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Need advice on nutrition plan for IM Nooga

iluvluciluvluc
in General Training Discussions

Need some advice on my current nutrition plan. Competing in Ironman Chattanooga Sept. 25th--on week 12 of the training plan. Up to this point I have completed 2 , 4 hour sat. rides and 3 hour sun. rides following my nutrition plan with absolutely no problems. I also completed an olympic distance tri following race day protocol--no problems. Based on my sweat test, I have about 20-24 oz of Gatorade Endurance/hour and a cliff shot gel 30 min before and then one every 45 min. I eat a PBJ around mile 56 (special needs bag). So far this has been great. i finish my ride and do a brick when I can't run before and finish feeling great--not feeling like I have just had such a long workout (I'm sticking to my power zones as well--following the workouts as closely as possible). Temps in south Mississippi are mid 80s when I start and I usually finish in the low 90 temps; however, yesterday I went out for a 4.5 hour ride. Followed my nutrition plan to a T, but around the 3:15 mark I started to get a little headache and was EXTREMELY thirsty--like stick my head under the faucet and just gulp as much as possible thirsty. I continued to drink my GE hoping that would quench my thirst--it was getting really hot at this point. At 3:35 I was getting close to water and decided to just drink some--I was almost done anyways, right? So I probably gulped down about 24 oz at the stop and then refilled my bottle and sipped on it the rest of my ride. Headache went away, and I felt great the rest of my ride. I was, however, feeling more fatigued than I had from my previous rides. So I guess my questions is, do you think I was getting too much sugar, salt? Should I have been drinking more GE throughout my ride? Did I need more sodium? I've never tried the salt tablets. Haven't felt that thirsty on a long ride ever. Any suggestions/advice is appreciated. Thank you!

Comments

  • rlh2000rlh2000
    I wonder if you went into the ride dehydrated. As workouts get longer and temps get hotter, in addition to what you eat/drink while you ride, be very aware of what you eat and drink the day before and morning of your ride as well. I think the learning point also might be that as soon as you have a headache and get thirsty, DRINK!! We all go into races with nutrition plans (or at least should), but being ready to change on the fly based on how you feel is super valuable.
  • iluvluciluvluc

    Thank you for your input! You could be exactly right. I try to make sure I hydrate throughout each day but haven't been tracking it as well in the last week. I will be making sure to keep up with this!

  • Coach RichCoach Rich

    Go here to read our comprehensive HIM and IM race execution guidance. That page will give you specific calorie and sodium per hour goals to shoot for.

    Very, very good practice to weigh yourself before and after every ride, while also keeping track of how much fluid you drank during the ride, as well as calories, sodium, etc. Break that down to cal and sodium and fluid per hour numbers. 

    Do you ride/train with heart rate? Today I had a net fluid loss of 6-7lb on my ride, about 3% of body weight and relearned just how important it is for me to stay hydrated at all costs. Heart rate and RPE were through the roof, watts sucked, etc. My calves and feet have been crampy all day. 

    Basically, start documenting everything you're doing, gathering numbers, before you start adding salt, etc to your plan. Need to figure out what you're doing now. 

     

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