Race nutrition

Racing Season gets serious about now as Athletes approach their A races.
It may be a triathlon or marathon or it could be a 5K.  It's YOUR season so you get to designate YOUR A race.  No matter what, it's a good idea to "dial in your nutrition" during training.

Good race nutrition should accomplish the following
1. Provide sufficient fuel, electrolytes and hydration for you to complete the race as you plan (PR or time focus or HR focus,etc)
2. Provide sufficient fuel,electrolytes and hydration for you to walk away from the race feeling good, maybe not do another one the next day, but at least able to function and go about regular living
3. Provide fuel, electrolytes and hydration without making your stomach upset

If you can finish a race without being seriously dehydrated and able to continue life normally, you have accomplished a pretty tough goal.  Why is that?

Racing can provide a lot of internal chemicals and hormones that allow us to ignore our basic needs.  Adrenalin can make us feel invincible and as though we don't need much nutrition.  Our thirst mechanism can shut down.  Endorphins can dull or nullify pain making it seem we are in much better shape than we are.  Dehydration can dull our senses and our thought/critical thinking processes.
So the time to figure out your race nutrition is NOT DURING THE RACE!

Some things to consider before you choose your nutrition:
1. How much do you sweat?
2. What do you expect race conditions to be?  Cold? (more carbs, maybe some protein and fat) Windy? (More hydration) Hot? (more electrolytes and hydration)
3. How fast will you go, where is your target HR?  If lower, you will be using more fat and might be able to use fewer carbs.  If going fast (>85% HR) you may need carbs.
4. How long will you be racing?  Races of 1.5-2 hours at high speed can be done without consuming much fuel (still need to hydrate!) because your muscles have about 2 hours of glycogen (the fuel your muscles use to move).  If you are going longer, you will want to fuel and replace lost glycogen.
5. How many calories per hour?  Top athletes can use 200-500 cal per hour depending on how much work they are doing.  Most AG athletes will be using 100-200 cal per hour depending on your race distance and energy expenditure.

Terri's Nutrition Plan
Over 11 years of racing and allergies to whey, soy and citric acid, I have had to experiment with my nutrition a lot.  I can tell you what I use but it's very esoteric.
Day before the race:  Precision Hydration 1500 packet in bottle of water, plus lots of water and carbs.
Pre race:  Smoothie with fruit, almond milk, 1/2 scoop  Base Performance Amino Acid Powder, Ucan Endurance Powder, 1/2 X2 Performance vial, Vector 450 , 1/2 packet of precision hydration 1000.  Tea with milk and honey and Clove Oil.
Race: Pre swim: 1 gu plus water remaining 1/2 X2 performance vial, water
Bike:  Short course: 1 bottle Iced Tea, 1 bottle water with UCAN unflavored powder 1/2 scoop and Precision Hydration 1000 packet, 1 bottle pure water. HUMA gel and sport beans as needed.  Long course: 1 bottle Iced tea, 1 bottle pure water, 1 bottle 1/2 scoop UCAN+ X2 full vial+ Base Aminos full scoop+ 2 scoops Base Salt+ 2 tablets Vector 450. HUMA gel and sport beans as needed.  Goal 1 bottle water per hour minimum, plus half the mix bottle plus half tea bottle.
Run: 1 vial Base Performance Salt tabs, 1 package sport beans/ 3 miles,   carry water bottle, longer races, I use pretzels, coke and oranges as my stomach can tolerate at the last half of the race.
Post race:  Water, Base Aminos and Vector 450.

I didn't start out with this complicated mix.  I added, switched and changed my mind about what I wanted many times.  I've tried a lot of things!  I know I cannot tolerate these items on the race course:  potato chips, bananas, chocolate, cinnamon, apple, coffee flavors of anything.  Any color except orange Gatorade. Clif bars or other whey bars, cookies.  I avoid these things to save my stomach.

Secret weapon:  Small bottle of Peptobismol in my bike pack has saved more than one race. 

Thus, consider your options when you can focus on your needs.  My best advice?
READ THE INGREDIENTS LISTS!

Article on various nutrition items for runners 

10 reasons why you should read all ingredients lists
1.  Athletes should know why they are putting in their body
2. You need to know if the nutrition hydrates, provides electrolytes or carbs or protein or fat.
3. Not knowing what is in a product can make you sick or ruin a race by not providing enough or too much of something.  (Recently a coach told me about switching from one salt tablet to another, forgetting during the race that the new table had twice the salt!..That could have been very bad but he survived.)
4. You need to know what's in everything so you can plan when to consume it
5. You need to know how long it will take to digest, and what effect it will have
6. You need to know if you can handle the flavor mixes.  (IMHO chocolate, coffee and other very dense flavors are not good during a race, they make me sick immediately and I cannot consume them)
7.  You may be allergic or want to avoid certain chemicals
8. Races provide a lot of these various products...it's good to read the athlete guide to know what is on the course to determine if you  want their products or if you will need to carry a variety of types, gels, beans, blocks, bars, liquid powders...
9. You could learn something about new ingredients you've never heard of like Maltodextrin or Chia seeds
10.  Why wouldn't you want to know?  How will you plan unless you do?

Some general types of race nutrition to consider from liquids to solids to powders

Liquids: yes all these can be used

• Gatorade & Power Ade  electrolyte drinks with flavor and some sugar
• Chocolate Milk  Cows milk, chocolate and other stuff
• Whey drinks  Protein drinks, similar texture to Chocolate milk, high protein focus using a variety of sources:  Hemp, Pea, Rice, Milk etc. 
• PH Balanced Water drinks: Water at PH  7+ to reduce acidity in the body
• Electrolyte water drinks  Water with electrolytes and no flavor
• Carbonated drinks Cola  Coke is used in Ironman, tends to have high caffeine sugar and Potassium which appears to be helpful 
• X2 Performance by Ironman, small vials of liquid with ingredients to help performance and recovery. 

Semi Solids, Gels, Gus 

• Hammer Gel, Clif Shot, GU, HUMA etc are packets about ketchup packet sized with about 100 calories of sugar in a gel that can be slowly consumed.  They vary somewhat in calorie content, ingredient lists, flavors and texture.  Can have Caffeine
• Shot blocks, Gummy Bears, Honey stinger chews are slightly larger than a nickel and are semi solid with about 20 calories each in packages of about 100 calories.  These require chewing and come in a variety of flavors.  Can have caffeine

Solids, Beans and Bars

• Sport Beans: 100 calorie packs that provide some sugar and electrolytes, come with and without caffeine.
• Nutrition Bars: Ucan, Base Performance Bars, Honey Stinger Waffles, Clif Bars, etc   These come in a wide variety of flavors and ingredients.  Many focus on providing protein and carbs but they vary greatly in what is contained.   Some, like Honey Stinger Waffles, contain NO protein whereas others do.  Consuming protein during an endurance race is not often necessary.  Most protein bars are best for before or after the race, not during.  

Here is the list of Clif bar peanut butter bar ingredients:

INGREDIENTS

Soy Protein Isolate, Beet Syrup, Organic Brown Rice Syrup, Organic Cane Syrup, Palm Kernel Oil, Organic Peanut Butter, Organic Peanuts, Organic Soy Protein Concentrate, Natural Flavors, Organic Oat Fiber, Vegetable Glycerin, Cocoa‡, Rice Starch, Sea Salt, Cocoa Butter‡, Soy Lecithin, Organic Sunflower Oil, Mixed Tocopherols (Antioxidant).

VITAMINS & MINERALS

Calcium Carbonate, Magnesium Oxide, Ascorbic Acid (Vit. C), DL-Alpha Tocopheryl Acetate (Vit. E), Thiamine Mononitrate (Vit. B1), Beta Carotene (Vit. A), Niacinamide (Vit. B3), D-Calcium Pantothenate (Vit. B5), Riboflavin (Vit. B2), Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vit. B6), Ergocalciferol (Vit. D2), Cyanocobalamin (Vit. B12), Potassium Iodide.

ALLERGEN STATEMENT

Contains peanuts and soy. May contain tree nuts, milk, and wheat.

For comparison, here is the list for honey stinger ingredients:
Ingredients: Organic wheat flour, organic palm fruit honey, organic rice syrup, organic cane sugar, organic honey, organic whole wheat flour, organic soy flour, sea salt, organic soy lecithin, organic spices, baking soda.

Powders, tablets

• Ucan Hydration and Energy Powders Ucan Energy powder contains a super starch proven to raise blood sugar level and keep it there longer than other carbohydrates.  
• Heed, Perpetuem, Precision electrolyte powder, Skratch electrolyte powders  Electrolyte powders normally provide mostly electrolytes, flavor and small amounts of sugar for taste, not for fuel.  
• Nuun Tablets Enduralytes FIZZ are fizzy tablets you drop into your water for electrolytes and light flavor
• Base Performance Aminos; Comes in two flavors, provides NO calories, only the amino acids that your body needs for continued endurance racing.  These are the building blocks of protein already in the form your body can use without digestion.  
• Salt Tablets, Base Performance Salt,  Enduralytes tablets  provide pure NACL to bump up your salt consumption quickly.  Tablets must be digested but pure salt begins going into the system in the mouth. 
• Vector 450 Tablets, Immunoglobulin that reduces inflammation from exercise