How To Master The Logistics Of Triathlon Fueling
How To Master The Logistics Of Triathlon Fueling
This is too simple to screw up
In today’s write up, I’m going to share the exact logistics of my bike fuel plan during an Ironman.
My goal is to help you manage and keep track of your fuel sources, so you can meet your body’s fuel needs and set yourself up for a great run.
Next week, I’ll cover how to determine your caloric needs. This is purely logistics.
Let’s dive in.
A big mistake I made early in my triathlon career: having too many fuel sources and things to keep track of on the bike.
It’s a common beginner mistake that I see a lot of other people make too.
People tend to like variety, but that can quickly turn into having lots of different bars, gels, GUs, real food, liquid calories, electrolytes, etc., all with different carb/calorie content.
It’s too much to manage on-the-go, and it leads to under-fueling.
I realized there’s 1 key to taking in sufficient calories on the bike: keep logistics simple.
I’ve evolved. Here’s how I do it now:
Set up: I have 4 bottles on my bike and 2 rear pockets on my kit.
1 aero bottle between my bars
1 bottle within my bike frame
2 bottles on the rear cage behind my seat
Goal:
Consume 70% (or more) of total caloric needs from 1 primary fuel source.
Consume the remaining 30% from 1-2 secondary fuel sources.
Primary Fuel Source:
My primary fuel source is a mega-concentrated bottle of liquid calories stored within my frame cage.
Infinit Nutrition is the Tribal Training team sponsor. Their ingredients are clean (for this type of product) and their blends are specifically designed to be easy on the gut.
You can use code TRIBE for 20% off your Infinit purchase.
What does mega-concentrated mean? It means putting multiple servings of liquid calories into 1 bottle.
In an Ironman, I have 900-1,200 calories in the bottle within my frame cage and estimate my calories consumed by gauging how much of the bottle I’ve drank.
The bottle on my left rear cage will also be a mega-concentrated mix. I’ll swap them once I finish the first mega-concentrated bottle (at roughly the half way point).
Pro tip: it’s a good idea to add your liquid calories the night before your race/training session. Letting the mixture sit overnight helps the powder fully dissolve.
Secondary Fuel Source:
My secondary fuel source is a real food bar. I really like these apple Base Bars.
I comfortably fit 5 bars in my right rear kit pocket during Ironman Florida.
By sticking to 1 secondary fuel source, it’s easy for me to keep track of calories per bar.
You can use more than 1 secondary fuel source. But in my experience, anything more than 2 becomes more complicated than it needs to be.
Additional Bottles:
My aero bottle and right rear cage bottle are for water only.
I start the race with these filled up with water and 500mg of sodium in each bottle.
Once I drink those, I refill the aero bottle on-the-fly as I go through Aid Stations and restock the right rear bottle cage with a fresh bottle at the end of each Aid Station.
I buy a cheap bottle to use in the right rear cage, knowing I will toss it at Aid Station 1.
Sodium needs are met for the remainder of the race via Infinit and a Base Salt Stick that I keep in my left rear kit pocket.
In Summary:
Use 1 primary fuel source to reach 70% of total calorie needs
Use 1-2 secondary fuel sources for remaining 30%
Use left rear cage bottle as back up of primary fuel source (this would not be needed in a 70.3 or shorter distance race)
Refill aero bottle with water from Aid Stations on-the-fly
Restock right rear cage with bottles from Aid Stations
Use Base Salt Tube for additional sodium needs