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Fuel Like A Pro: During The Race

  • By Paul Moore
  • Published January 20, 2012

Getting your fuelling right is as important as putting in the training miles. But how can you know how to get it right? Take a lesson from the pros! Yesterday we looked at pre-race fuelling, today it’s all about during the race.

Leanda Cave: Powering up is all about waking up and energising my body. That starts with a bloody strong coffee and then some oatmeal with peanut butter on the side—I eat it out of the jar!

Craig Alexander: I eat a bagel or oatmeal and coffee for breakfast. During the race, I use Body Science Fuel 02 Sports Drink and the Coke and electrolyte drink on the course. I take all my calories as liquids. For recovery I drink vanilla- and coffee-flavoured Athletes Honey Milk.

Amanda Lovato: I try to give myself 12 hours between dinner and race-morning breakfast. That way, I’m sure I’ll digest dinner in a timely manner. Being confident that I will take a No. 2 is imperative on race morning! For breakfast I eat semi-solid foods, such as hot rice cereal with agave syrup, bananas and almond butter. Five to 10 minutes prior to the race start, I take in a non-caffeinated gel. I already feel amped with nerves—I don’t need any caffeine at this point!

Chris Legh: I have two options for my early morning meal, based on the cooking facilities. Option No. 1 is a bagel with avocado and two scrambled eggs. Option No. 2 is porridge if I don’t have a kitchen. I’ve learned how to cook this in a hotel room coffee machine! Both meals are complemented with a strong espresso. I’m a Gatorade guy—I take a G Series Prime about 30 minutes out from the race start and I sip on G2 Perform throughout the morning. The foundation of my race nutrition is Gatorade Endurance formula and Gatorlytes added to both the Gatorade and water, to meet my higher sodium demands. For recovery, it depends on how happy my stomach is—I switch between the G Series Fit Recovery smoothie and the G Series Recover 03.

Chris Lieto: After a good breakfast, I have a bottle with PowerBar Endurance, Base Performance Amino Acid and Base Performance Electrolyte Salt. The last hour before the start, I sip on a second bottle. I take two PowerBar gels one hour before the start and 20–30 minutes before the start. During an Ironman I drink a bottle an hour with PowerBar Endurance, Base Performance Amino and Base Salt. I supplement with water and I take in 2.5–3 PowerBar gels per hour. On the run this is lessened to the fluid I can take in at aid stations and a gel every 20 minutes, with a FuelBelt flask concentration of PowerBar Endurance and Base Salt to sip before each aid station. Post-race, I take Base Performance Recovery Activator to help absorb carbohydrates, then drink a bottle of PowerBar Recovery formula with a full serving of Base Amino. Then I eat as much as I can and whatever sounds good—usually pizza and oranges.

Joanna Lawn: I use Cytomax electrolyte drink before and during the race. On the bike I eat loads of bananas, and sometimes if things aren’t going well I throw in a Snickers bar to give me a pickup. On the run I use Coke, Red Bull shots and pretty much whatever else I can get my hands on at the aid stations.

Paul Matthews: The morning of the race I drink chocolate milk and eat Pop-Tarts. During a 70.3 I use Gu gels, Gatorade, Carbo-Pro and a No-Doz. After the race I drink Gu Recovery Brew.

Chrissie Wellington: Breakfast is rice cereal with honey and nut butter and coffee. Aside from water, I don’t have anything else until I’m on the bike, when I have two bottles of Cytomax, two gels and a small chocolate bar. On the run I have one gel every 25 minutes with water.

Joe Gambles: Before, I eat a bagel, a banana, peanut butter and honey. I have a Chocolate Outrage Gu gel with 50mg No-Doz 45 minutes before the race start. During, I use Gu Energy Gels and Gu Electrolyte Brew. After, I drink an Ascend protein recovery shake and whatever else I feel like.

Linsey Corbin: Pre-race, I have a sweet potato with cottage cheese, a small cup of oatmeal and Clif Shot electrolyte drink; then an espresso-flavored Clif Shot gel with water 30 minutes before the start. During the race, I drink Clif Shot electrolyte drink, assorted Clif Shot gels, salt tabs, water and the electrolyte drink served on-course.

Michael Lovato: I might have a smoothie consisting of vanilla almond milk, Justin’s Almond Butter, a banana, two scoops of Ultragen and mixed berries. I sip a cup of black coffee and take Endurance MultiV and Optygen HP. During my warm-up I sip 500-700ml of EFS and I take 100 calories of Liquid Shot prior to jumping in the water. For a 70.3 I have one flask of EFS Liquid Shot and two bottles of EFS drink. I supplement with water, the amount determined by the heat. I aim for 1.1 litres an hour in hot/ humid races. Since adopting a fuelling programme based 100 per cent on the First Endurance line, I’ve abandoned the use of supplemental salt tabs. Recovery generally starts with a few cups of plain water. I like to quench my thirst, wash the fur off my teeth and ease into my recovery plan.

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Paul Moore

Paul Moore

Paul Moore is the Online Editor for Triathlete Europe. When not glued to a computer he can be found writing books - most recently Ultimate Triathlon: A complete training guide for long-distance triathletes which you can buy on Amazon