IMCDA Nutrition Plan

When I was riding with my coach last Friday, she said it was time to start developing my race plan.  I, very sarcastically said "I suppose 'survival' won't cut it this time?".  Um, no. 

So, here's my nutrition plan.  I'd say its about 85% proven.  There's always a bit of an unknown factor, but hopefully this will work for me.  One big change: no salt pills.  Coach doesn't like them.  And after my 8 hr ride in Boulder, I don't think my gut likes them much either.  I was using PowerBar Energy Blasts (I love the cola flavor), but I read the ingredients and the glucose is wheat-based (really guys?  really?) and it turns out the Honey Stinger chews have a higher electrolyte amount.  Plus they taste good and they don't stick to your teeth.  And my stomach seems to like them too.  So I'm on board with Honey Stinger.  And the EFS line has electrolytes too, so lets just hope I get enough in for the race.

Race Morning:  Green Tea Extract (for caffeine), EFS, and a Honey Stinger Protein Bar.  The bar needs to be eaten no later than 4:30 AM since my swim start will be ~6:45 AM.

Pre-swim: about 30 min (maybe 20) before the swim, 100 cals of Liquid Shot + Pre-Race.  (seemed to work well at St G)

Bike: ok, this is where it gets complicated.  Goal is 250-300 cals per hour.  I've been doing more like 260 in training, but if I can get more down, I'd like to.  I'm hoping for 7 hrs on the bike but am planning for 8 in case there are issues.  That means 2,100-2,400 cal for the bike.

• diluted EFS + water, 1 scoop per hour (100 cals).  I'll have 200 cals in my Speedfill bottle and I'll have a concentrated 500 cals in a water bottle in my rear bottle cage.  I'll also have a concentrated bottle in Special Needs in case I lose a bottle.  Drink 100 cals per hour, or refill my Speedfill with water + concentrate every other aid station (or so).  I'm doing more of a "eat your calories, drink your hydration" approach.  This will give me some electrolytes but not mess with my stomach too much.
• 2 flasks of Liquid Shot (400 cals each).  One is up front in a handy little flask holder, one will be in the void space in my rear bottle cage.
• 4 packages of Honey Stinger Chews, 2 in pomegranate passion and 2 in lemon lime (for caffeine).  I like the cherry cola ones, but the color is too close to the pom ones, and I'd like to just grab chews and eat based off of color and not have to worry about which little bag I'm digging in.  I'll start with 2 bags of chews in my bento box, and I'll probably have a 2nd (empty) water bottle with another 4 bags crammed in there.  I did that for Elephant Rock.  You have to stop to extract the bags of chews, but I figure I can do that during a bathroom stop.
• Timing:  Drink to thirst but at a minimum, every 15 min.  Honestly, I'm going to try to drink everytime the thought "drink" pops into my little pea brain, because I don't think I drink enough.    Every :15 and :45 take a good swig of Liquid Shot.  I am shooting to use a whole flask in 3:30-4 hrs.  Every :00 and :30 eat 2-3 Honey Stinger chews, alternating btwn pom and caffeine flavors.
• Watch for stomach sloshiness and moderate (reduce) calorie and fluid intake accordingly.

Run:  whooo, boy, this is unproven ground.  Well, not completely.  I've done 2 bricks with the above bike plan and this proposed run plan and I've had 1 long run with this plan.  But I've never actually raced with it.  Yay?  I used to drink a concentrated drink mix or do Liquid Shot (sometimes with caffeine), but I've had issues with it.  My stomach would cramp or it would taste icky so I wouldn't drink it.  I did try Liquid Shot + water + green tea extract on a long run (where I also had chews) and I found that I gravitated more towards the chews and barely touched my hand-held bottle.  So chews it is, because this girl needs to learn how to take in calories while running.

• Handheld with water, so I can drink to thirst between aid stations.
• 2 Honey Stinger Chews (30 cals) per mile.  This works out to be ~800 calories.  Hopefully I'll be "running" for 5-6 hours, so this will be 130-150 calories per hour. I'll have the same flavors as on the bike so I can easily choose between normal and caffeinated ones.  This is a ton of chews - 6 packages.  I don't have a whole lot of room in my tri kit, so I will definitely be making a stop to special needs halfway through the run.
• Supplement with Coke as needed.

Hopefully this works for me.... there's only one way to find out.  :)