It seems like this could be a useful/interesting thread, based on the direction that the beginning cyclist thread took off in. Plus, speaking from the p.o.v. of an occasional triathlete, nutrition is right up there with seat height and aero position as one of the things we obsess over to an unhealthy degree. So what are you eating and drinking (or not) on your long rides/short rides/recovery? Bananas? Fig Newtons? Fig Newmans? Honey Stingers? Gels? Homebrewed energy concoctions? Maybe [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UiuqIWGe_s"]Dr. Allen Lim's super-duper rice cakes[/ame]?
Any early morning ride starts with a clif bar or organic pop tart while getting warm. Fig Newmans, gels (I like Gu mixed berry w/ caffeine) or clif shots in the jersey pocket for any ride in the 2+ hour range. Water for any ride 90 minutes or under with no climbing. Any heavy climbing or 90 minutes+, I will start to include varying amounts of Gatorade (usually watered down to some degree). If I remember correctly, this Dr. Lim had some really awesome receipes in last July's Bicycling Magazine (TDF preview issue) I cut them out and saved them along with my various Bicylcing and Mens Health pages worth keeping.
Obviously, depends on what type of ride. Last season I really got serious about hydrating before a ride. Thursday afternoons are usually the day for our group rides (25-35 miles). On those days, I drink less coffee and about 50-60 ounces of water throughout the day..tapering off about an hour before the ride. On the weekends, when I usually ride solo in the afternoon, I will try and get a couple bottles of water in in the morning. This has definitely helped my performance. I am still working on getting a proper lunch in a few hour before the ride. I am still pretty hap hazzard about this. As for food, I am always eating two packets of QO instant oat meal (one regular and one cinnamon and spice) for breakfast 5-6 days a week. In the summer I bike to work (under 2 miles) so I eat usually when I get into work (oatmeal and maybe a bagel). This summer, I plan on continuing that, but I have designed an 8-9 mile route. On the bike (for 2 and 2+ hour rides) Two bottles (one all water and one 1/2 water and 1/2 orange gatorade). In the summer, when it is humid and hot I sometimes toss a small bottle in my center back pocket of my jersey. I bring a cliff bar or a gel block.....but I rarely if ever eat them. And I have seen this elsewhere, most people say that you do not really need any food if the ride is two hours or less. I just started with the honey stingers and they are great, but I have not really used them on a ride. However, I can tell you that these would be easy on my stomach for a long ride. For longer rides I will bring a gel block/ cliff bar or some fig newtons. I rarely do the 3+ hour rides these days so I am probably not good at timing when to eat for those. in the past, when I do the staged rides(40-60miles), I usually toss something into the stomach about 25+ miles in and that usually suffices. Post ride. 8-16 ounces of chocolate milk within 30 minutes of finishing. I also have become very disciplined at eating fairly light after returning. Maybe a small portion or rice or pasta. As I am not riding long every day of the week this is fine. If I was doing the long rides everyday, then I would change this up. I love smoothies, but I rarely incorporate them as a post ride meal. I am also starting to get away from using OJ as the smoothie base. Don't need the sugar.
Something from Garmin http://www.slipstreamsports.com/201...ifornia-cuisine-from-the-clif-bar-food-mobile
Thanks for posting that - interesting reading. I'm pretty conscious about my diet in general, and especially when I'm doing a lot of riding/racing. I'm also a vegetarian, which means I have to be a little creative finding substitutes for standards like chicken and fish. Not usually a problem - I cook and eat well. I'm not heavy but no stick figure either (5'10, 165) and have reached the point where it's apparent that my weight is limiting me a bit in both riding and running (there are formulas for how much time you can gain climbing or on the run for every lb of body weight you drop.) I don't really intend to drop down to 140 or anything like that, but if I can get down to 155 or so by the late summer when my main races are, I'll be pretty happy. So I've been trying to fine-tune my eating habits lately, knowing full well that my appetite for pizza and beer will never fully go away. I tend to avoid certain fads and haven't really paid much attention to the gluten-free movement; the idea of a low-gluten diet being anti-inflammatory sounds interesting though. I like a lot of things that Garmin-Cervelo is serving their riders there, though sadly for me (and my Lithuanian-descended mother) beets aren't a big favorite of mine. After starting this thread, I finally have a little spare time to contribute to it with my own preferences now. My breakfast 4-5 days of the week is a good bowl of (slow-cooked) oatmeal with banana and soy milk anyway, so I usually stick to that before a morning ride - if I have breakfast at all. If not, a couple pieces of toast, a banana, a few gulps of coffee if I can get it in me. I'm a terrible waker and if the ride is at 8 am, I'm lucky to be getting geared up and rushing out the door at 7:45. Water's usually enough for me on a 1-2 hour ride. Sometimes I'll have a Clif or Powerbar with me (the nutty kind, not the ones like rubber) in my pocket if I've remembered to pick them up at Odd Lots for .50 per. I like the Shot Blox and sometimes will just suck on one like candy, but that's more of a racing thing (especially on the run). During a typical training ride I don't bother. Race-wise, I usually get by in shorter tris (anything up to Olympic distance) with water and a gel or two. I did my first 70.3 without really knowing what to do in terms of nutrition, so I just planned on a gel every 45 minutes or so and plenty of water on the bike and run. It worked ok, but the next year (same race) I had a near-disastrous bonk experience thanks to a brutally hot, humid day and poor planning re: fuelling. Neither hydration nor calories were my undoing there; instead, I got crushed when I ran low on electrolytes, or else diluted them in my system by drinking entirely too much water on the bike (again, hot hot day). At least that's what I figure happened: I came way too close to passing out on the run/death march for my liking, and only stopped feeling faint when I got some salt tabs in me. So for last year's race I paid a lot more attention to nutrition - the right balance of calories and especially some salt. I read in various places that you can only process around 300 calories or so an hour while doing an endurance race like a 70.3, so I aimed to put that much in via gels and sports drink. 300 cals x 3 hours (or hopefully a bit less) on the bike = 900 cals. No one told me there would be math on this. Some tri people swear by Infinit - and I've sampled it and it seems fine, but it's still a little pricey for me. The advantage is, you can concentrate it in one bottle and just take water at the hand-ups, sip a little from both bottles, and keep going. I took the same approach, only with Gu Electrolyte Brew. They don't say you can concentrate it. But they don't say you can't do it either, and it worked pretty well for me. I had 450 cals worth (enough for half the bike leg) and took the rest in gels. I felt a hell of a lot stronger and was able to run on the run, not stagger and hold on for dear life - I ended up going 47 minutes faster in '10 compared to '09. It was a much cooler day, and I was probably in better shape, so those are factors too. I keep trying to dial that in this year; we'll see in August. Other notes: I wrapped up a few Fig Newmans in aluminum foil for my long-distance TT a couple weeks ago, and those went down real well when I needed something solid, so I think I'll keep those in reserve for future long rides and races. I've made those rice cakes in the video posted previously, and they were indeed pretty tasty and handy, but apparently you've got to be pretty careful with making them ahead of time on long rides, as you could give yourself a nice case of food poisoning if they're sitting in your jersey pocket for 2+ hours on a hot day. Not saying that from experience or anything. My only experience is that they get too dry and crusty after a couple days in the fridge to be very enjoyable.
I rarely eat on the bike, but when I do 50 milers I will have the wrappers of stuff partially ripped off, so as to easily access the food.
I feel like my legs are going to burn off after like 10 miles at this point. I'm planning on doing a sprint triathlon in October (been training for it already) so I hope that feeling goes away.
Practice all parts. 1)Riding with no hands/balance or even with one hand on the handle bar. 2) Simply reaching into your jersey pouch/or bag
I'm already swimming about the race distance consistently, so I will hopefully improve my time over the next 2 months on that. Running is probably my weakest since I'm a big guy. I LOVE riding so far, even though I've never seriously biked until this last month. The FL heat/humidity combo is killing me, but it's been nice to ride to/from the gym and around my area the last few weeks. I figure even if I am not focusing on tri training every day, I'm at least out riding and getting exercise which is good. I think part of my issue is that I am riding on relatively busy roads near a college campus, so there is an inherent fear a sorority girl will be texting and mash me as I reach down to eat/drink.
Just went hiking in the Adirondacks for a couple of days. I took a few of the Honey Stingers with me. I think I have a new favorite pre-packaged snack for rides. Delishhhh.
Its a hike, not sure how it compares with the Appalachian Trail. Both have its share of crazies, but I'll guess this is less crazy. The 'Dacks have 46 High Peaks (elevation over 4,000 ft). Folks try to do all 46. The trail probably takes a lot more dedication. Went with a few families and did like 10 miles hiking a couple of the high peaks. Did about 4,000 feet of uphill (and downhill)
