Detailed Nutrition for Coach P's IMTX...an N=1 story...
I have gotten a lot of pushback/questions on my nutrition plan for Ironman Texas. I totally recognize that my experience is n=1, but since it worked I wanted to document what I did so that others could see if it's worth it for them.
The Background
I started focusing on body comp in December, counting calories to lose weight and that got me to low 180s. My workouts began to suffer so I turned to the Core Diet plan to help me with some better nutrition guidance (the subscription model). I used the recipes / info / forum support there to create a better plan for the food I was eating and lost a few more pounds and was eating way _better_ overall -- not just making deficits.
About 8 weeks pre race my weight plateaued at 178 and I couldn't lose any more. In fact, with volume training, the weight was going back up. So I went back to the Core Diet folks and signed up for their meal planning service using the EN discount. I got 7 daily plans based on the workout schedule I submitted, so I knew what to eat and when to eat it. Every day. I didn't lose much weight here but my workouts really got better.
The big delta here with this level was how much they had me eating when working out vs when not training. My old way was regular food during the day and then workout to create a calorie deficit to lose weight…but I would bonk or have fierce food cravings later in the day. On the CD plan, I was eating every 30' on the bike (a gel or 1/2 a power bar) and drinking lots….I was literally eating 2-3x more than a usual ride….but the food the rest of the day was very minimal and strategic. My long workouts and bigger days were much improved b/c I was way better fueled, but I spent a lot of money on workout food!
About two weeks out I requested my Race Fuel plan, as per the Meal Planning service. I got a plan for the final 3 days pre race for eating and then guidance for the day and the race. I almost puked listening to it all, but it worked.
One of the reasons I requested it is that I struggled drinking my concentrated infinIT later on race day on the bike, and I think simply drinking other water to dilute it wasn't as effective as I wanted…this led to further stomach distress on the run where I wasn't able to eat what I wanted b/c of the traffic jam I created on the bike. It was clear with a hot race like IMTX coming I needed a change.
Pre-Race
I ate regularly through Thursday lunch for a Saturday race. Then it was time for focus on carbs. A subway lunch sandwich and some pretzels at lunch, a carb focused dinner. Friday AM was a big breakfast with pancakes, waffles, oj, toast, eggs, etc. No fiber. An hour after breakfast was a big muffin. Then a subway lunch again with pretzels to snack on all day. I preloaded the carbs in the AM, so by afternoon I was on race food, with a powerbar snack and sports drink and a small bowl of pasta / chicken at 6pm, then I was done.
I wanted to explode I was so full of carbs and water, it was crazy!! I have also never pooped so much before a race. Sorry!
Race morning was 3:30am breakfast of 4.5 cups applesauce, banana, 1 scoop protein and 20oz sports drink. Powerbar at 6 am. Gel at 15' to go.
The Bike
After I started the bike, my plan was simple. I was to eat every 30 minutes, as either a caffeinated gel (27g CHO) or 1/2 a powerbar (22.5g CHO). I was also to drink 3 bottles of perform an hour given my size and sweat test rate. So that meant 3 x 42g of CHO for Perform in a bottle. So I was taking in about 176g CHO per hour for the first two hours, then I dropped it down to just two bottles of perform.
There was no water, as the CD team was clear that water didn't do much for me in terms of fueling or sodium, and that the mix in my stomach wasn't carb heavy and I could digest it. I did struggle early on to keep the food in, as I was burping it out, but I was told this was normal given my workload and that I should continue drinking/eating as it will settle down…and it did.
The caffeinated gels continued all day and build up the caffeine in my system slowly (instead of the jolt of a pill) so that I could peak on the run and not have a drop in my HR that was consistent with a fade or bonk.
Note that a cold / regular IM (could be LP) is 2 bottles per hour (84g) PLUS a powerbar split in two 30' increments or two gels. So you need to up that fluid intake when it's hotter.
All in I ate 2 powerbars, 7 gels and had 12 bottles of Perform for a total of 783g of CHO for the bike, or approximately 3350 cals on the bike (vs EN prescribed 1250 for a 5 hour ride).
The Run
I was told to eat as much as I could in the first half of the run as it would be harder over the course of the day. I had a banana in T2 and two caff gels before Mile 5. Then I started clif bloks every 2 miles until I had another gel at mile 13, then another gel at mile 18. That puts the food at 157g of CHO. I also drank a cup of Perform (4oz) at every aid station, chewed some Ice and added some coke at the end, putting me at about 250g of CGO for the fluids, or 407g for the whole run…about 2000 calories ( vs my usual 1,000 ).
Adding It All Up
To be clear, I took in 250% of EN's recommended calories and had my best race ever -- no bonking, no fade, no cramping, etc. For those of you doing the math at home, that's 1190g of CHO across 9.5 hours or approximately 125g of CHO per hour.
Post race I felt awesome. I was still hungry, but I was never in danger of dehydrating or bonking, so I was only a bit sore.
I am clearly converted…I think that fueling your workouts like a race and fueling your workouts as the volume goes up but maintaining the other regular food is good. The pre-race fueling plan was better for me starting 2 days out instead of just lunch the day before. And I ran a 3:15 in 90-degree heat while eating and not bonking a real problem before.
While this is all N=1, if you are on the bubble or looking for a breakthrough, you might want to consider upgrading / skipping to the full Core Diet service for more personalized guidance and support on what to do on race day. If you are happy with our 250 cals/hour guidance, then go for it…I knew I needed something more and this is what worked for me.
Let me know what you think!
Comments
I'm thinking about just going with Perform on the bike. I have the Syracuse 70.3 in three weeks. Four bottles of Perform would give me 700 cals and 2000mg of electrolytes. My ride should be in the 2:25 range. That would equate to roughly 33 oz. of fluid, 289 cals and 826mg of electrolytes per hour.
Doable???
Great breakdown Coach Patrick, could you also detail how you took the S-Caps and the Gatorlytes? Congrats on a your PR!
I've really struggled with bloating in all IMs. Had to go to water exclusively during races for 1-3 hrs just to settle stomach. (this can't be good). I have used Infinit. I "might" try Coach Ps strategy during RRs and see. Tough thing is that RRs don't exactly reproduce the same enviroment as a race. Since I haven't had a great nutrition race yet, probably can't hurt to try this.
Just to be clear you started with what plan and then upgraded to what plan based on this list under resources.
The Core Diet is generously offering Endurance Nation the following discounts:
5% off 1-1 nutrition coaching (http://www.thecorediet.com/triathlon-diet/)
10% off nutrition mission plans (http://www.thecorediet.com/services/mission/)
$40 off of nutrition consultations (http://www.thecorediet.com/services/consultation/)
$45 off race fueling plans (http://www.thecorediet.com/services/fueling/)
For me, I realized after IMLp when i counted calories that I was under fueled and probably over watered...
I have a huge sampling on nutrition in my house so I can start trying new things and in all sorts of combinations so I can continue to learn what works for me....
Thanks. I am a stetched out version of coach (i am taller, same weight). So easy conversion for me to experiment.
I had been mixing a 5 hour infinit botle for races. This gives 300 cal per hour with the occ gel for 5+ hours. I like the simplicity of water and infinit with no wrappers and missed handoffs.
But the 300 cals is not working. I would like to try similar to coach. 2-3 bottles per hour of perform (175 cal, 475 sodium, 25 potassium per bottle) plus carb source per hour.
Would like to stay simple with the 5 hour carb bottle. If i use my current infinit forrmula, stomache may not tolerate the excess sodium. Maybe liquified gel?
@Ken, I did 2 s-caps per hour and the gatorlytes were in my run set up. I had a fuelbelt with two empty bottles in back with just a packet each of gatorlytes. Then I added water at an aid station. I squirted it into the perform at each stop and pounded that…made it a less sweet drink and got me my salt. This was miles 3-9 and 10-18. After 18 I had two extra packets in my belt and at mile 18 and maybe 22 I tore it open dumped it in coke and pounded that. Knew I needed to stay on top of the salt…
@Michael, I would try to get away from the tons of water. If you are bloating, the concentrated cals + water to dilute them sounds like an issue. I would go with something more streamlined (as in perform only) first…then start adding some calories in from there to see how it goes.
@Greg, no worries…let us know what you do!
@Attila, I did the 1:1 nutrition plan which I am pretty sure included the race fuel stuff…but I am not 100% sure.
@Nate, yes I find that most athletes will under eat on race day, returning to collect their bike they'll find extra infinIT and gels, etc….it's critical that you 100% replicate your training performance in regards to nutrition…no fudging allowed!
@Robin, note the 3 bottles was for a very hot day, a regular day (cool like at CDA or LP) would be 2 bottles per hour. I had no hand offs. One power bar was cut on top tube, other and all my gels in a bento box behind stem. Only got perform at aid stations on the bike, very simple. Excess sodium via the Perform is actually critical…it's in the proper ratio in the Perform and will make sure you can digest it all…besides, most folks can handle 1mg of sodium / hour in exercise without issues.
Thanks coach.
Did you mean we can handle one gram per hour of sodium (1000 mg)?
Coach P,
Great info. You commented on caloric intake, and you didn't feel too dehydrated afte the race. Can you let us know if (1) your urine volume increased compared to previous races, or (2) you ever felt thristy.
chris
Thanks for the insight Patrick!
This kind of workout fueling leads directly into race fueling. When I work with clients on race nutrition plans, I like to start 4 - 6 months out so we can get it dialed in during training so we KNOW it will work on race day.
@Jim: If you want to use something during the race, you need to use it during training. That means using Gatorade when you do Rev3 races.
Thank you for sharing the details about your nutrition plan. Based upon the experience you shared from IMTX I made some changes to my nutrition plan for this latest RR. It made a huge difference for me. I set my countdown timer to go off every 10 minutes where I would drink or eat something. Typically something very small. I moved the Infinit to the aerojug so it is more readily accessible and I started using cut-up pieces of powerbar. When it came time for the run..... NO BONKING! and I was able to run the entire 60 minutes (proper pace and 30 step walk breaks about every 2 miles). I am going to make a couple more minor adjustments, but I am excited to give this a try at IMCDA.
Thanks Coach!
Great job and an awesome article !!
PS. lov'in Gu Chomps these days...
If you take in gels with sports drink rather than water you run the risk of having too many solutes (carbs) in your stomach and not enough fluid to dilute those solutes. This causes the body to take fluid away from the working muscles to flood the stomach to bring the osmolarity (amounts of solute in a solution) of the stomach down to a level where what is in the stomach can be processed/absorbed by the body. This equals GI distress specifically cramping and bloating in the stomach (upper part of abdomen under ribs).
Make sense?
Why are you mixing Infinit and Perform?
is there a known issue with infinit and perform mix...??
Hi Penny,
Sorry to side track this. For the last few years I've used a very concentrated bottle of Infinit and sipped it over the course of about 2 hours, and chased with water (I take in about 3 sips which is about 75 cal once every 15min) . Most of the time I'm fine, but maybe 25% of the time I get serve cramping right below my ribs in the area you described. I don't notice on the bike but litterally within a few mintues of running I notice it.
Could the root issue be the same as what you described above with not having enough fuild in my stomach to digest the carbs?
I've never had this issue in a race that I used sports drinks mixed as recomended, only when using the concentrated bottles.
Not sure what happened - perhaps my on-the-fly dilution factor was not right (but it should have been, at least on paper, and worked training). Or maybe it's something about infinate. I remember many race reports last year from Placid where EN'ers reported very similar issues!
I'm working on an alternate fueling method now.
THanks Penny.
Back on topic .... I have slowly increase my calories over the year and while I am no where near P's I too am finding more is better for me. I'm sure there is a point of diminishing returns though so I am going to continue to increase my intake slowly.