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Eating and drinking is such a vital part of our normal lives that it is hard to think sometimes why it is overlooked in sport, especially triathlon.
The sport puts our bodies through extreme muscular and cardiovascular stress that it needs the right fuel in the tank. Aside from the healthy balanced diet of lean meats, fruit, vegetables and carbohydrates we also need to focus on the training sessions and, of course, the metaphorical Everest – Race Day!
The first and possibly most important point to remember is never introduce any new foods on race day. The last thing you want is to train for months for an event only to be crippled by internal distress halfway through, so never use gels, drinks or food you have not used in your training.
Due to the nature of the sport we tend to use gels as our main source of nutrition as they are so easily packaged. Use this period to try the different ones available to you on the market and find out how your stomach reacts.
There is such a variety on the market it is hard to give one simple recommendation. We all have different preferences for flavours, consistency, mouth-feel and sweetness. Most require you to drink lots of water with them, but some are ‘isotonic’, meaning that they can be taken without water (e.g., High 5, Maxifuel, SiS). Some are very sweet and thick (Gu, Powerbar) and need water to be fully effective. For every mouthful of gel, try to take two gulps of fluid.
Gels are sweet due to the type of carbohydrate in them (simple sugars). They typically have a high Glycemic Index (GI) – meaning that they enter your bloodstream much quicker. This might sound like a great advantage but it also causes your blood glucose to suddenly spike and then drop. Gels with more ‘complex’ carbohydrates (long chains of sugar molecules) are often better because they are released into your bloodstream more gradually (like a drip), giving you more sustained energy.
When choosing your gels you also need to look at the caffeine content (if you are after the extra kick) and the mineral and electrolyte ingredients.
Caffeinated gels are great immediately before the race (to help you get ready for the frenzied start!) or near the end of a race when you are getting fatigued because it helps you keep alert and motivated to keep pushing.
A useful strategy is to alternate between eating caffeinated and non-caffeinated gels, or to save the caffeinated gels for the last hour of the race.
Key electrolytes to look for are sodium (helps with cramping and sweating), potassium, magnesium and calcium. A note for those who suffer from cramps and a little gem that I found out quite late is that sodium needs sodium to breakdown, so make sure you keep the sodium levels up in hot weather!
Depending on your body size and sweat rate, in very hot weather you may be losing up to 1,000mg of sodium per hour! Of course, it’s virtually impossible to ingest this amount during training or racing and your body is very good at functioning on low levels of sodium. However, a good rule of thumb is to try and ingest 100-300mg per hour in normal conditions, and up to 500mg in very hot conditions.
Another useful strategy is to take salt tablets with you on the ride. You can buy them from most triathlon or bike shops. In a race, you can tape 2-3 of them on your stem so they can be gulped down when you take a drink. You can also ‘pre-load’ your sodium by taking a few salt tablets the night before a day of training or racing in the heat.
Training is also the time to experiment with other types of food, BTC members have shovelled down on baked potatoes, ham and cheese wraps, rice cakes, raisins, croissants and all sort during training all in the hope of finding something that works for you.
Eating ‘real food’ is a great idea because of its taste! However, for endurance sport your primary need is for carbohydrate, so foods high in fat or protein may improve taste but cannot provide the calories quickly enough.
Real foods are also much bulkier in your pocket than sports gels, or bars. The carbohydrate content of real foods also varies tremendously. Look for foods that have the most carbohydrate for the size of the serving (e.g., eat white rice instead of potatoes). Making your own rice cakes or nori rolls is a good idea. Remember, as with most aspects of triathlon, it’s all about finding what suits you and your needs because we all train, react and burn food differently.
For liquid, a sports drink full of electrolytes and carbohydrates is ideal. This will ensure your mineral levels stay up and provide that additional energy supply. It is important to note that too much water alone can be dangerous and potentially life-threatening. Too much water can dilute the essential minerals like sodium (hyponatremia) and effectively causing the body to stop functioning correctly.
Closer to the event you should start looking at your race day nutrition and get a feel for that amount of calories you need to take on board based on your weight and power requirements. A great website for calculating your race plan can be found at https://www.tri-talk.com/TriTalkNC/TriTalkNC.htm
l Many thanks to Simon Marshall and Lesley Paterson of Braveheart Coaching (https://www.braveheartcoach.com) for their advice and input into the above article. For more information contact bahraintriathlon@gmail.com
Bahrain Triathlon Club is grateful to its sponsors for the 2014/2015 season: Apache Capital, Elian, Four Seasons Hotel Bahrain Bay, InTouch Clinic, McLaren Group, Propel Consult, Reza Hygiene and Trowers & Hamlins and would also like to thank Bahrain Rugby Football Club and St Christopher’s School for the use of their facilities during the camp.
More race tips next week.
