70.3 nutrition

Fiftyplus

Reading up on nutrition intake for 70.3 triathlon - does anyone take the recommended 40-90gms of carbohydrate per hour? Equates to 4 gels per hr!!

ChickenBalls

Highly recommend Hammer Nutrition no need for gels. It's all in one - check it out.

https://www.hammernutrition.eu/en/products/perpetuem-en

I used it recently at Elsinore 70.3 Ironman worked a treat. I did have a two chamber hydration system between TT bars the Profile one - https://profile-design.com/collections/hydration/products/aqua-cell-1 - I used the on course drink for one chamber and Hammer nutrition in the second. You need to get the right mix for the hammer nutrition; you can mix it as thick as you want but you'll need water to accompany it; personally it was a good drinking liquid mix that I used - Only thing that I couldn't determine was how much I drank while cycling. Only after the race there was still a quarter of it remaining.

EDit

I’m no expert having only done one 70.3 (the Dun Laoghaire one a few weeks ago) but I was nowhere near that amount. I’d estimate that I had about 4-5 gels and 2 half bananas over the ~4 hours on the bike and 2-3 gels and another banana half during the run (which took me around 2 hours).

What I have found in my training and having done shorter triathlons is that there is a fine line between fueling myself and getting stomach ache (presumably from all the sugary foods/substances). I’ve done a fair few long cycle sportives (150+ km) and it’s exactly the same...if I have too many gels, I get gut rot and my body starts craving something savoury*

Upshot is that you have to find the level that works for you...whatever you read is a guide and I’d imagine everyone’s nutritional needs varies somewhat

*I’m actually seriously considering packing a sausage roll or ginsters pie for my next half-iron, just so that I can consume something savoury en route

Ceepo

Fiftyplus wrote: »

Reading up on nutrition intake for 70.3 triathlon - does anyone take the recommended 40-90gms of carbohydrate per hour? Equates to 4 gels per hr!!

There is a huge difference between 40 and 90g per hour....

If recommended trying 1g per kg of body weight per hour in a training session before you main event.
Also go for simple carbs on the run, it will reduce GI issues..

Keep in mind, nutrition is a personal issue as well.

EC1000

Also bear in mind, your nutritional needs and your ability to ingest carbs at race pace differ greatly from your ability and needs at a slower pace.