Long races/Triathalon races

Alright, So I was thinking, I've never done this type of thing before. Do you guys bring food or Power juice or something on these runs ? I mean, really. Swimming, biking and running ? I need to get some Food in me. I'm thinknig on the Bike ride of eating some snack, snickers, or something. Is that dumb ?

Also, do you take Advil prior to the run knowing yer gunna hurt afterwards ? I know on the Sheep hunt we take the pills and pop them durring the day hiking but it's an all day deal.

I could go google triathalons but I was jsut curious what some others here did.

Aren't you doing the short one? It is not like you will starve in the less than 1 hour.....

Your body can't digest much of that stuff in the time for energy.

The quickest stuff is the gel/goop like PowerBar Gel. But, you likely won't need it for energy. If you just want something in your stomach, try a PowerBar.

I like the google.com idea. You have a week to get your diet set for peak performance, that's good. Jose sounds right about the goo.

No food, just liquids for me thanks! I did all the disciplines for distance this morning with nothing but a PB sandwich and water. Drank some more during, but not food. I think I'd puke. Might reconsider the Carl's JR sausage/breafast burrito as well. I did that once and was puking/burping sausage the whole morning. Bad. I also don't take in pills. I can feel it in my knees a bit now, but nothing that a bit of couch time won't fix.

Now, races like Greenhorn did I think would be cause for a bit different strategy...

If it's short and easy, come down old man I'd lay some coin on the race. The top time was 1 hour and 20 mins. If I hit close to 2 hours the time will be Awesome. Your border hopping days were long ago Paco.

Tom said:

Jose sounds right about the goo.

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So many jokes....so little time.

Go check out www.cranksports.com. Thats the best stuff I've found. I have run 100 miles on just gel, rock salt and gatorade. take a hit of it every 45 minutes with water. This crank stuff is good because it has more salt than the rest and more calories. You can also get by with just the gel and water if the race is not too long, and the weather is not too humid. You can easly finish a 2 hour effort with just gatorade, but with some good gel and gatorade you can finish strong. After a dose of gel you should feel great within 5 minutes. I take it on tough hunts and take a shot of gel anytime I havea tough climb or backpack, and its amazing the amount of energy you get from it.

The problem with a triathlon is you get dehydrated on the swim. You are sweating like crazy on the swim and losing fluid but you don't know it. You get out of the lake dehydrated and it takes alot of drinking ot get built back up on the bike. thats why you need the extra salt. you will fill up with fluid on the bike but your stomach needs salt to process all the water. Lots of guys end up running with a gut full of water that they cant process. I always take rock salt during the bike. You can always just drink a little lake water but you have to know that the guy ahead of you is probably peeing.

I am also a big believer in 5 hour energy. take a dose of that about 30 mins before your race and you'll feel great the whole way through.

ARCAT.. what's the cause of muscle cramps? Lack of salt, water or both? I had 2 packets of gel during the ridge run, and about 4 shot blocks. Took etabs at the last two aid stations. My legs almost locked up at one point with cramps - water and a little streching sure seemed to help.

Its the lack of salt. You should never cramp. You can have plenty of water, but your stomach needs salt to process it. If you ever feel your stomach sloshing then you are way behind on salt. The e caps only have about 1/2 the salt that s-caps do. I love the hammer gel company but their products are geared more to biking than running so they just don't have the salt you need. I carry rock salt and put a bug chunk in my cheek like a chew and leave it there for up to 30 minutes, as long as I can stand it without burning a hole in my jaw, it will bring you back from the dead. I take i crank gel every 45 mins, and one s cap every 30 mins. plus one bottle of water per hour unless its humid, then 2 bottles per hour.

How was the run? It sure loooked like fun.