Ironman Tips: Nutrition

• Practice race day nutrition during long training sessions. This is extremely important. You do not want to be starving after a long session. If you are, you did not eat enough. It will compromise your performance and fail to acclimate your stomach to race day nutrition.
• Recovery starts before you are finished with a training session. Make sure you eat enough to fuel and repair your muscles.
• Consume 300-400 kcal/hr on bike
• Consume 250-350 kcal/hr on run
• Consume 1-2 saltsticks/ hr on bike and run
• Water is okay for easy sessions lasting 60-90 minutes, but make sure you consume calories for anything longer.
• Eat a mixture of carbohydrates and protein within 45 minutes after training. Carbohydrates will replenish glycogen, protein will help repair muscles. Milk is a good option.
• Eat a fruit or vegetable with each meal. They provide antioxidants that protect against free radicals generated from exercise and other stressors.
• Make healthy fats 30% of your total kcal. Healthy fats reduce inflammation in the body. Eating fat also trains the body to burn fat as a fuel, which is the primary fuel source during endurance events. Glycogen stores only last for less than 2 hours.
• Healthy fats include: avocados, salmon, sardines, mackerel, tuna, herring, olives, olive oil, coconut oil, macadamia nuts, almonds, cashews, pistachios, chia seeds, hemp seeds, cage free eggs, grass fed beef, look for monounsaturated fats.
• Limit sugar and polyunsaturated fats as they promote inflammation.
• Try to get as lean as possible within reason. Excess weight is just more you have to carry, but every time you lose weight you inevitably lose a little muscle and thus power.
• When trying to lose weight, increase your protein intake and lift weights to maintain your muscle. You’ll lose more fat and less muscle.
• If you want a “treat”, eat it first thing in the morning, right before exercise, or right after exercise. Your body is better equipped to deal with highly processed carbohydrates at those times.