Eating and drinking while biking can be problematic and takes practice.
IF IT’S TRUE THAT MANY TRIATHLETES leave what they plan on consuming for their nutrition until just before their race, then by definition, they also leave how they plan on getting these calories in until the last minute as well. It may seem like a minor concern, but many find out the hard way that how they carry their race-day nutrition is a crucial component of their success on race day.
During a triathlon, we have two primary times when we can take in fuel, during the bike leg and during the run. As I have said repeatedly throughout the book, the bike leg is the most crucial window of time for us to take in fuel. It gets us through the bike and prepares us for our final leg, the run. That doesn’t mean we don’t need to take in fluid and fuel during the run, however. The longer our race, the more we will need to take in during the run as well. So we need to formulate a plan during our training concerning exactly how we plan on carrying our race-day nutrition with us, for the bike as well as the run.
The shorter our triathlons, the less fuel we will need to get us through to the finish line. As we move up in race distance, our energy requirements increase, and we need to figure out how and when we are going to get in the calories necessary to get us through to the end.
When it comes to taking in fuel, one interesting logistical aspect of racing triathlons is that you do have two times during the race when you are not swimming, biking, or running and can use this short window of time to take in fuel—T1 and T2 (transitions 1 and 2). During the shorter races such as the sprint and Olympic distance triathlons, you can fuel up pretty significantly if you choose during these small breaks in the action. For example, if you are doing an Olympic distance triathlon, you can take in a 100-calorie gel and 100 calories of a sports drink in T1, and that will go a long way toward fueling your bike ride, depending on your needs. You might then take in another gel and sports drink in T2 to serve as run fuel.
When you are planning how to carry everything with you during your race, you can lighten the load on your bike and run a bit by utilizing your transitions as fueling stops if you wish. When racing the shorter distance triathlons where your fueling needs might not be as great and/or you want to be competitive and save time in transitions, then you might choose not to fuel up while in T1 and T2. All of these choices come down to your nutritional needs, your goals, and what your preferences are as to carrying fuel with you.
I can’t talk about carrying nutrition on the bike without discussing what so many triathletes obsess about: excess weight on the bike. Let’s be honest: Many triathletes spend thousands and thousands of dollars on their bikes and everything that goes on them to make sure they are as light as can be. They count every gram of weight, from the frame to the pedals to the water bottle cages. The obvious reason is that the lighter the bike, the faster you can go. When it comes to carrying nutrition on the bike, many triathletes think, “Why would I want to weigh down my bike and slow myself down by carrying two extra water bottles with me?”
This makes sense, up to a point. Sure, you don’t want to unnecessarily weigh down your bike by taking along a deli’s worth of food with you. But you also don’t want to limit your fuel and potentially jeopardize your performance just for the sake of keeping your bike as light as possible, especially for the half–Ironman and Ironman distances. There is a balance between keeping your bike light and carrying the necessary amount of fuel with you.
Yes, there will most likely be aid stations along the course, so you can get fuel and fluids from them instead of carrying it with you. Depending upon your race distance and needs, you may choose to carry every-thing you need with you, you may opt to carry some nutrition with you and supplement with additional energy sources from the aid stations, or you may plan on getting everything you need from the aid stations. Just remember that if you plan on getting everything from the aid stations, you better have practiced using the same brands of nutrition and hydration in training that they will offer on the course, or you could run into trouble.
Back to logistics—let’s say you decide that your race nutrition plan on the bike involves carrying 1,000 liquid calories of Ensure, four Power Gels, one energy bar, and ten salt tablets; then you plan on supplementing this with additional nutrition from the bike aid stations. How exactly do you plan on physically carrying all of this on the bike? Have you thought about that at all? Maybe you have thought about it and decided how you will do it, but have you practiced doing it? I can’t tell you how many times I have spoken to triathletes right before a race, and they are still figuring out the logistics of how they will take in their calories while on the bike. Walk through any race expo, and you will see masses of triathletes scrambling to purchase new means of carrying their nutrition on the bike, things such as aerobar-mounted bottles and Bento boxes, just a day or two before their event. This can be problematic on several levels:
First: If you are purchasing these items just before your race, it means you didn’t practice your specific nutrition plan in training. This is not good.
Second: One of the most important rules in triathlon, and any race for that matter, is to never try anything new on race day—nothing. This rule applies to both your nutrition as well as your gear, and in this case, the two are vitally connected.
Let’s say you decide to put a brand-new Speedfil in between your aerobars the day before your half–Ironman race. You’ve never used one before, and now you plan on testing it out for the first time during your race. Leaning forward to drink out of a straw takes practice, especially while biking at high speeds. Also, what are you going to put in the Speedfil? Water? Sports drink? How often are you going to sip from it? How many sips are you going to take when you do? Have you ever practiced taking a bottle from an aid station and then transferring the contents of that bottle to the Speedfil, all while biking?
Or let’s say you buy a Bento box to hold your energy bar, a few gels, and some electrolyte tablets. Have you ever practiced taking all these things while actually cycling? Can you physically tear open the energy bar and the gels on the fly? Maybe you plan on taking two electrolyte tablets every hour. What exactly do you plan on putting your electrolyte tablets in? A small plastic bag? A small bottle? Can you open either of these while biking? And you can’t just throw the garbage on the road, either. That is grounds for disqualification in most races, so you also need to be able to put the wrappers in your jersey pockets, Bento box, etc. These questions may not seem like a big deal, but they are crucial. If you can’t get to your race nutrition and supplements during your race, what good are they?
Finally, attaching anything new to your bike before a race means that this equipment has not been road-tested. It’s a rule of life as well as triathlon that things can and will go wrong. This new equipment can be improperly mounted, rattling around or worse yet coming loose in the middle of your race. If this new piece is holding the majority of your race nutrition and it flies off at mile ten of your Ironman, you’re in trouble. One loose screw can put an end to your race.
There are three basic places you will get your calories from during the bike leg of your triathlon: On your person, on the bike itself, and from the aid stations.
On your person: You have the option of wearing a race jersey with pockets during your tri. These pockets can be a great place to carry nutrition such as a few bars and gels and supplements such as your electrolyte tablets while on the bike. Jersey pockets provide relatively easy access and do not pose the potential problems of bike-mounted storage. Many triathletes use these pockets during their training, thus it is a good idea to continue to do so during their race.
WHAT NOT TO DO
Like everything you choose to do during your race, using jersey pockets to store your nutrition comes down to personal preference. I’ve seen triathletes stuff these pockets to near overflowing, while others prefer not to use them at all. I will repeat this over and over throughout this book because it is so vitally important: What you choose to do during your race, you should have practiced in your training. If you’ve never utilized your jersey pockets before, doing so on race day can be problematic. Things can fall out, they can rub you the wrong way and chafe, and/or the feeling of having these items on your back can just downright annoy you if you’re not accustomed it, especially during a long race.
On the bike: There are so many options today for how and where you can carry your nutrition while on the bike. One or two years from now, there will be even more as the equipment manufacturers in the sport are constantly innovating and improving this technology.
The most basic method is the simple water bottle cage, attached either to the bike frame or to the seat. It depends on your specific brand of bike, but many bikes can have one or two water bottle cages on the frame and two can be mounted behind your seat. You can also have a bottle on your aerobars, either lying horizontally or vertically with a straw attached. You can use the bottles to hold fluids for hydration, calories in the form of liquid nutrition, or both.
The Bento Box is another way in which to carry nutrition and other items with you on the bike. They vary widely in size, materials and design, but are essentially small bags that attach to your bike frame and can be used to carry gels, energy bars, electrolyte tablets, or anything you want to cram in there. Just remember that whatever you do put in your Bento Box, you will have to be able to open and consume while cycling in a race situation. Be sure to practice your Bento Box fueling strategy in training.
The aid stations: Aid stations can offer as little as water in some smaller, shorter triathlons to the veritable smorgasbord found during most Ironman distance events. Energy gels, energy bars, bananas, water, sports drink, soda—these are but a few of the offerings on triathlon race courses. Your plan should be to determine what will be offered during your specific triathlon, which can often be done by looking on the event website, and then using these products in training, right down to the specific brand and flavor. Determine as soon as possible what works and what does not and then design your race nutrition strategy accordingly.
The rules that apply to carrying fuel during the bike leg also apply to the run. You need to be able to answer the same questions as early on in your training as possible. What is your nutrition plan for the run leg of your triathlon? How and what do you plan on carrying with you? What will you get from the aid stations? Just like the bike, the sooner you can dial this all in during training, the better.
If I sound like a broken record about figuring out what works for you nutritionally while in training, it’s because it is that important. Don’t wait until it is too late to plan your run fueling, or you’ll jeopardize all the hard training you put in for your triathlon. It is the final leg of the triathlon, and if things are going to fall apart, it’s most likely to happen while you are on that run course. Need proof? Just watch the final miles of any Ironman distance triathlon.
The shorter your triathlon, the less fuel you need to carry with you. If your race is going to have particularly well-stocked aid stations on the run, this may also decrease your need to weigh yourself down with extra calorie-containing gear. But realize that you should never rely on the aid stations to have exactly what they say they will have. They can and do often run out of products, especially if you are coming through later in the race, so the more you can bring with you, the better. You have to determine what you used in training and what you will want on race day. For example, you may be doing an Olympic-distance triathlon. You drank orange Gatorade while on your runs in training, and it worked really well for you. If they won’t be offering it on the race course and you want it, you will have to formulate a plan for carrying it with you. There are two main ways triathletes generally carry fluids and fuel with them while on the run:
1. Around the waist with a running belt: Like Bento Boxes, these fueling belts vary widely in design. Their purpose is to carry your fluids as well as little extras such as gels and electrolyte tablets around your waist while you run. The number and size of bottles they carry varies widely as well, from one small bottle to half a dozen or more. They are often called Fuel Belts, which is actually a specific brand and one of the more popular types of nutrition belts. Of these types of belts, one of the more popular versions has four small bottles and one pouch to carry extra gels, salt tablets, etc.
2. In their hands: While a less-popular method than carrying fluid and fuel around the waist, there are many different products available that allow a triathlete to carry nutrition attached to their hands if they so choose. These “handhelds” can also have different sizes of bottles along with pockets to hold things such as gels, blocks, and salt tablets.
One of the concerns triathletes have with using things such as a nutrition belt or handheld water bottle is that their running form will be compromised and/or it will “weigh them down.” This is a valid concern and yet another reason why you should try out any new method in training before you use it in a race. These belts and handhelds have come a long way and are designed to be as unobtrusive as possible. Also, just look at the pros: Many utilize some form of self-contained fueling system while running, especially the longer distance triathlons, and it’s not just because they are sponsored by those companies. They know what has worked for them in training and also the importance of adequately fueling their run.
Ironman Germany was my second Ironman–distance race way back in 1999. I wore a four-bottle Fuel Belt, each bottle filled with two gels, premixed with a sports drink. So eight gels in total, and I was ready to take in one gel every thirty minutes by drinking half a bottle. I had used this technique in my first Ironman and even several prior marathons. When I crossed the finish line in Roth, the bottles were all full. I hadn’t used them; I had chosen to grab nutrition from the aid stations instead.
My point is that it didn’t bother me one bit to wear the belt. I barely felt it during the run. The nutrition I carried with me ended up serving as insurance; it was there if I needed it, but I ended up not needing it. It didn’t slow me down, and I had a great second Ironman experience. I no longer use the belt today, but it served me well when I did.
Let’s be honest, a big part of the fun of triathlon is in all the great gear we can buy for the sport. Part of this gear includes a variety of methods for carrying nutrition while biking and running. Your job is to do a little research. Start searching the Web, talk to your triathlete friends, flip through your tri magazines, and ask at your local bike shop. Just like choosing a bike, what types of equipment you choose to carry your nutrition is varied and ultimately a personal choice. Just make your decisions as soon as possible after you decide to start training for your race and then practice implementing them into your training every chance you get. Remember, no matter how solid your nutrition plan, it only works if you actually can physically bring it with you and take it in on race day!
