IMWI 2010 Nutrition Plan

I've been spending some time rethinking my nutrition strategy for Ironman this year, and I think I'm going to go back to something similar to what I did in '08.  Last year worked well, like '08 did, but I think I might try all liquid calories again (I'll still work in some sportlegs - and a 5-hour energy - seriously, try it before a long tempo ride, it works great - but I'm going to do my best not to need sodium pills).  Fig Newtons are a pain to carry.  The main reason I went with them last year was because gels were bothering my stomach, but I think it was Powerbar gels and not gels in general.  I ran out of Powerbar gels and have been using Hammer gels this year that I got at races and they don't bother my stomach.

Last year I did a mix of Fig Newtons and Inifinit on the bike, and Powerbar gels on the run even though they sit in my stomach like a sugar bomb.  By the time I realized it, I didn't have enough time to come up with a new plan.


In '08, I did a mix of Perpeteum, gels and Gatorade Endurance Formula.  This year I'm thinking about using Inifinit, gels and some Heed and/or Gatorade.  Infinit will be the bulk of my calories on the bike, and I'm going to experiment with it on the run but I'll probably do Heed (or Gatorade if I grab it from the course - I can drink Heed or Gatorade without stomach problems) and Hammer gel. 

I switched to Infinit last year mainly because Perpeteum goes bad very quickly.  On a hot day, by the time I got to my second bottle it was spoiled and bothering my stomach.  Infinit doesn't go bad and you can customize your formula, which is very cool.

Based on a great interview with Asker Juekendrup on Competitor Radio (for anyone doing long course tris, this interview is definitely worth a listen) I decided to tweak my formula  a bit.  I cut out the protein because it's a bad fuel and it foams when it comes in a powder form so that makes mixing Infinit difficult.  I also upped the calories a bit.  The rest of the formula is essentially the same:

My calories on the bike will come primarily from Infinit, but I'll probably do a couple of gels if I think I can take in the extra calories without problems.  It's easier to digest calories on the bike than the run so I'm going to get in as many as I can so I'm in good shape calorie-wise when I start the run.  I'll have my bottle of Heed I always run with and Hammer gels on my race belt.  I'll probably put a second bottle of Heed in my special needs bag.  I can drink Gatorade, but I prefer the watered-down flavor of Heed while running. [They raffled off some tubs of Heed at the tri this weekend and I really thought I deserved to win one since it seemed like I was one of the only ones there who actually likes the flavor....no such luck.]

As always, I'll only drink water for the first 30 minutes of the bike to let my stomach transition.  Then I'm aiming for 350ish calories per hour on the bike (about 50 per hour more than previous years).  This summer I'm going to experiment with pushing that closer to 400 to see what happens.  Like Crono's plan with bike fits, find the limits.

The final 30 minutes of the bike will be water only.  I'm thinking about going for about 200 calories on the run per hour, which will come from Heed and gels.  I've always done gels whenever I feel like I need calories, and this year I want to come up with more of a set plan for the run so I have some work to do there.

I want to cut out the salt pills as much as possible because I think most endurance athletes overdo them (I'd link to the Joe Friel interview but I can't find it), but I'll still have my emergency pill canister on my race belt with salt pills, Advil, Pepto pills and Immodium pills in case the shit seriously hits the fan, so to speak.  I've learned that when you start to beat yourself up mentally, you're most likely just low on electrolytes and that's a good time to take a salt pill.  I'll get more electrolytes on the bike from the Inifinit so I shouldn't need to pills then, but Hammer gel doesn't have a ton of sodium so I may need some salt pills on the run.  If you're curious, I prefer Saltstick tabs because I think they have a better electrolyte balance than other pills.

For those doing long-course triathlon looking for nutrition advice/resources, here are a few sites you might find helpful:

Tri-Talk Nutrition Calculator

http://www.coachgordo.com/gtips/nutrition_body_composition/ironman_nutrition.html

http://www.askerjeukendrup.com/files/nutritionstrategy.html

http://www.hammernutrition.com/knowledge/

The Longest Ever

I was nervous about today's workout for a few reasons:

1. It was going to be my longest workout ever (not counting the IM last year)
2. I made a lot of changes to my bike set up and nutrition plan
3. My last long brick didn't go very well
4. This was my last long brick before the race so I don't have any more chances to test and/or change my strategy.

The changes to my bike set up weren't that drastic, but any time you change things there's potential for problems. I love the rear bottle cages Matt designed, but I don't really like rear bottle cages in general. Plus, due to the design of my bike those cages sit kind of high and it's tough for me to get on and off my bike quickly. Plus, I only want two bottles on my bike (I can only mount one cage on my frame). So I mounted a bottle cage between my areobars.





I loved this set up. It was great having the bottle up front. It's really easy to get a drink from and there's no more wondering if you've dropped a bottle. The bento box was new (well, kind of) and worked out, but it rubs my knees sometimes and drives me crazy, but I liked having Fig Newtons to eat and may eat two packages of them on race day. Solid food worked great today. So I'll stick with the bento box unless I figure out a way to carry Fig Newtons on my bike without it.

As for the workout, it was really tough but I survived it. There was good and bad, and one thing that I swear could only happen to me. Unreal.

Total workout - 1 mile swim, 112.8 mile bike, 13.1 mile run. 126.9 total miles.
Total time - 30 minute swim, 5:44 bike, 1:52 run. Total = 8:06.

The Swim.

I swam at the Y and started at 7:30 (that's what time the Great Floridian starts). I swam the first 4 laps hard to simulate the stress of a mass start and swimming too hard early in the swim jockeying for position. Then I settled into IM pace and tried to focus on form and staying relaxed. It was going to be a long day. I wanted a 1:40 per 100 pace or better, and every time I checked my splits they were between 1:36 and 1:40 so I hit my goal. Good swim.

Transition.

Like any good triathlete, I ran out of the pool and into the locker room at full speed. I elbowed the old men, pushed them out of my way and changed as quickly as I could. I put my pants on over my wet swimsuit...no time to take it off. TRANSITIONS COUNT!

I'm kidding. After my swim I drove home and got in my tri gear. I figured it would take about 30 minutes to get home and get on the bike, so nutrition-wise I would be starting the bike roughly the same time I'd be coming out of the water if I swam a full 2.4 miles. I was on the bike by 8:30 so it was pretty close.

The Bike.

My goals were 205 watts and a VI of 1.05. Nailed it. Exactly.



The VI for hour 6 isn't really accurate. Coming through my neighborhood and coasting up to my apartment building screws up the VI a little. If I cut out the last minute of hour 6, the VI is 1.05.

My focus was riding steady and being conservative in the beginning. I felt like I was being too conservative early on and riding slow, but I did hit all my goals so it worked out. It was a good strategy, but it's really hard to hold back the first two hours when you feel really good and want to hammer the hills and get your average speed as high as possible. On lap two I still felt really good so I pushed a little harder and pushed a little harder on the hills.

Hour 3 had my highest VI, but that also included the three hills after Cross Plains so I expected it to be higher than the other hours. Hour 6 included those as well.

My nutrition worked out great, and Infinit was much better than Perpeteum. The only problem, I think, is that I didn't go with enough electrolytes. Luckily, I bought a small bag so I'll adjust that and reorder before the race. I didn't think I'd need so much sodium, but it got to me at the end (ugly).

THIS COULD ONLY HAPPEN TO ME: Two hours and fifteen minutes into the ride, I got stung by a bee. Two weeks ago I got stung on the palm of my hand while riding and that hurt. Today...well...I got stung in the balls. Right through my tri shorts. Sweet Jesus that hurt.

Being a slave to my power meter, and having a great ride going, I swatted him away and got right back at it and tried to block out the pain. Not easy. That's worth repeating: Not easy. Eventually the pain went away...eventually. That was some serious mental training. Next time I will forget all about the power data and lay down by the side of the road and cry for a while, which is what I should've done today.

And yes...I do expect there to be a "next time."

The Run.

Kia Kaha.

That means be strong. That's what the run was all about. Go out easy, settle into goal pace and hopefully hold it the whole time. Kia Kaha.

I kind of pulled that off, but I fell apart at the end because I didn't replace my electrolytes. Three miles to go, I got nauseous, lightheaded and dizzy. What really frustrates me is that I knew it was an electrolyte imbalance and I had salt pills with me but I was too tired to screw with them. I thought I could hold my pace and make it home and then deal with it. I hadn't had anything to eat or drink in a few miles so I was on the edge. It was a stupid move. I should've stayed on top of that. I never would've made it another 13.1 miles today. I had an 8:32 average going until then. I finished with an 8:36 so it wasn't all bad, but it was a struggle. Here are my splits:



The 9:08 came from standing on the side of Cross Country Road dry heaving. Once I realized I wasn't going to puke, I decided to just gut it out and get home. One foot in front of the other. Kia Kaha.

Post Workout.

I was lightheaded, nauseaus, dizzy and I couldn't catch my breath. I just ran 13 miles, and now suddenly I can't breathe. I took my blood pressure, and it was very low just like it was after the Ironman. I took a salt tab and drank some water and within minutes I felt much better. It was amazing, really. I took my blood pressure again about 10 minutes later and it was close to normal, still a little low but not bad.

Sometimes when I come home from tough workouts I feel like hell for a while and I think it might be low blood pressure due to low sodium levels. So from now on I'm going to add a salt tab to my post workout recovery after long workouts.

Overall, the workout was a success. Some things went really well, others not so well but I've learned from them. I know that Infinit is going to work for me, but I need to tweak the formula a bit. I also know that Fig Newtons worked great (I felt so much better after I ate some solid food). My new bottle mount worked. My pacing was great, and I ran well until the last few miles. I know what I need to do to fix that, so hopefully I can execute those things on race day.

And I got through my first 8 hour workout....which wasn't easy. I was hurting toward the end. It's not easy to go into a workout that long without much rest.

Kia Kaha.

A new strategy

I think the toughest workout is the long brick. Not just because it includes more than one sport and is, well, long but also because it brings into play two of the most challenging aspects of triathlon: nutrition and pacing.

Tomorrow is the last of my two *key* workouts before the Great Floridian. Aside from the Ironman last year, this will be my longest training day ever. 30 minute swim, 112 mile bike, 13 mile run. It's about getting in a lot of volume and training my body to go for hours on end, but it's also about testing my nutrition and pacing strategies, both of which I have recently made changes to.

Nutrition

I've been using a mix of Perpeteum, Powerbar gels, Gatorade Endurance, water and Saltstick caps. I've decided to throw that entire plan out the window and start over. Crazy? Maybe.

The new plan is built around a new product for me: Infinit. It's similar to Perpeteum (except it doesn't go bad in the heat and doesn't have soy) but allows you to customize the formula to meet your individual needs. Here's my formula:



I'll still use some Gatorade Endurance, but not much. I'll use one gel on the bike, at the end, to start the transition to my run nutrition which will be all gels, Gatorade and water. The salt tabs are gone. I don't need them unless it's crazy hot. I'll have them with me just in case, but they tend to overload me on sodium and it screws me up. The other change is solid food. I eat Fig Newtons on a lot of my long rides. I like them and they never upset my stomach, so I decided to try eating some solid food early in the ride to see if that helps me later in the workout. It's tough to be fueled only by liquids for half a day.

Here's the bike plan for tomorrow:




Pacing

Pacing an ironman ride is tough. My power meter makes it much easier, but only if I pay close attention to it and respect the watts. You typically feel good at the beginning of the ride and it's easy to go too hard. Another thing that kills your ride, is having a VI (variable intensity) that's too high. Basically, that means your intensity varies - you're attacking the hills, surging... An even, steady pace is best. An ideal VI for an ironman distance ride is 1.06 or less. Tomorrow my goal is 1.05.

Here is an hour by hour analysis of two of my rides, which kind of illustrates how varying your intensity will catch up with you over time. This first one is from my brick a few weeks ago, which didn't go very well. I was worked over pretty good by the time I got off the bike.



As you can see, my VI continues to rise as my average watts continue to drop over the course of the ride. I wasn't holding my wattage steady. I was hitting the hills too hard and surging, possibly out of corners. Eventually it caught up with me and the end result was pretty ugly.

Below is the analysis of what is probably my best ride over 56 miles ever:



This ride was shorter, and my wattage higher, but I rode more consistently. My VI varies a bit more than I'd like to see but I kept it under control much more than the previous ride. The biggest differences I notice are hours 1 and 3, especially hour 1. It's very important to start out under control and not waste energy too early in the ride. With the IMWI course being pretty hilly, it's going to be tough to keep my VI really steady but that's my goal. I will be focusing very hard on this early in the ride.

Tomorrow, I'm shooting for 205 average watts. Hour 1 is going to be done at 200 watts to get warmed up and try to avoid going out too hard. Then I'll step it up a bit and try to average in the 205-208 range for the next few hours and dial it back a bit toward the end to get ready for the run. I'll be focusing on keeping my power very steady hoping that helps me come off the bike feeling strong so I can have a good run. And hopefully my nutrition plan works and everything goes smooth.

Garbage in, garbage out

Eat like crap, and you'll feel (and perform) like crap. Garbage in, garbage out.

I used to eat healthy, very healthy. That was eight years ago.

Now....I've gotten lazy. I think I eat healthier than the average American. I never eat fast food, for example, mainly because it doesn't taste good and makes me feel like absolute crap for the rest of the day, and I don't destroy a bag of Doritos while watching TV. But I haven't been eating like someone training for an Ironman either. I've been taking shortcuts and eating too much processed food.

So I'm going to change my diet and see if that helps me reach new training levels and control my blood pressure (which is still a little higher than I'd like, but lower than last summer).

The new diet starts April 1....


....here's hoping it doesn't end by the 3rd or 4th.

Out with the old...

Since I've been struggling on my long rides, I decided to make some changes. I knew I needed more electrolytes so I wrote down the nutrition facts of everything I eat on my long rides to make sure I was getting enough sodium, magnesium and potassium every hour. Then I started making some changes. Then I stepped back and looked at my legal pad full of notes and thought, "I think I'm making this much more complicated than it needs to be."

So I simplified things...a lot. Here's what my nutrition plan became..




1 stands for odd hours, 2 for even. So on hours 1,3,5 I'm drinking 1/3 of my bottle of Perpeteum and taking one gel (I switched to Powerbar Gel because it has a lot more sodium than Hammer and that's what they have on the course). Hours 2,4,6 I drink a bottle of Gatorade Endurance and take one caffeinated gel and a salt tab - Endurolytes for this ride because I had some free samples and couldn't find SaltStick caps. Endurolytes are pitiful as far as electrolyte caps go. They don't have much in them so they're kind of pointless.

Other than simplifying my nutrition (a lot) I decided to add caffeine to the mix. I figured I didn't need it (much like salt tabs) but thought I'd give it a try to see if it makes a difference....and it does. I used the tangerine PowerBar gels and I felt a little extra energy when I took them...too bad they taste nasty.

The other big change...water. My goal was to drink about 2 bottles of water per hour, a lot more than I've ever drank on a ride. I mapped out a 20 mile loop from my parent's house so I could stop by their house every hour and swap bottles.

So the plan was to do a 7.5 mile warm up from Cheri's house to my parent's. Then four 20 mile laps with a power goal for each lap. Then it's a 7.5 mile cool down back to Cheri's house where she joins me for a 24 mile ride out to Fins and back - no power goals, just for extra miles and fun.



Note to Rock County: Quit being so cheap and fix your roads. Instead of chip sealing, Rock County likes to put a tar strip across the road when it cracks so for 80 miles every 10 seconds was tha-thump. I had to stop about 5 times to pick up water bottles, and the last time I couldn't find my bottle and it was half full of my gatorade...and it was my favorite bottle.

Anyway, the ride (finally) went really well...aside from almost getting hit by a car. Some chick wasn't paying attention and started to turn into her driveway and had to lock up her brakes to avoid me. It was really close.

Then it started raining and I had to bike down a wet country road covered in "mud." Me, my bike and my water bottles were filthy. Then the skies cleared and it got sunny and hot.

But my nutrition and, mainly, my hydration worked out. I felt strong the whole time and even exceeded my wattage for my last 2 sets. After the ride, I felt like I do after my long runs...okay except for the tired legs. No more feeling completely depleted. Hydration is the key.

Here's my power file from my 4th interval...can you tell when I turned around to look for my Gatorade? Even better, can you tell when I got chased by a big dog?


All total the ride was 119.5 miles and took 6 hours and 12 minutes. I drank 12 bottles of water - 288 ounces - that's 2.25 gallons. A gallon of water weighs 8.33 lbs so I drank 18 lbs of water on this ride. That's crazy...and I could've had a little more toward the end. I didn't feel dehydrated but I was a little thirsty.

Luckily, I have a powertap because I also had my Garmin with me and, as usual, it turned off toward the end of the ride (not from a dead battery) and this time all of the data was gone. That thing was such a waste of money. The only thing I can count on is it failing on a long ride. So far my Forerunner has been good so I don't lose my run data, but my Garmin Edge is crap. Overpriced crap.

This morning is a long run, and the weather is looking great. Sunny skies with a high of only 78. I just dropped off some water at my parent's house so everything is good to go. Hopefully it goes well and I'll have a weekend of 2 killer workouts.

Ironman is only 27 days away.

Practicing Nutrition

We got about 6 inches of snow yesterday, so riding outside wasn't an option today. It's not easy getting back on the trainer after a taste of outdoor riding. Luckily, it looks like the snow is melting quickly so it shouldn't be too much longer before I'm back on the roads.

Last weekend I did a long brick and didn't eat enough so I got really hungry on the run. It was a short run, so I survived, but I realized I need to start learning what and how much to eat on long workouts. I've gotten lazy eating during workouts, and many times I eat very little. In fact, I didn't eat anything during most of my 2 1/2 hour trainer rides this winter.

Today's brick had more of a run focus, so nailing the nutrition on the bike was going to be key or the run would be a killer. The bike was 2 hours on the trainer followed by a 90 minute run. I picked up a packet of Hammer Nutrition's Sustained Energy at the bike shop to try on the bike. It's a powder you mix with water and it has about 350 calories.

I did a bit of research and figured 250 calories per hour on the bike should be sufficient. Then I planned on another 180 calories of Hammer Gel on the run. I dug out my Fuel Belt, which I've only used once before and didn't like, to give it another try for the run. I don't know any other way to carry gel and water on the run, so I figured I better get used to it.

Here's the plan for the bike: 1/2 bottle of Sustained Energy and 1 Fig Newton and 1 bottle of water (1 bottle of Nuuns, 1 bottle of Propel) per hour.

The run: 90 calories of Gel about 35 minutes in, another 90 at the 65-70 minute mark. Water when needed.

Afterwards: Endurox with extra Glutamine mixed in for recovery.




Then I layed out my gear for the run...




Then I got the bike set up...




Before...





During...





After (not smiling anymore)...




Then the best part of every brick workout... The Ceas (Little Ceasars)...





Here's a picture of Cheri returning from her workout, an 8 mile run. I'm not supposed to post this because she doesn't approve of close ups post workout, but I don't listen very well...





All in all it was a good workout. I'd say I nailed the nutrition because the run went well and I wasn't hungry at any point. I'm not used to eating that much on the bike so I had to force it down a bit, but it was worth it. I'm on the fence with Sustained Energy. It doesn't taste good, which is okay, but it made me belch for the entire 2 hours on the bike. Considering some of the other options, that's not that bad but I think I might try some other drinks to see if there's something else out there I'll like better. The true test will come on a brick that has a 3 or 4 hour bike ride, but this was a good starting point.

Eat Your Veggies!

I haven't been eating that well lately. I've been lazy and taking the easy way out too often: pizza. I love pizza and will always argue that it's not as unhealthy as many people make it out to be. But it should be eaten in moderation because it's not nearly as healthy as many people would like it to be (me, for one).

I have always eaten a fairly healthy diet naturally. I don't eat much fat. In fact, I had to work on adding fat to my diet a few years ago because I was getting almost no fat (seriously, I was getting less than 10 grams of fat per day). I eat a lot of turkey and chicken and lean meats. Whole grain bread. I love fruit. It's easy for me to stay away from sweets and alcohol (I think I've only had one drink since February. That was a margarita I had this summer that was...well...it was a little embarrassing. It was hitting me hard and I milked that drink forever. Pitiful). The tough part for me is veggies. I'm learning to like them, but it's not easy.

I did some veggie research this weekend, and I'm going to make a new year's resolution to eat at least 2 servings of vegetables per day. I should probably get more than that, but 2 servings per day would be a lot more than I'm getting now so I want to keep it realistic.

Veggies offer tons of nutritional benefits for everyone, especially athletes who are training hard. They're packed with antioxidants and nutrients. I read that cucumbers have a mineral called silica that's good for your connective tissues such as ligaments, tendons and cartilage. Yes, I picked up some cucumbers at the grocery tonight. Garlic supposedly (it's debatable) increases the nitric oxide production in blood vessels and helps increase blood flow. A lot of athletes are paying big money to supplement with nitric oxide and they're not getting the other many health benefits of garlic. Spinach, broccoli, asparagus...most all green veggies are completely packed with nutrients. It should be everyone's goal to eat at least one per day. If you want more info, go here... http://www.whfoods.com

My Nitric Oxide showed up, but it's not what I ordered (maybe I should've ordered garlic). I bought the 4 oz tube, and they sent the 2oz tube of Nitric Oxide 4 Her. I'm counting on it being the same thing in a different bottle, but now I'll have to contact them and see if I can get another 2 oz bottle or partial refund. If I start lactating or crying during commercials, you'll know why. Maybe this will make me a more sensitive person...or maybe not since that last sentence wasn't very sensitive and I already used some Nitric Oxide.

Speaking of being sensitive, here's a story that proves we've become a bit too sensitive...and ridiculous. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/worldnews.html?in_article_id=499827&in_page_id=1811