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Critique my nutrition plan

harrastharrast
in General Training Discussions

My nutrition plan is probably my most undeveloped area of training.  If you could give me your opinion of my nutrition plan, I would appreciate it.

On IM morning, I wake up 3-4 hours before race start and drink 4 cans of ensure and a greek yogurt for a total of 1,100 calories.  For the rest of the morning, I drink whatever I feel like--usually water, but maybe a cup of sports drink if I feel like I need it. 

After the swim, I drink water for the first 15-30 minutes of the bike.  After this I drink 250 calories/hr. gatorade mixed with carbo pro and carried as a concentrate on my bike.  I carry 750 calories in a 24oz. botle.  At special needs, I replace my bike bottle with another bottle so that I pack away about 1,500 calories total of sports drink on the bike.  On the bike I take salt stick plus every 30 minutes or 10 capsules containing just under 2,000mg of sodium citrate plus the other stuff they add. 

On the run, I continue to take salt stick every 30 minutes for an additional 8 capsules or about 1,600mg additional sodium citrate.  Depending on the temperature and what I feel like, I drink water and/or sports drink.  I generally don't feel like eating anything, but I can pick up several hundred calories from sports drinks. 

I have followed this regimen on HIMs and found it to work okay.  In the past when I have done IMs, I had difficulty with solid foods, so I tend to stay away from them.  Any thoughts?  

Comments

  • penlynwilsonpenlynwilson
    Steve: need more info please - need times for swim, bike and run. Also, how much water are you taking in on the bike and run?
  • harrastharrast

    Penny, I'm a middle of the pack 1:2x:xx swimmer (I'm working on technique with anyone who will help). My bike is around 5:3x:xx (probably have ridden too fast but have since learned pacing from EN and also gotten faster), and my run has been around 5 hours (where I normally run a stand alone marathon in 3:20) because I have had a multitude of troubles when I get to the run: nausea, dry heaves, cramps, etc. At IMTX I was throwing up by mile 80 on the bike after drinking 2 or 3 cans of ensure during my ride (I actually drank an additional can or two right after the swim--did not sit well).  Oh yes, I typically drink 24oz. of water mixed with sports drink per hour on the bike under normal conditions.  I do this during training rides, and I'm usually okay.  Sometimes I have to stop and refill my bottles if I'm drinking more water. 

  • Michele CellaiMichele Cellai
    Steven- I used to drink Ensure. I realize that many folks don't care about all of the chemicals, but I do. I switched to Odwalla for a while and now I am on Bolthouse Farms. I drink 16 oz at 2 am and another 16 oz when I get up for good. Sometimes I have a banana. I was able to tolerate the banana this weekend before Vineman, sometimes I can't. Just another option pre-race.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User]
    I drink Ensure for a pre-race breakfast, but doing it on the bike seems risky. Ensure is pretty calorie dense, so if you're taking a whole can at once while riding, that calorie overload might be causing you a lot of problems. You only need 200-250 calories per hour (depending on your weight) on the bike. I'd suggest maybe just taking a sip of Ensure every 15 minutes and spreading out the calorie intake over time, and taking in water as well to dilute the calories.
  • harrastharrast
    @Michelle, I've seen Bolthouse in the produce isle--usually near naked juice, etc. Is that what you drink? Does it have protein?
  • harrastharrast
    @Anson, I tried ensure in a race before I knew much about nutrition, and my nutrition plan is still very much evolving. I actually asked a guy at the pre-race dinner what he was going to drink on the course, and he told me about ensure. I went out to walmart the next day and bought some for the race. I agree that drinking a can at one shot during a race is not a good idea--I think I learned this the hard way.
  • penlynwilsonpenlynwilson
    Steven: IMHO Ensure during a race is a recipe for disaster unless it has worked PERFECTLY during training. If you don't do it in training, don't do it in a race.

    Initial thoughts:
    - Four cans of ensure and a Greek yogurt is a lot of protein and fat to put into your stomach and ask it to deal with on race morning. Do you do this during training? How does it work?
    - 200-250 cals per hour on the bike should work as long as you have something that works for you
    - sounds like you are winging it on the run. I'd strongly suggest getting this dialed in. Your race comes downto the run, why risk it when so many things go wrong there?

    When is your IM?
  • Woody FreeseWoody Freese
    Penny - I am curious re: your thoughts on the Core Diet Webinar. Comparing and/or contrasting thoughts?
  • harrastharrast
    @Penny, I agree. I probably won't take Ensure during a race again, but I drink it an hour or so before all my long rides, and it seems to do okay. I also drink it before races, usually 3 hours or more before start time, and I generally feel okay. I thought the protein would sustain me a little better than a carb meal in the morning. And it is easy to find and to transport, and it goes down pretty easy, but I'm open to suggestion. I eat a blueberry 8oz. Greek yogurt every day of my life. I'm addicted.

    As far as the run goes, on short races, HIMs and shorter, I've been able to do okay by taking a lot of fluids on the run course. I probably have a fluid deficit on the bike because I almost never have to eliminate fluids. It's dawning on me that I probably need to do a sweat test before and after my bike to see what I'm sweating off. I AM totally winging it on the run, and I can get away with this in HIMs and shorter races. BUT, it hasn't worked for me on IM races. I suspect that I am doing something wrong on the bike and it is hitting me on the run. This is probably why my run is so slow and I have nausea, dry heaves, dizziness and complete loss of functioning (can hardly walk sometimes and had to sit down until I could get some chicken soup--before I starting taking salt pills).

    I am working out my 2013 season, which is when I plan to do my next IM race, probably August or November. Hopefully by then I'll have nutrition and pacing worked out. I have an HIM in September 2012.
  • Deb LivernoisDeb Livernois

    Fellow Pain Cave man!

    Have you thought about trying the applesauce 3 hours before with a banana and Power Bar and sports drink? Then a gel before the swim might help get you out onto the bike so you don't have to worry about nutrition until about 30 mins in. If Ensure works, I would dilute it as Anson suggested. If you could eat the Power Bar Performance bars on the bike that might help too. I put multiple gels in a flask and use that as well. Maybe try taking in calories every 30 minutes and just like 100-150? Drink sports drink or fluid with sodium in between? I have been amazed that when my stomach starts to feel queasy and sloshy, I drink more sports drink as suggested by the webinar and... it works. settles my stomach down along with slowing down for a few minutes. I think we are both on an HIM course for Sept- Keep Tri-N!

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