Race Day Nutrition for Long Course Racing
Nutrition can make or break your race day. Although I am neither a dietitian nor do I masquerade as one on social media, I have learned over the years that certain recommendations can be useful and beneficial for most endurance athletes. Of course, if you have exceptional circumstances such as health related issues or dietary constraints, then I highly encourage you to connect with a registered dietitian who has experience working with athletes and sports nutrition to help you plan your nutrition & hydration strategy.
Nutrition in triathlon is much like camping; the more extreme your camping or racing is, the more preparation you need to put into it. For most age group triathletes, nutrition for a sprint distance is like RV camping; you can go into the race without much of a plan at all. While 70.3 or Ironman races are like wilderness camping in the desert or frozen tundra; your lack of planning will come back and bite you in really uncomfortable ways.
Unfortunately, I often see triathletes over-preparing for short course racing and under-preparing for long course racing. Before I get into some general recommendations for long course, please hear this: Use your training sessions to prepare for race day! You can’t wing it during training and expect things to go well on race day. You need to train your gut as well as your body to perform to the best of your ability on race day.
Generally speaking your body functions on a mix of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. Our main fuel source for necessary bodily functions (like brain activity) and physical activity comes from carbohydrates and we have approximately 90-120 minutes of carb fuel in our bodies at any given time. Thus, it is important to plan your race day nutrition around carbohydrate consumption. (You can teach your body to utilize bodily fat for fuel, but that’s a topic for a different day and you still will want to take on some carbohydrates on race day.)
Here are general recommendations for nutrition for women racing 70.3 and Ironman:
• Pre-swim for both 70.3 & 140.6: 1 gel with water 10-15 minutes before race start
• 70.3 Bike: 70-100 grams of carbs per hour
• 70.3 Run: 40-70 grams of carbs per hour
• Ironman Bike: 70-120 grams of carbs per hour
• Ironman Run: 50-90 grams of carbs per hour
And here they are for the men:
• Pre-swim for both 70.3 & 140.6: 1-2 gels with water 10-15 minutes before race start
• 70.3 Bike: 90-120 grams of carbs per hour
• 70.3 Run: 60-90 grams of carbs per hour
• Ironman Bike: 90-120 grams of carbs per hour
• Ironman Run: 70-100 grams of carbs per hour
Variations in intensity, heat, humidity, and altitude will bring those numbers up or down. It is good to start dialing in your nutrition at the lower end of the calorie range and adjust upward as you get closer to your race. Training your gut is just as important as training your body. Depending on how fast you will be going in a 70.3, you likely can go entirely with gels for nutrition. However, I encourage all my Ironman athletes to mix in some solid nutrition like Maurten solids with their gel of choice for the bike and then switch entirely to gels for the last hour of the bike.
Again, these are just general nutritional guidelines. Although we at Playtri believe these general guidelines work for the vast majority of triathletes it certainly doesn’t hurt to work with a coach to help you plan your nutrition and hydration. And if you want a more specific nutrition and hydration plan, consider our performance testing options at Playtri Dallas (www.playtri.com/testing). A calorie expenditure test for the bike and run will help you know how many calories you expend at different heart rates, a sweat test will help you know how to hydrate to replace lost electrolytes, and a resting metabolic rate test will help provide you with a baseline for your daily nutrition planning.
Whichever way you go—experimenting with these recommendations, working with a coach, and/or getting performance testing—remember to get started now! Use your training to practice your nutrition & hydration strategy so that race day is an enjoyable, challenging experience.
Jim Rowe is a Playtri Level 5 Coach and Coach Education Lead, a USAT LI Certified Coach, an NASM Certified Personal Trainer, and an Ironman and 70.3 World Championship Qualifier who works with adult athletes who are chasing PRs, moving up to long course racing, or want to qualify for a world championship. Learn more about Jim at www.playtri.com/jim-rowe.