TRIATHLON TIPS: Race Nutrition

Here we are in the middle of February, and race day nutrition is probably one of the last things on most of our minds. However, the fact is the earlier we can teach our bodies what to expect during a race, the better. I have heard countless stories from athletes about a race or training session that was going great until a certain food or drink ruined it all. We all work much too hard to let such a mistake hurt us on race day. To avoid this common pitfall, try the following 4 steps.

Step #1: Select foods, liquids, and supplements that will meet the demands of
your race.
In today’s day and age of endurance athletics the selection of nutrition products available is becoming overwhelming. To help you through this ever growing maze, I suggest keeping it as simple as possible. With my athletes, I like to break race nutrition into 3 main categories: Hydration, Sodium Intake, and Calories. This helps us focus on the basics of what we need when selecting foods, liquids and supplements.

In very general terms, during a race an athlete should take in somewhere from 20-40 ounces of liquid, 1000mg of sodium, and 300 to 750 calories every hour. Of course this depends on many things such as the athlete's size, the weather, and the difficulty of the course. However, using these general guidelines will give you a place to begin.

Step #2: Experiment with your choices from the first step to select what works
best for your body.
Once you have chosen foods, liquids, and possibly supplements to meet the needs stated above, it’s time to turn your body into a science experiment. Begin introducing your nutrition choices into your workouts. Be sure to keep a very detailed log of your experiences recording the what, when, and how of the nutrition. For example, maybe you tried an energy gel. Write down what gel you used, when during exercise you took the gel, and how you took the nutrition, (i.e. one whole packet at once, or little bits at a time....). From here pay close attention to how your body reacts to the nutrition. Did you have enough energy for the workout? Do you feel like your needs were met? Did anything give you a stomach ache? How much weight did you lose? Did you like the taste? Continue with this testing process until you feel confident in your selections.

One of my athletes provides a perfect example of this process. He decided to use a common sports drink as a source for calories and hydration. Unfortunately, the high sugar content in the drink gave him stomach cramps. He decided to dilute it with water. This worked well, but diluting the drink also took away some of the sodium he was getting. His solution was to add a teaspoon of sea salt to each bottle.

Step #3: Develop a nutrition plan with the foods you select in step two.
This step is where you teach your body exactly what to expect. Now that you know what nutrition you plan to use, it is time to focus on the when and the how. I encourage my athletes to write out a detailed plan. For example, an athlete may decide he or she will take 3 to 4 swallows of a sports drink every 3 miles, and a mouthful of energy gel every 6 miles on the bike. Perhaps it works well to switch to plain water at some point. Maybe a banana at mile 75 works well.....The more detailed you can be, the more natural the process will feel to your body during a race.

Step #4: Practice your plan from step three as much as possible during training and adjust as needed.
Now that you have established a routine with your nutrition, practice it religiously. By the time you enter a race, it should be so natural that you can just go on auto pilot. I would even go so far as to write the plan small enough that you can put it on your handle bars, or the band of your watch. This way, you will always have a cheat sheet. As your training progresses and you continue to practice the plan, fine tune where needed. Maybe now that your mileage is getting longer you realize you actually need a little more sodium, or maybe you should drink smaller amounts more frequently.

In a sport like triathlon there are countless uncertainties. With this in mind, we have to control the things we can, and prepare for the things we can't. Nutrition is definitely in the “things we can control” category. However, keep in mind that similar to training, there will always be room for improvement. Start out simple, listen to your body, make a plan, and practice, practice, practice.

Coach Howie’s Tip of the Month
Now that the 2005 race season is just around the corner, many of us are beginning to do more difficult interval sets in the pool. As the speed ramps up, it is important to maintain the new and improved form we gained over the winter. Try putting drill sets in throughout your entire swim workout. For example, instead of only drilling at the beginning of a workout, put small drill sets in the middle of your speed work. One of my favorite sets is 10x100m hard with 50yds drill after every even 100. The more often we can reinforce good habits during the workout, the more likely these habits are to become second nature.