Friday, November 22, 2013

Fueling the Beginning Ironman



Like some other triathletes I know, I have a hard time maintaining weight. Only not in the gaining area, in the losing. I'm a chronically skinny guy so holding my race weight in muscle is harder than usual for me. I just weighed in before this post on my wife's WeightWatchers scale (My bodyzone crapped out after three months of training). This weigh in, I was 140 lbs. with a 15.1% body fat, about what I expected. My racing weight is around 135 lbs with 12% body fat. The challenge is balancing this with a job where sacrificing muscle mass can be a death wish. It's hard to drag someone 3x your body weight out of a fire, no matter how hard you train for it. So to compromise, I've been using DailyBurn to track my calories and ensure I'm getting enough to keep me at the 140 lbs. threshold.

I tend to eat around six meals a day in small increments, a trick I learned from body building. I usually eat pretty healthy while training (I've fallen off the bandwagon fairly frequently in the off season). This usually still doesn't give me enough calories so to supplement those calories on training days, I have my set nutrition snacks for during rides and runs. So without further ado, here's my list of favorite nutritional products!

1. Clif Bar Mint Chocolate
These babies were the first Clif Bars I ever tried, mostly because they're my father-in-laws favorite flavor. They're jam packed with green tea extract which adds caffeine, excellent for early morning swims or runs. They also stay down pretty good, although I do avoid these if my heart rate is going to max out, as they are pretty heavy for the first ten minutes.



2. Honey Stingers Pink Lemonade Energy Chews
My father-in-law likes Orange but I've always preferred Pink Lemonade. These babies are pretty pricey so I only eat them during intense training sessions but they seem to give me a lasting boost of quick energy. The lasting part is what matters to me. They're also organic and made in Colorado so I get to support a state business, an added plus.

3. Gu Tri-Berry Energy Gels
I've tried quite a few energy gels in the past year from Clif Shots to Honey Stingers but none has worked so well or been as tasty as Gu, my personal favorite being Tri-Berry. I've tried the Gu Roctanes but I find the flavors disgusting and not worth the extra dollar they usually cost. I take one of these babies with me every time I run farther than 10k and I down it right at that point to keep me from crashing. They're easy on the stomach and the taste buds!


4. Clif Shot Bloks Black Cherry
A substitute for when Honey Stingers aren't available, Clif Shot Bloks basically have all the same benefits and a delicious taste; however, the texture has always been off-putting to me. It usually feels like chewing rubber but if you can get past that (not too hard) they're an excellent energy chew.

5. Gatorade Blue Frost
At the risk of causing a flame war with purist triathletes, I have to own it. Gatorade is my sports drink of choice. What can I say, I grew up drinking it in sports from middle school up, and honestly it calms GI issues better than anything else I know. I mix it weak, one 12 oz. serving size in a 24 oz. bottle of water and then divided up between my FuelBelt flasks and I find that gives me enough simple carbs to not have to worry about bonking until quite a ways into the run. I've tried some of the other drinks on the market; I've always found Ironman Powerade to be too salty and Cytomax gives me GI issues. Budget tip though, the biggest difference between those drinks? A 63 serving size can of Gatorade powder costs $8 at Wal-Mart. A 27 serving size tub of Cytomax at the Vitamin Shoppe will run you $15. The numbers speak for themselves to my budget mind.

Fueling an Ironman is an expensive task. Here's a tip for the budget minded, REI usually runs a percentage sale on nutrition items bought in bulk. As in buy 20 items get $5 off kind of deals. That can save a huge amount of money in the long run.

Bonus Tip: Clif Bar occasionally makes boxes holding an extra bar for the same price. It takes some scouring to find them but it saves an extra $1 average a box.


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