You must have heard the phrase 'nutrition is the fourth discipline' in Triathlon multiple times - why do you ignore it then? Time after time I see folks putting in seemingly endless hours training for a Triathlon, but they pay little to no attention to nutrition and fluids. Ask around next time how many people know their approximate sweat rate? Their caloric need or intake ... you'll be baffled by the responses.
I am not saying that my strategy is perfect, but I wanted to pass on some thoughts on this topic. This blog post is mainly geared towards long distance races or races in extreme heat, in my opinion in a sprint distance race you can pretty much do whatever if you finish within about an hour and half (please don't eat a burger now in your next sprint). We start by this:
Determine your sweatrate:
Next time you go out on a ride or run weigh yourself in. This is best done with minimal clothes (nude for Europeans), but likely that's not suitable in most cases. Make sure you weigh in with an empty bladder and account for the additional fluids taken in and lost at a pit stop.
Simple example
What are indicators of hypovolemia? That's difficult to assess in race day, unless you experience full blown dehydration with dizziness and more severe outcomes, what you want to prevent is even the mildest form of water loss. Look for signs of pee frequency, thirst (very late sign), increase in HR at same effort level and count your bottle intake.
The next critical topic is salt. Sodium in the form of sodium chloride is the most important one, but recent data suggest that potassium is also very important. So step one know the salt content of your nutrition. Your loss is a bit harder to get to as it is highly individual. If you are a 'cruster' (you know what that is if you are one, otherwise no need to know) you will need a lot more than someone who has never seen the white lines of doom on their jersey. There are tests being offered now to assess the salt content of your sweat, which seem a god way to get an idea, but then again like with fluids, these data may vary from day to day and condition to condition. You should fall somewhere between 150 to 700 mg / salt / hour. If you are on the low end, a bottle of most electrolyte drinks will suffice, if you are on the high end, you need to add salt in the form of tablets. I find that taking two 100mg pills / hour are a good addition. Now when you play with salt tablets, take them with lots of fluid and test (read 'in training') how many you can tolerate in a single serving (salt water is given to kids to induce vomiting, try it for yourself, I tried 8 at a time once and boy did I feel nauseous!).
Another good thing to do is to salt load in the days leading up to a race by eating salty foods and adding salt to most meals you take in the 3 days leading up to a race. Salt has been blamed for an increase in cardiovascular events, but consider this an effect of chronic salt overdosing, and recent research even shows a negative effect of low sodium diet in the long run. This would be a separate topic, but for today and for race day you probably don't have to worry about your salt intake, although no study has this really addressed to my knowledge. So asses your sweat salt and play with substitutions.
... to be continued as part 2 on nutrition
I am not saying that my strategy is perfect, but I wanted to pass on some thoughts on this topic. This blog post is mainly geared towards long distance races or races in extreme heat, in my opinion in a sprint distance race you can pretty much do whatever if you finish within about an hour and half (please don't eat a burger now in your next sprint). We start by this:
Determine your sweatrate:
Next time you go out on a ride or run weigh yourself in. This is best done with minimal clothes (nude for Europeans), but likely that's not suitable in most cases. Make sure you weigh in with an empty bladder and account for the additional fluids taken in and lost at a pit stop.
Simple example
- weigh-in with empty bladder at start of workout: 150lbs
- intake 2 500ml bottles = 1000mls = 1kg = 2.2lbs
- additional loss at pit stop approx 500ml (this is hard to guess) = 1.1lbs
- net:
- You should weigh in at 151.1lbs (150lbs+2.2lbs-1.1lbs)
- You weigh in at 149 lbs
- You lost 2.1lbs of something = 0.95kg or almost 1liter of fluids
- sweat rate = 1liter per (duration of workout in hours)
- I think I have this right
What are indicators of hypovolemia? That's difficult to assess in race day, unless you experience full blown dehydration with dizziness and more severe outcomes, what you want to prevent is even the mildest form of water loss. Look for signs of pee frequency, thirst (very late sign), increase in HR at same effort level and count your bottle intake.
The next critical topic is salt. Sodium in the form of sodium chloride is the most important one, but recent data suggest that potassium is also very important. So step one know the salt content of your nutrition. Your loss is a bit harder to get to as it is highly individual. If you are a 'cruster' (you know what that is if you are one, otherwise no need to know) you will need a lot more than someone who has never seen the white lines of doom on their jersey. There are tests being offered now to assess the salt content of your sweat, which seem a god way to get an idea, but then again like with fluids, these data may vary from day to day and condition to condition. You should fall somewhere between 150 to 700 mg / salt / hour. If you are on the low end, a bottle of most electrolyte drinks will suffice, if you are on the high end, you need to add salt in the form of tablets. I find that taking two 100mg pills / hour are a good addition. Now when you play with salt tablets, take them with lots of fluid and test (read 'in training') how many you can tolerate in a single serving (salt water is given to kids to induce vomiting, try it for yourself, I tried 8 at a time once and boy did I feel nauseous!).
Another good thing to do is to salt load in the days leading up to a race by eating salty foods and adding salt to most meals you take in the 3 days leading up to a race. Salt has been blamed for an increase in cardiovascular events, but consider this an effect of chronic salt overdosing, and recent research even shows a negative effect of low sodium diet in the long run. This would be a separate topic, but for today and for race day you probably don't have to worry about your salt intake, although no study has this really addressed to my knowledge. So asses your sweat salt and play with substitutions.
... to be continued as part 2 on nutrition
what the hell?!?! i should have read this prior to the race!
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