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Eating for tri event

New to triathlon and training going well.



However, what I am concerned about is running out of steam during an event! Have tried to look for advice on the web without much luck. Can anybody advise on the do's and don'ts in the say 3 days running up to an event and more importantly the night before/morning of the event.



Many thanks.

Comments

  • toadtoad Posts: 104
    Hi tiger74,



    try this link http://www.ausport.gov.au/ais/nutrition/topics/competition_and_training2/eating_before_exercise



    Good nutrition will make a difference but everyone is different, so it is a bit of trial and error. Taking a training diary where you record the foods you eat and then how you felt training can be a good way to discover what works for you. Athletes who are partaking in over 90 minutes of exercise a day should have a high carbohydrate diet ( at least 70% carbohydrate a day or 6-10g of carbohydrate per kg body weight per day ) . Endurance training will allow you to store greater levels of muscle glycogen ( made from the carbohydrate you ingest ) than your average couch potatato so provided you are eating a high carbohydrate diet and tapering off from your training before the big day, you should acheive maximum stores, however some triathletes like to take a higher amount of carbohydrate on the days running up to the event just to make sure.

    to sustain vital muscle glycogen stores during an endurance event feeding is useful, a 6% isotonic drink glucose/fructose during exercise will prolong exercise to exhaustaion, however as you have probably read in this forum some triathletes cant stomach this, if you are using energy bars or gels during exercise you should try and wash them down with water as this improves gastric emptying.... i.e. energy becomes available faster... however once again some triathletes feel sick with a stomach full of water, and a full bladder requires time to empty......

    So find out what works for you, use science to help, but realise what maybe useful for one person may not be necessarily useful for you.

    and of course enjoy



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