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Yesterday evening I spent some time trying to get my nutrition for the upcoming self-supported 70.3 half ironman triathlon on 16/4 right. It’s a pretty tricky calculation when you’ve never done it before. As ever so often with these kinds of things, I set up a Google Doc spreadsheet to help out with the numbers.
As previously explained I’ve never really had a go at this distance, so making a nutrition plan that works is unlikely. Another good reason to try things out beforehand. I’ve now settled with about 560 grams carbs for an estimated 7 hours of activity. We’ll see if that does it. Either way I should bring some extra energy onto the bike.
In order to have everything nailed there’s one thing that I haven’t calculated: my hourly sweat rate. Without that, I really do not know how much I need to drink or how much salt I need to take in. I’m just going to have to wing that one, but I’ll bring 3 tablets for the run to avoid cramping as I had some cramping issues last year going from bike to run in the Aalsmeer Sprint Triathlon.
For final prep I need to pack the whole thing, check the bike, pack the clothes and God knows what else to finally be ready for the start on Saturday morning.
Comments 4
Everything old is new again: it’s OK to let thirst be your guide to a hydration strategy. See Matt Fitzgerald’s summary of current science on the subject:
http://www.active.com/nutrition/Articles/The_new_rules_of_hydration.htm?page=2&PageMode=Print
Cheers!
Mark
Author
Thanks for sharing. Just read tje article, which definitely provides food for thought!
I may not have said, but I have been following this preparation from here – I absolutely cannot wait to hear how you’ve done! Lots of good luck today – though I know it will be the hard work that gets you through! 🙂
Author
I thought away much. Well, as you can see from the race report it was good fun and I seem more ready than I thought. I have come up with a few problems though: in Aarhus it will be much warmer and much, MUCH more hilly!!