[Nike+88]

I will be doing my first half-ironman in early June (Kansas 70.3) and was wondering what a good nutrition plan would be.

Here's my nutrition plan as of right now.

Bike
2 flasks of hammer gel. one serving taken about every 20 min.
I'll grab a power bar at the first aid station and eat half and then eat the other half aoubt 30-45 minutes later
My plan is to start out with two bottles of Heed and grab a water, gatorade, water at the 3 aid stations or should I start out with 1 bottle Heed and 1 bottle water and get 2 gatorades at the aid stations. Take a mouthful every 10 min.

Run
Walk through the aid stations and get plenty of water and gatorade.
Grab 2-4 power gels in the first half of the run depending on how I feel or should I throw a flask of hammer gel in my jersey becuase that's what I'm used to.

Thanks for your thoughts and comments

[wsjinames]

First: Stick with stuff you know works for you. I know I'm very tolerant of different gels, so I don't care what brand they have on the course. But I wouldn't say the same about bike nutrition.

Second: I'm guessing more people have trouble with too MUCH nutrition than too little at the half distance. You get tummy problems. I use the two-bottle solution, in which I have all my calories in one bottle on my down tube, and then just water in my aero drink. I refill the aero drink from the course. I think 200-250 cal/hour on the bike is probably what I'd shoot for, though I know other people recommend more. I do it with Perpetuem (which mixes up in high concentration to be like a melted milkshake or pancake batter, whichever image you prefer), but there are lots of different things you can use. This way keeps it very simple. You're not out there so long that you have to eat solids, so why do it? Don't know how much is going to be in your Hammer gel flasks.

For the run, you're obviously at an advantage if you can live off the course, but if you haven't tried different stuff, there's no harm in carrying your own gels. Again, go with a relatively minimalist amount of calories, depending on how hard you're running. (Running harder makes it harder to digest). I just did Boston the other day: One gel every 4 miles at 7:30 pace means one gel every half hour = 200 calories an hour. I took a little supplementary gatorade at a few aid stations in the second half. In a lot of ways, the HIM run is a lot like a marathon run (pace, intensity, etc), except your legs aren't quite as trashed the next day.

Good luck!

[TriPKP]

Well, you're doing a lot of brand mixing here. I'm going to assume you've tried ALL of this in training already and it all works for you. I've heard people say that mixing different types of drinks doesn't work and it's especially suspect taking in the very sugary Gatoraid Endurance after two bottles of the practically sugar-free HEED.

Your caloric load sounds good, assuming again you've practiced it. I'd suggest spreading the powerbar out some more, tho. Eat equal amounts every 45 minutes or 1 hour. This'll give you a better defense to the flavor fatigue you might experience taking in mostly gels for 5-7 hours. Good luck grabbing the Powerbar, tho, that'll take some real coordination. I'd advise that if it's part of your final plan that you actually do it; don't just shrug and say "screw it" if the exchange doesn't go well. Stop and pick it up. Don't be that guy who's nutrition plan goes out the window because he didn't want to lose 20 seconds picking up his nutrition.

Drink by thirst. Roughly a bottle an hour, little more if it's hot/humid. The "mouthful every 10 minutes" is a noble attempt, but it's just unnecessary confusion.

I'd stick with a flask of Hammer Gel for the run, if you like that the best. I'm not sponsored, so I can say it: I HATE Powergels! Despise them! They've brought me nothing but problems. Not to say they will bring you problems, but there's a decent chance something might.

You didn't list electrolyte replacement, either. Maybe you were planning on using something, but just didn't list it under calorie replacement. Nevertheless, I've had some pretty bad experiences racing the 70.3 distance when I don't pay attention to electrolytes (feel free to chime in, Nate). I've had mixed results using Endurolytes, but there are lots of different ones on the market. Look for ones that replinish Sodium, Chloride, Potassium, Magnesium and Calcium. Sodium is needed in higher amounts than the other 4, but all 4 should be present.

Most importantly: trust your training. Use your race day nutrition during your long brick workouts. If what you've discussed works for you, forget everything I said.

[Nate]

wsjinames, on 21 April 2010 - 12:38 PM, said:

First: Stick with stuff you know works for you. I know I'm very tolerant of different gels, so I don't care what brand they have on the course. But I wouldn't say the same about bike nutrition.

Second: I'm guessing more people have trouble with too MUCH nutrition than too little at the half distance. You get tummy problems. I use the two-bottle solution, in which I have all my calories in one bottle on my down tube, and then just water in my aero drink. I refill the aero drink from the course. I think 200-250 cal/hour on the bike is probably what I'd shoot for, though I know other people recommend more. I do it with Perpetuem (which mixes up in high concentration to be like a melted milkshake or pancake batter, whichever image you prefer), but there are lots of different things you can use. This way keeps it very simple. You're not out there so long that you have to eat solids, so why do it? Don't know how much is going to be in your Hammer gel flasks.

For the run, you're obviously at an advantage if you can live off the course, but if you haven't tried different stuff, there's no harm in carrying your own gels. Again, go with a relatively minimalist amount of calories, depending on how hard you're running. (Running harder makes it harder to digest). I just did Boston the other day: One gel every 4 miles at 7:30 pace means one gel every half hour = 200 calories an hour. I took a little supplementary gatorade at a few aid stations in the second half. In a lot of ways, the HIM run is a lot like a marathon run (pace, intensity, etc), except your legs aren't quite as trashed the next day.

Good luck!

Wow, great run at boston! I checked out your results.

How about a race report? What did you do to train?

[wsjinames]

Hey Nate, thanks for noticing. :-) I don't want to hijack this thread, so I'll start another.

[MHMarks]

I think you're way over doing it. I think i had like 6 gels and some pretzels, with a couple bottles the whole race

[Nate]

Nike+88, on 21 April 2010 - 10:09 AM, said:

I will be doing my first half-ironman in early June (Kansas 70.3) and was wondering what a good nutrition plan would be.

Here's my nutrition plan as of right now.

Bike
2 flasks of hammer gel. one serving taken about every 20 min.
I'll grab a power bar at the first aid station and eat half and then eat the other half aoubt 30-45 minutes later
My plan is to start out with two bottles of Heed and grab a water, gatorade, water at the 3 aid stations or should I start out with 1 bottle Heed and 1 bottle water and get 2 gatorades at the aid stations. Take a mouthful every 10 min.

Run
Walk through the aid stations and get plenty of water and gatorade.
Grab 2-4 power gels in the first half of the run depending on how I feel or should I throw a flask of hammer gel in my jersey becuase that's what I'm used to.

Thanks for your thoughts and comments

Just go with how you train. I've eaten a ton during my long races and been fine. Then I tried to mix it up for my IM and that didn't work too well.

I would just eat and drink would you normally would for the bike, except eat pretty early on the bike because you just swam. On the run just do what you would normally do for a half marathon.

Just stick to normal stuff and how you feel. It's not rocket science.

Your plan sounds good. I would just do what your used to on the run. At new Orleans I didn't wear a belt because I wanted to be faster. Then the aid stations ran out of ice and only offered hot water and hot tangerine hammer gels. So gross. Next time im going to have a belt in a little cooler for the hot races. It helps to be able to drink/eat whenever and you can just grab water to throw on your self at the aid stations.

[Ben Greenfield]

If you're gunning for a podium spot, don't get married to your fueling clock. Usually, during a half IM, I'll quickly fuel when I roll up on somebody's back wheel during my drafting "window", then pass them. For the run, if I'm hammering and don't want to lose somebody, I'll often forego fueling and just hope I don't bonk. So be flexible. TriPKP has some good advice for you as well (although I'm actually not sure of the calorie difference between Gatorade Endurance and HEED, and not able to look into that rightnow...anybody know?)