Top 8 Race Fueling Mistakes Made by Ironman Athletes

[jared]

I read this great article on The Top 8 Race Fueling Mistakes Made By Ironman Athletes by Ben Greenfield on trifuel.com. There are some very good points there but the one that I haven't heard of before is below:

"#1: Mixing sugars. This was the biggest mistake and caused more trouble than anything else. Without getting into the science of it in this post, let's just say that fructose sugar is "selfish" and very easily competes with other sugars for transport from the small intestine into the bloodstream. Consumption of a pure fructose beverage with other long-chain sugars (i.e. Maltodextrin) typically found in gels will draw extra water into the GI tract and can cause stomach upset and diarrhea, especially if you haven't trained with fructose sugars. Athletes who had never taken Gatorade in training took a sip here and there on the bike, and 80 miles in, they were hunched over their aerobars with twisted stomachs. Lesson: stick to one fuel source as much as possible, and preferably one "type" of sugar."

That's really interesting. I would guess that this is a very big issue with Ironman athletes during the race because I don't know anyone that trains with plain Gatorade and that's the only liquid besides water they hand out during the bike.

Does anyone have any experience with this?

[AshleyV]

I don't have experience with that, but it makes sense. I wonder if that means that those who rely on gels during the run should also stay away from cola that provided on the course. I know many people who have had both during Ironman races. Any of you have any issues with that?

[jared]

Ha! That's a good thought. I read this and stayed away from Gatorade on the bike but then I turned around and had cola on the run. I was using gels on the run but after awhile I couldn't bring myself to eat another gel. I was taking cola at the aid stations for calories and some caffeine and didn't have any issues.

I can see how you might have some issues with it, however. I guess it all depends on your stomach and if it upsets easily.

[MikeJ]

I think this is what did in my run at Placid. I felt good coming off the bike and had a sip of gatorade heading out of T2. About a mile or so in to the run, my stomach started to feel awful. I had been taking perpetuem on the bike for the most part and no gatorade up until that point -- I think that was totally a mistake. Should have started easing into the gatorade sooner.
Mike

[Ashley]

OMG ... on further reflection of what this article states, I wonder if that is what caused my first ever stomach cramp on the bike. Here's the scenario:

A. 100 mile ride: used my typical liquid nutrition, but introduced a solid (clif bar) which was consumed over 1 hour at hour 3 on the bike. Ran 3 miles after the ride. Worked just fine. No issues. After, I thought that a power bar performance bar may be a better choice, because it has less fiber than a cliff bar.

B. 100 mile ride: used my typical nutrition, with a solid (used power bar performance bar this time) at hour 3 on the bike, consumed over 1 hour. At roughly 4 hours into the bike, I started to experience a stomach cramp. Something I've never had before. I wondered if it was the power bar, as that was the only thing that I'd done differently. I went for a 4.5 mile run after the ride. Because of the cramp, I walked most of the first 0.20 miles. At that point I darted to a bathroom. After the bathroom stop, I was fine and the cramp was only slightly annoying.

Today I looked at the nutritional ingredients of both bars looking for "fructose." Sure enough, the power bar has fructose in it right near the top of the ingredient list. Here is the first ingredients listed "C2 MAX CARBOHYDRATE BLEND (ORGANIC EVAPORATED CANE JUICE SYRUP, MALTODEXTRIN, FRUCTOSE, DEXTROSE) ..." Strange, that it contains both Maltodextrin, Fructose, and Dextrose. "Fructose" was nowhere to be found in the cliff bar nutrition facts.

Notwithstanding, I did a windy and hilly 56 mile ride in Petoskey last weekend and used my liquid nutrition and consumed a power bar at hour 3. I did not experience any stomach issues. I did not run after the ride.

Not sure if the short and long chain sugar combo was what gave me my bike stomach cramp, but I will most likely use the clif bar as my solid at ironman this month and will stay away from the gatorade ... better to be safe than sorry!

Thanks for the article Jared!

[jared]

I know that most of the news out there now on carb sources is that you should have multiple sources of carbohydrates (i.e. long change and simple) but I've also heard that fructose should not be one of those. That looks to be what they're talking about here. That being said, I have used Powerbars with no issue but I don't think they have a lot of fructose.

I think it also depends on your hydration and how much fructose you have, however. It looks like what they're saying is that fructose is a little more greedy so I would pretty much avoid fructose like what is found in the Gatorade they hand out.

As far as solid food, I used it in training but when it got to the bike in the Ironman, I couldn't bring myself to eat anything solid and just ate more gels for my energy source.

[Ashley]

I stayed away from gatorade and cola during IM Wisconsin 2009. I also consumed a cliff bar on the bike (no fructose). I had no real issues! Thanks for the tip.

[Damon]

I'm going to take my Ironman nutrition up a notch for next year. What do I mean by that?

Small meal the night before the race. No meat, soft foods.

Breakfast of yogurt, fig newtons, a banana and energy drink.

All liquid nutrition the rest of the day. For the first time at IMMOO, I didn't have to take a shit during the race and that is good news. Also, I can't seem to mess around with nutrition much without ill effects. I am excited to try this stuff out again on an intense training day. I can't wait for spring!

Damon

[jared]

I'm going all liquid and gels for IMMOO 2010. For Placid I tried choking down half a bag of gel chews and couldn't finish them. I didn't even touch the Powerbar. I think I'll be able to take in more calories by not even trying to take on solid food as my stomach got a little upset with the gel chews.