Nutrition for a 3+ Hour Brick in Hot and Humid Weather

An athlete I coach who is preparing for her first Ironman in Arizona this year asked me this question earlier today: "How should my nutrition be for tomorrow...should I just drink water and have GU...do I drink water with that nuun or that other thing with gu? Do I try and eat a bar while out there?" The workout she is referring to is a 3000 meter swim, 2.5 hour bike and 30 minute run off the bike in St. Louis where the heat index is supposed to be around 96 degrees with the humidity in the upper 50% area. My reply is below.

For nutrition, you want to start out with a bottle full of carbohydrate solution per hour- something like Infinit's Ironman Distance Formula. You can get 20% off your order on Infinit if you click the Infinit logo on the
Break Through Multisport homepage. You can supplement your fluid intake with water or water with Nuun or Zym. I prefer the Nuun or Zym since it gets some extra electrolytes into your system. If you like the gels, pop one 45' into the bike and chase it with at least 6-8 ounces of water (not sports drink) and then again at 1:30 and again at 2:15 (every 45'. Make sure you are drinking water with each gel to prevent dehydration.

Once you get off the bike, you can carry a water bottle or if you have a Fuel Belt, that is good too. Load the FB with half the bottles with water and the other half with a sports drink. If you go with the water bottle only, I would go with water since the run is only 30'.

So another key issue is what you eat and drink AFTER the workout to set you up for success on Sunday. You NEED to drink a LOT of water and eat some healthy food all day after the workout to make sure you get rehydrated and refueled. Chocolate milk is a great recovery drink prior to hopping in the shower after the workout. After that, healthy carbs, lean protein and more water all day.

There are three main goals that you want to accomplish nutritionally immediately afterwards (within 30 minutes):
1. Replace your glycogen stores (carbs stored in the body): There are two types of carbs that we are going to want you to ingest:
a. High Glycemic Index (glucose based; sugars in potatoes, rice, grains, Corn Flakes, Cheerios, waffles and bagels): these will get into you system quickly
b. Low Glycemic Index (fructose based; fruit, fruit juices, milk, yogurt, apples, peaches, beans): provides a steady release of glucose into your system over a longer period of time. Make sure at least one serving of fruit is available, this will also help to re-equilibrate your bodies pH level.
We want you to get at least 3/4 of a gram of carbs per pound of body weight. The initial source should be in a liquid form (Infinit Recovery formula), the liquid version gets into you system faster.
2. Rehydrate and replace electrolytes after the workout: On average, endurance athletes will sweat out 1.5 liters of fluid per hour. It is difficult at best to replace all the fluids you lost in the first 30 minutes. You should try to replace 150% of the fluid that you lost during the workout over the first 2-3 hours post-exercise. Start out with 16 ounces of water (with Nuun) for each pound of fluid you lost.
3. Branched Chain Amino Acid support (BCAA's): BCAA's will assist in muscle repair. I would recommend some BCAA supplement pills, they are relatively inexpensive.

To determine your own sweat rate, click here to read an article by Assistant Coach Laura Koerner on calculating your sweat rate.