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On-Course Nutrition

GAndrew GordonGAndrew Gordon
in Ironman North Carolina [Retired]
For everyone looking to start training with the on-course nutrition:  In the FAQs section of the B2B race site, it lists HEED energy drink and Hammer gel as the on course nutrition but there is another spot on the site that then announces that Clif shot energy gel and bloks will be provided.  I e-mailed the race organizer to find out which it will be b/c I don't use any of those and want to start training with them now.  It was confirmed that HEED will be the drink and Clif shots and bloks will be the "solids."

Comments

  • Leslie KnightLeslie Knight

    Have you used Heed before?  It almost killed me at the Hotter N Hell 100 last year.  I thought it was just diluted drink, and I was lightheaded and had to stop right before I passed out.  Then, I used it at Toughman AZ again last month and it gave me one of my worst runs ever- HORRIBLE gas.  I bought some and have been training with it.....it's not getting any better.  Still have gas.  Once you read the ingredients, you'll know why...xylitol.  It's an artificial sugar.  Why they would put that in a sports drink, I have no idea.  There's also maltodextrin, which is typical.  And there's not enough sodium.  Hence why I almost died at HNH100.  So......long way of saying I am going back to Roctane and will have a special needs bag.  I can carry 4 bottles on the bike.  That plus special needs bag and I don;t need their stinking Heed. Roctane has maltodextrin and fructose- thus neither receptor will be overwhelmed.  It has plenty of sodium.  And it has caffeine.  And it tastes good.  What more do I need???

  • GAndrew GordonGAndrew Gordon

    I haven't used HEED before.  Tried it once at a local sprint tri when I was new to the sport (about 6 years ago).  I remember that it immediately gave me stomach cramps.  Last season I used Perpetuem, which is a Hammer product also, with good results.  So I'm hoping that with training, I'll be good with HEED too.  Its actually being used in a 70.3 I have coming up in Sept. so I'll be able to train with it for a while and then put it to the test in race conditions.  I noticed right away that the sodium load is very different from Perform so knowing that going in just means I'll be prepared with more gels and salt caps to get the right levels.

  • Brenda RossBrenda Ross
    Might want to listen to this talk on nutrition.  RACE FUELING
  • Ralph MooreRalph Moore
    FYI the core nutrition seminar on the wiki (see above link) specifically does NOT recommend HEED. and the way it tastes, it should be called PEED. I am packing 5 bottles of Perform with refill at Bike special needs. I will probably use Perform gels and some cliff blocks too. My understanding is that the most important thing is to use what you train with. I found the seminar worth listening to twice.
  • GAndrew GordonGAndrew Gordon
    So training with HEED continues and, despite my dislike of the stuff, I seem to be handling it well and have not had any GI issues -- did my Big Day this past weekend and no nutrition processing complaints.  Just wondering how concentrated you might be mixing your bottles.  I have been using 1 scoop in 20-24 ozs.  The HEED container recommends from 1 to 2.75 scoops.  I guess my main concern is how the B2B peeps are going to be preparing the mix for race day so I can dial in my nutrition plan, so I may just send them an e-mail (will pass along any response) as they've been pretty responsive (based on 1 prior e-mailed question) so far.  Thanks all and happy training!
  • Leslie KnightLeslie Knight
    When I tried it, I did two scoops per bottle. But it would be great if they can tell you the concentration on the course.
  • Ralph MooreRalph Moore
    I think that they use premixed bottles so it would be mixed at the recommended concentration on the bottle.
  • GAndrew GordonGAndrew Gordon
    Ok, so the question will be what is the recommended concentration.  The giant tubs of HEED powder I get suggest a range of fluid (I think 18-24 ozs) to a range of scoops (I think 1-2.5) but leave the final mix to individual taste/need.  So unlike Perform where we know what the premixed bottle is and can replicate that with the powder, unless the premixed HEED bottles are going to be based on the HEED single serving packets (1 scoop of mix; not sure of the suggested volume of water) there can be a real range of what is used.  I'm showing my real tri-dork propensities here -- yikes!  In any event, I e-mailed the race staff to see if they could give any information but no response yet.
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