Iron Girls...

[rocknrollgirl]

Can you share what nutrition that has worked for you at the iron distance?

Thanks in advance..

Ruth

[Tri Girl]

I prefer a liquid diet because my stomach doesn't do well in long-distance events.
I use Carbo Pro for most of the time in an iron distance race. I mix it with Ultima (a sugar-free electrolyte drink). I also take one Gu every hour, as well as 3 endurolytes an hour.
By the time I get to the second half of the marathon, I'm pretty much down to chicken broth and flat coke for my nutrition since nothing else ever sits well in my belly.

I know some people who use Infinit (or other liquid nutrition). The Carbo Pro is cheap (I get it on Amazon) and it's tasteless- which I love.

[Wahine]

I'm a Hammer girl for the most part. My stomach is pretty finicky too so I try to stay away from solids.

Here's the schedule:

A couple of ounces of gel before heading into the water.

For the bike I mix two bottles of Perpetuem and Heed really thick(3 scoops Perp, 2 Heed per bottle). One goes with me on the bike the other in my special needs bag. My second bottle has just water in it. I try to drink 2 to 3 swallows of water and 1 to 2 of the Hammer mix, every 15 min. One bottle of mix will last me 3 to 4 hours. So I have to make sure I grab the second bottle from special needs or I'll run out. I'll suppliment that with about 1 ounce of Hammer gel per hour. If I start to get hungry, I break out the Clif Shot Blocs or Honey Stinger chewies.

On the run I switch to just gel (1 ounce per half hour) and drink water and whatever electrolyte replacement they have at the aid stations.

If it's hot I also take in 3 Endurolytes per hour. Less when it's cooler.

My goal is to take in about 200 Cal per hour. A bit more if it's cool and I'm pushing hard.

BTW - it's nice to see you here.:D

[rocknrollgirl]

It is nice to see you back too. I know where to come for advice!

I feel like I have my HIM nutrition dialed in, but I am now stepping the distance up and I am stumbling in training with the fuel.

Saturday my training partners and I did an 80 mile ride followed by a 30 min run. It was easy Z2, Z3 output, but it was really hot and humid. They are all eating solids, so I tried too. It did not end well. I felt bloated and uncomfortable.

I am trying to separate my hydration and nutrition because all of the new research it leaning toward that being better for absorption.

I think this weekend I will try chews, and Honey stinger waffles. They worked for me at 70.3 distance. I will see if I can get it to work again.

[colby]

I can't do solids, either, but I need protein. Solids are okay if I'm going to stop, sightsee, hang out, low speed, but not in a race or focused training ride. The difference between a long ride/brick with protein and a long ride/brick without was huge. The chews don't work for me as a primary source (I can't eat them fast enough and get tired of them too fast), but they are nice to have as an alternative when I am tired of everything else.

I take in 200-300/hour on bike. Gels every 30 (~180 cals/hr with 2 gels if I take in full servings), liquid every 15 (whatever amount I need to drink to finish 2 bottles through the bike and come out to about 50-100 cals/hr). Water with the gels. Endurolytes when it is warm, 3/hr. I start eating at 30 minutes, but start drinking water right away. If I feel good, I can start eating at 15, but sometimes I'm still too unsettled. Nothing with caffeine, the amount of caffeine in gels makes me feel sick.

On the run, I alternate gel with whatever electrolyte drink they have. If I get tired of gel (nearly inevitable) I try the chews, if the chews don't work, I switch to pretzels, bananas (bananas are really good, but I got really tired of them - I am still recovering from bananas). Sometimes it's the texture/taste that kills it for me more than GI issues. The coke is a nice lift sometimes, but the caffeine can make me ugh if I drink it too much and am still running at a good pace. Pretzels are nice and salty and can help settle my stomach after too much liquid diet.

I am a vegetarian so I can't do chicken broth. Maybe they'll start offering pickle juice ;)

[Wahine]

I feel like I have my HIM nutrition dialed in, but I am now stepping the distance up and I am stumbling in training with the fuel.

Saturday my training partners and I did an 80 mile ride followed by a 30 min run. It was easy Z2, Z3 output, but it was really hot and humid. They are all eating solids, so I tried too. It did not end well. I felt bloated and uncomfortable.

I am trying to separate my hydration and nutrition because all of the new research it leaning toward that being better for absorption.

I think this weekend I will try chews, and Honey stinger waffles. They worked for me at 70.3 distance. I will see if I can get it to work again.

Whatever you do for HIM should work at IM distance.

I can't tolerate solids at all on race day and if there's heat then I have to cut back on my Hammer mix intake as well. This is why I do the thickly mixed bottle and straight water, I can take 3 swigs of water, and one of the mix if needed, or two and two. But if it's really hot, I cut back a lot on any carb intake and have to really decrease my intensitiy to keep from going tinto gastric lock down mode. Once that happens, nothing gets through including straight water and electrolytes. So when it's hot, I try to stay a little hungry all the time to make sure that things keep moving through my gut. Better to decrease intensity and intake than to risk delayed gastric emptying which leads to full on bonking and dehydration.

Chances are the problems on Saturday were a combo of too much carb hitting your gut at once and too much heat.

[rocknrollgirl]

Thanks ladies.

I ordered some carbo pro, it should be here by thursday, so I will start to fiddle with that and see how I do. I am glad you both said you go a bit hungry rather than overload. It seems to hit me at about 4 hours on the bike. I get really hungry. It does not go without notice that 4 hours is the time of our long rides for HIM training. So I trained the ole' bod up just right for that! Time to retrain.

I tried the coke for the first time at Mooseman this year. Heavenly. I am now a believer.

[sgf726]

I tried the coke for the first time at Mooseman this year. Heavenly. I am now a believer.

me too - I told my coach ahead of time when he suggested it, that I don't drink soda - and his response was "you will"

I tried it at about mile 20 of IMLP and it was awesome. Still don't like soda but it was great during the race.

The one thing I foun on the IM, is although I stuck to my plan for the bike (~300 calories)/hour I was starving when I got on the run an actually ended up taking in more than originally planned (plan was about 200/hr), the first couple of hours I probably did 400/hour then down to 200 for the last 3. (gels, perform and bananas).