Question:
Anyone have any tips regarding nutrition
for a sprint triathlon? I will be
entering my first triathlon in September,
and training has been going well
so far. I have come across numerous
discussions regarding nutrition
for training and race day for the
bigger triathlons, but not alot
for the sprint triathlons. Is that
because it is not much of an issue,
given the short duration of the
race? Specifically, any tips on
types of food or food groups to
concentrate on during training?
Is there an advantage of carb
loading the night before the race?
Sport rehydration drink during the
race, or just water?
Answer:
It probably doesn't matter a whole
lot. Gels and bars are irrelevant
at that distance. I use sports drink
because I like it better, but you
aren't going to run out of energy.
Ii have done
a couple of sprint triathlons, and
I found that I didn't need anything
except some sport drink to sip during
the bike leg. I do carbo load, but
not the night before. I do that
two days before, and then maybe
the morning of the day before (big
breakfast). then I have light meals
and small snacks all day, and lots
of fluids. I tried just water in
my first sprint tri and found I
was sort of running out of gas as
I
started the run. then in training
and my next sprint, I used sport
drink and that made a noticeable
difference.
Whatever works
for you. some people need a gel
or something else along the way.
In my last sprint, I had part of
a banana in T1, and while that kept
my stomach from growling, it caused
slight cramps in the run.
A sprint will
last 1.25 to 2 hours. You might
burn 1500 calories, give or take
a couple hundred. Your stored up
blood sugar and a liter of gatorade
will be enough calories to get you
thru. I'm doing a sprint tomorrow.
This is what I plan to do:
About three
hours before race start, eat a two
fried eggs with cheese on a plain
bagel, want the fats and proteins,
so the sugars are trickling into
my bloodstream throughout the hours
before the event, and to get the
blood sugar back up, sip on sports
drinks up to race time, maybe suck
down a gel pack. I want to drink
enough so I pee sometime before
the race, let's me know my water
level is probably high.
Take in about
15 ounces of gatorade in T1. On
the bike, drink about 15 oz of gatorade
every 15 minutes. Take in about
15 ounces of gatorade in T2. Forget
about drinking on the run. Post
race, take in some Exceed recovery
drink, eat a bagel. Everyone is
different. I've done the approach
above many times, and it works for
me.
