Nutrition Plan For A 70.3 Triathlon | Middle Distance Triathlon Nutrition Guide

[@NutritionTriathlon]

👉Smash your next triathlon with this carb loading plan! www.nutritiontriathlon.com/carb-loading-plan-tri?(triathlon)&

[@soupysails1373]

I’ve been watching triathlon nutrition videos since 2018. This is hands down the best and most realistic video I’ve seen so far. Thank you!!!

[@NutritionTriathlon]

Awesome, so pleased to hear that! 😃 It's my pleasure!

[@krilin84]

Another great resource! Your videos have been very helpful in helping me prepare for my first ever triathlon, a 70.3, which I'm very proud to say I finished two days ago now. In the spirit of sharing experience (and bragging a bit), I successfully followed your carb loading strategy for two days prior to the race and made sure to have a 500mg electrolyte tablet/0.5L with pretty much all water intake. I started experimenting with adding electrolytes to my water a few weeks before the race because of the warm weather and being a fairly salty sweater. I found that 1000mg/0.5L water was too much to handle for my stomach, so sticking to 500mg/0.5L. On race day I had breakfast consisting of two pieces of white toast with marmalade about 6h before the start (11:20am). I then sipped on a Maurten 320 drink mix while driving to the venue and setting my stuff (no more additional electrolytes on race day since Maurten recommends not mixing it with their products). About 20min before the swim I had 1 Maurten caf gel. After T1 I had another caf gel right after getting on the bike, and then I took two sips of Maurten 320 every 5km. I had two 750ml bottels with 3 x 320 mixes in total on the bike. I also carried an additional 1L bottle of ice water, but I barely drank from it and mostly used it to spray myself to keep cool. I was conscious of drinking too much water without any additional electrolytes, and so didn't want to drink plain water unless I really craved it. For a 2:45h bike it added up to about 95g carbs/h. On the run I had planned for a Maurten gel every 20 minutes, but by this time in the race I found that the gels were difficult to swallow without some extra water and so I changed my plan to taking one gel per 5k lap, just before one of the two aid stations. For context my time for the run was about 1:43h so it still added up to about 60g carbs/h. Because I had some gut issues during training on the harder brick sessions I was weary of taking on too much caffeine, but I would've like to do two caf gels on the run as well instead of the regular ones. Other than that this strategy worked as intended.

[@NutritionTriathlon]

That's definitely worth sharing, and worth a bit of a brag too! 😊💪 It sounds like you had a well thought plan and executed it properly too. Love to see that you knew your amounts and had it all in place for the day (plus having practiced caf amounts in training too!). Kudos for such good preparation, it will have made a significant difference on the day! Really awesome to read this, so thank you for sharing 🙂

[@MrRamkulov]

Thanks, a lot. I watched that video few times, made notes, slightly adjusted it to me needs and successfully finished my first Ironman 70.3 and had zero issues with fuel. The only think to add, I had breakfast 3.5 hours before race, and had 2 coffees to poop, and that helped a lot. No toilet breaks for popping on the race.

[@NutritionTriathlon]

Fantastic, congratulations! Sounds like you did fantastically 😀

[@dinohe21]

Great video. I have been trying to not make things too complicated in 70.3's and not focus on nutrition, but now I felt it was time to do so. This is probably the best video I could have found to get introduced to specific amounts etc. Will be looking into your carb loading plan now. Thank you for your work!

[@NutritionTriathlon]

Great stuff! Getting the nutrition sorted for a 70.3 should make a huge difference to it! My pleasure 😊

[@Hillzy96]

Really helpful!! Got my first 70.3 in a week and this helps a lot

[@NutritionTriathlon]

Fantastic, good luck!

[@matthewyaquinto4662]

Hi James, love the channel and advice. I tend to be a triathlon geek and know that everything you mention is spot on. The only thing I would mention in your videos is that some people process caffeine slower than others. As part of my coaching, I got my DNA tested and have a nutritionist. I found that I process caffeine really slowly, so in a full IM I need to get my caffeine in early on the bike. I process it so slowly, that I could drink 2-3 cups of coffee before bed and sleep fine. I would feel the effects in the morning. Anyway, keep the good content coming. I am preparing for IM Korea on September 10, trying to qualify for Kona.

[@NutritionTriathlon]

Hey, thanks for the comment! You're right, caffeine tolerance metabolism is highly individual and can be influenced by multiple factors. For general advice though what I've mentioned should put most people in a good position, but the biggest thing I would say is to practice it in training 🙂 most people won't know at what rate they metabolise caffeine at, so as long as they practice and don't get side effects when they consume it then that's all we can ask for! Good luck qualifying for Kona 💪

[@Saturday_ProFuel]

We can learn a thing or two from your presentation skills! :) Another awesome video!!

[@NutritionTriathlon]

Thank you 🙂 Yours are looking slick at the moment too!

[@Saturday_ProFuel]

@@NutritionTriathlon Why thank you.

[@andreistoleriu3406]

Thank you so much! Respect!

[@NutritionTriathlon]

My pleasure-thank you too! 🙂

[@frankie2994]

Great tips! Ive found that two bottles of Maurten 320 on the bike with a salt tablet inside of each is the perfect solution. 80 grams of carbs per bottle, water and salt are all taken care of + its easy to consume. A real game changer

[@NutritionTriathlon]

Nice one! Maureen actually advise against adding salt tablets because it could disrupt the formulation of the hydrogel, but in reality if you've tried it and it works for you then that's all that matters!

[@camilosabogal7891]

Great info man. I am doing my first 70.3 in May and need all this information to plan accordingly. I’ve done a few marathons so I am familiar with nutrition but this one is way longer so it’s for sure a new challenge.

[@NutritionTriathlon]

Hey! That's awesome that you've got your first 70.3 this year, I'm sure you'll have lots of fun with it! If you've already done marathons you'll at least have some idea what it's like to do the long distance stuff 😊 Definitely practice all the nutrition stuff in advance, it'll help a heck of a lot!

[@heidiguzel8619]

kill it ! congratulations in advance :) ill do my first one in June

[@camilosabogal7891]

Hey guys. Just finished my first Ironman 70.3 and it went really well. I followed it nutrition advice and it worked perfect. I am planning on doing another one in Oct💪💪💪

[@emmadudley228]

This video is excellent . Precise and on point . Very helpful indeed , thank you .

[@NutritionTriathlon]

Thank you too 🙂

[@matutetute9290]

Super nice video James, thanks a lot!

[@NutritionTriathlon]

You're very welcome! :)

[@42kyalgomas]

Fantastic info. Thanks a lot!

[@NutritionTriathlon]

My pleasure!

[@andrewcallus8961]

Thanks a lot for the information it help a lot. I have my first 70.3 coming up in September in Belgium. I hope to do well

[@NutritionTriathlon]

You're welcome! Good luck with the race, let us know how you get on 🙂

[@Jj88Im]

Great tips! Can I dissolve a caffeine tablet in the mltadextrin bottle or will it cancel out the effect? Can I use tablets or better yet gels with caffeine?

[@NutritionTriathlon]

Yes to caffeine gels (and drinks!). In theory shouldn't be an issue to dissolve a caffeine tablet first, but I'd follow the packet recommendations You can check out this video for more caffeine info! kzbin.info/www/bejne/fJmcg5d-htRpnM0

[@rattibussiahn]

Just entered my first 1/2 IM And all this info is great (slightly overwhelming) Still would love some tummy advice Ratti

[@NutritionTriathlon]

Hey, that's awesome! If you need some tummy advice I've got a video on stomach upset, check it out here kzbin.info/www/bejne/a2rHYZyNeZlroKM

[@michaelkulinich7629]

What do you think about consuming honey during different parts of the 70.3?

[@NutritionTriathlon]

Definitely possible, many triathletes do it! Can be a viable strategy, contains glucose and fructose so it's a good combination. It does contain more fructose than glucose though, so this might cause issues for some people (generally better to have more glucose than fructose, especially at higher carb quantities)

[@hutton7722]

Hi James is just regular sugar and salt in water as good as actual dedicated carb/ electrolyte products. For example could you have 45g of sugar and 1g of salt in both bottles and a few gels for variety ?

[@NutritionTriathlon]

Yep, you absolutely could. 1:1 is great and well tolerated. This should even work up to about 90g of carbs, although this sweetness is a lot. Accordingly to latest evidence, 1:0.8 glucose to fructose is "best", but only SIS and Maurten use that atm. Others use a 2:1 ratio. But this 1:1 is super!

[@gianmarcocurti5981]

Thanks James for the video! Do you think doing a Ironman 70.3 with some positive elevation (800 m for instance) vuole change the nutrition plan? Thanks!

[@NutritionTriathlon]

Hey 🙂 my pleasure. Not really, no. Because the aim regardless of course is to consume the highest amount of carbs/fluid/potentially sodium that you can tolerate without GI issues. In my opinion lots of elevation just means you need to be even more careful with pacing and managing intensity early on

[@Julia-wu5tn]

What do you think about isomaltose (palatinose) as another carb source on top of maltodextrin and fructose? I like mixing it in on my water bottle with electrolytes and mix with gels.

[@NutritionTriathlon]

I wouldn't recommend it. No additional value to performance over glucose/malto and fructose, and just increasing the risk of stomach upset

[@BigStevo1]

Hi James just wondering, if you’ve got your water bottles filled with the carbohydrate and salt mixture, why would you need gels on top of that??? Thanks 🙏

[@NutritionTriathlon]

Hey, great question! Just personal preference as a way to consume more carbs. Could increase the carb content of the fluid but the mixture probs would be a little too sweet and sticky then. Nice for variety! But it's not wrong to just keep it all as fluid! 🙂

[@BigStevo1]

@@NutritionTriathlon thank you 🙏

[@peadarcronin2033]

Currently training for a 70.3 which im completing in Aug, i has some stomach issues last year in the same race so changed some products and trying less whole foods. Plan is Tailwind (3 x 75g carbs per bottle) on the bike and Maurten gels on the run with some salt sticks if its a hot day. From one of your other videos that i watched Maurten and Salt sticks dont go well together, any other suggestions?

[@NutritionTriathlon]

Sounds like a good plan! From what I understand with Maurten, salt sticks or tablets don't go well with the drink mix because the hydrogel solution forms in your stomach, and so extra electrolytes at that point can stop it forming properly. The gels are already formed as hydrogels, so there shouldn't be an issue there (it won't disrupt the already made structure).

[@nelsonhugs1383]

I am in zone 5 when I run. If I have one sip of water at the aid stations I do not feel well. Any ideas to help with this? should i push hard before the stations and then slow pace so i can drink and then push hard after as opposed to a steady pace?

[@NutritionTriathlon]

If you're in z5 (5 zone model?) then it may be you're just working too hard for you to tolerate nutrition. May be better to reduce overall pace? It might sound counterintuitive but by doing that you may be able to tolerate nutrition better, which would help performance

[@Blibona-un1ig]

How can I get in contact with you?

[@NutritionTriathlon]

Directly at [e-mail] or check out my website nutritiontriathlon.com - details are on there too! 🙂