gel and water.
Are you serious about the 2 or 3 large glasses of red wine? Please don’t read anything into (recalling the ST’ers have a drinking problem post), just curious.
Absolutely - I’ll cut down dramatically for the last 6 or 7 weeks but then that final evening when the bike is racked, the bag is packed and there is noting to do but relax and enjoy the company then I will have a wine glass in hand till I’m ready to go to bed. I have always found drinking wine in the evening really really enjoyable and relaxing and that doesn’t change just because I have a race the next day.
I don’t tend to get hangovers (certainly not on that amount and deinitely nothing that will survive jumping in a cold lake and spending an hour getting kicked by 2000 people) and have never noticed a performance issue the next morning - if anything it’s a good way to sneak in some extra calories without feeling bloated 
I’ve had the same pre-IM dinner for all but 1 IM that I’ve done: pasta with tomato sauce, 1 grilled chicken breast, milk. Sometimes, I also have a non-alcoholic beer. The one “off” race where I had brown rice and vegetables, I blew up on the run…no protein maybe had something to do with it?
Lunch day before the race has always been the same…chicken burrito.
Breakfast on race day 1 cup of Grape Nuts cereal, mixed with 1 cup of Quaker Oat Granola. 1 bottle of gatorade, 1 banana. I have all that around 4:30 AM. At around 3 AM, or whenver I wake up, I have a glass of carnation instant breakfast. Between 5 AM and 6:30 AM, I snack on Fig newtons or a powerbar protein plus bar, and drink water (gatorade if it’s going to be hot). Between 6:30 AM and start, I have two gel packs.
Race weight is ~155lbs.
Day before race - large breakfast, lunch around 2 - pasta with some meat, at IMAZ I had swordfish puttanesca, quite lovely. Then a light dinner at Whole foods, some more pasta, bread and chicken breast
Race morning - around 4 - 2 boost, 1 cliff bar, some gatorade and one cup coffee.
During race - 1 bottle with 12 pwr gels on bike, plus gatorade - water; run - lots and lots of coke, plus 2 gels somewhere along the way.
This is the same routine I have followed for the last 3 ims and it works great for me.
Thanks for the response lucky. This is a pretty interesting thread. Nutrition for the race is one of the things that I’m most concerned about. I’m singed up for IM Canada this year which will be my first IM distance. I’m participating in a training camp in July where they will be doing blood lactate and blood glucose testing over the span of the actual bike course. I’ve read countless articles on what to do and what not to do when it comes to race day nutrition and now I’m just mostly confused so I thought that a scientific approach right from the start might be good.
i second the glass of wine the night before. it helps to calm me down and get some sleep.
for dinner, nothing to heavy and limit the fibre. i actually try to eat a little more protein (eggs, etc.). or gluten free pasta.
breakfast, it’s all about the oatmeal (brown sugar on top!) and starbucks.
during the race, InfinIT rocks my world. two super concentrated bottles (600 cal each) on the bike with protein. one concentrate gel flask on the run (300 cal) - no protein, and I take a coke and water at every aid station – not all of it goes in my mouth though.
I also use ZYM tabs in my aero water bottle (caffeinated - catapult), and Saltstick caps to maintain electrolytes, as I am a very heavy sweater.
My stomach tends to shut down and not tolerate solids during a race so this plan works well for me – someone with a tempermental belly.
p.s. i’m female and weigh 120. this averages out to be about 150 cal./hour.
have fun finding your own formula!!
Pizza and a few beers the night before.
Shredded wheat cereal, strawberry/bannana/protein powder smoothie, some walnuts, and coffe for breakfast
A Clif bar and water right before the start.
6 Clif blocks and 3 Endurolytes every hour during the race, plus a Clif builder bar at the special needs of the bike and run
(I’m not sponsored by Clif, but I would save a lot of money if I was)
I’m going with a custom Infinit (tweaked their standard Ironman formula a bit for more sodium as I am a very salty sweater) mix this year with lots of carbs, electrolytes/sodium, and a bit of protein. I did a 70 mile ride last Sunday with it, and it worked like a champ. I ate a single gel at a mini-mart as we were refilling bottles, but I probably didn’t need it.
Spot
I’m doing Ironman CDA in a few weeks and it will be my first IM. I weigh about 185 or so and I am a very heavy sweater. I lose a lot of salt during my events, so much so that I’ve ended up in the med tent two times at OLY races for dehydration. I’ve done 2 HIMs this year where I used this plan and it has worked for me. My plan on Friday and Saturday nights is to eat simple food that I’m familiar with. Spaghetti with ground turkey meat sauce, bread and salad. On race morning I eat a banana, Power Bar and a bagel about 1.5 - 2 hours before the race. I also drink FRS while I’m eating. I drink sports drink and water the morning of the race.
For the race, I’ll be using a 2 custom blended Infinit formulas that I’ve just started using this year. Both formulas are high in electrolyte content. For the bike, I have one formula that DOES have protein in it and is lemon lime flavored. The calorie content is a little bit higher and I’ll be shooting for four 600 calorie bottles for a hopefully 6 hour bike. That gives me about 400 calories per hour. Along with this I’ll drink about 1 water bottle per hour. I will not eat or drink anything else sticking with liquid calories only. For the run, I’ll have four 8 ounce Fuel Belt bottles of another Infinit formula that has less calories, drops the protein and adds a little bit of caffeine. This formula also is a different flavor (orange). Each of these bottles will be about 250 calories so assuming I can do a 4 hour-ish marathon (may be dreaming here) I’ll have about 250 calories per hour. I’ll drink water along with these formulas.
I’ve tried GU, Accelerade, Gatorade, PowerBar Endurance, bananas, Tiger Milk Bars, etc. before and nothing that has worked like these Infinit formulas for me. If you’re interested go to http://www.infinitnutrition.com and take a look. Mike Folan the owner talked to me and helped me out. He was great.
That’s it. Good luck with your plans.
Dinner at about 5:30pm- chicken breast, steamed broccoli and huge sweet potato or Whole Foods brown rice sushi.
Breakfast at 4am- uncooked oatmeal mashed with banana, soypro powder and Better N’ Pbutter, 2 cups black coffee
Bike- super concentrated Infinit bottle and maybe take a couple halves of banana and/or powerbar from the course
Run- alternate between gatorade/water and coke/water each aid station
This is almost a carbon copy of my “during race” plan with Infinit and nothing else but water. My first IM as well at CDA. See you there…hopefully our plans work.
See you up there JackBauer. Are you bringing the “24” team with you as well? Sorry couldn’t resist.
That Infinit stuff has completely changed my Tri world. It’s so simple to have a formula that has everything in it. I don’t have to carry GU, salt tablets, bars, or anything else and best of all, no stomach issues (at least in the HIMs that I’ve done). Just 2 bottles to start and 2 bottles at special needs. It just doesn’t get much easier than that.
See you at the races.
Dinner: Pasta with chicken breast…eat a bigger breakfast and lunch that day, light dinner. If it’s going to be hot I’ll take some salt pills before bed too.
4am: 2 bagels with almond butter, 1 Bottle sports drink, coffee, water until race start.
Bike: 2 bottle of concentrated Infinit- 900 cals each
Run: Gel/water/ Gatorade on first lap, add coke on second.
When I did IMUK last year, this is what I did:
Night Before: Chicken Breast, Baked Potato, Green Beans…simple light and easy - 500ml water/nuun
3am Race Day: 2 croissants with jam, fresh orange juice, cup of coffee and 2 x weetabix
4am-start of swim: sipped on a sports drink
Bike: 1 x SIS GO Bar and 1 x half banana + sips of Gatorade - 900 cals per hour - plus water/nuun as required
Run: half banana or powergel, cup of gatorade, cup of water - at every aid station
Finish - massive smile and some tuna sandwiches and beer !!!
For those who are using the concentrated Infinit on the bike—are you carrying two bottles with you from the start or do you put one in your special needs bag and pick it up along the way? I ride a P2sl and it only has one water bottle cage. I put a behind the seat carrier on and use the bottle between my aerobars strictly for water.
chris
I have a Kuota Kalibur with Hydrotail and a down tube cage. I have my two bottles of Infinit (900 cals each) in the Hydrotail, and use the cage on the bike for water. I grab water at the aid stations and toss the Infinit bottles as they are finished (try and finish them in 2.5 hours each)…Hope that helps
I use two different Infinit Formulas as well. One w/ protein and one w/o. Protein earlier in the bike and getting rid of the protein formula later in on the bike. I do however, plan to take in some solids during the bike. 1 powerbar per 56 miles.
Sort of time tested, but a little concerned about IM France in 4 weeks – supposed to be hot and there will be serious climbing
During the week before carbo load, endurolyte load
last meal with fiber afternoon on Saturday - pasta and veggies. Light snacking salty snacks evening
3:00 AM Liquid meal 900-1000 calories Sustained Energy, Banana, maybe a little yoghurt. I want an empty stomach during race to ensure hydration is absorbed.
Hydration pre race - European PowerBar Performance is on course - Not sure what to think
Gel before swim
Bike - 1500 calories of sustained energy (usually with a couple of shots of espresso), a powerbar or Bakers Breakfast cookie mid ride, water bottles from aid stations, endurolytes, Hammer gels if called for. Hammer products argue that the body is only capable of absorbing approx. 300 calories per hour during intense excercise. So I try for steady fueling
Run - Gels, performance drink, play it by ear.