Sports Nutrition For Endurance Athletes

This year I completed my first half-ironman race — the Eagleman in Cambridge, Md. The course is pretty flat, which was welcome for a 70.3 newbie, but the weather on Maryland’s Eastern Shore can be blazing hot and humid in June. Sure enough, at the race, I had to endure a 13.1 mile “run” on exposed, sun-drenched roads with temperatures in the 90s.

Going into the race, I knew I’d have to not only increase my training, but also improve my nutrition planning. Toward the end of a shorter race last year in similar weather conditions, I fought off muscle cramps in one of my legs. And during one of my longest pre-Eagleman bike rides, I was starting to doze off! I wasn’t sure if I needed caffeine or just more calories (in hindsight, it was probably both), but I had neither with me, and it was long ride home. Clearly, sports drink and a few energy gels weren’t going to be enough for a half-ironman.

After some thinking, I decided on a race strategy that relied mostly on Gatorade and caffeinated PowerGels along with my secret weapon: a Clif Bar (white chocolate macadamia!) for midway through the bike. I tested this combination during a few longer workouts — which I highly recommend — and went to the race fairly confident. Overall, I guess it worked. I finished the race, and was somewhat pleased with my time.

But I didn’t finish strong like I’d hoped. Also, I was a little annoyed about having to stash all the used gel packets in my race jersey (I didn’t want to toss them aside in the nature preserve) and my fingers kept getting sticky and gooey no matter how carefully I tried to open them. The mid-bike Clif Bar hit the spot, I suppose, and gave me a bit of an energy boost. But it was a little hard to chew and swallow it while staying in the aero position. Also, as I’d heard about but never experienced beforehand, at a certain point your stomach starts to say “no” to more Gatorade.

I obviously still have work to do. And I’m already thinking ahead to another half-ironman, and possibly a full ironman, next year. I’ve been able to test out a variety of nutrition products now, some through trial and error from the local bike shop, and others from what was on the race course at other races or given away for free in the expos. I like some of them, others not so much. More later.