Nutrition in longer events

Who has what, and when?

Educate me.

I was (seriously) wondering whether pizza or pasta & tomato sauce would be good on the bike. The sugary chewy things sold as breakfast substitute aren't going to replace a whole day's (capital letters) FOOD.

How long is the event ?  Flapjacks or gingerbread men fit in a bento box.  You need things to be easy to eat. I'm not sure how a pizza would work on the move - or pasta and sauce. And can they be digested easily ?

I've heard of rice pudding in ice cream cones being handed up in 24 hour TT's - but never pizza. 

I have taken baby food out for some longer rides, the ones I use come in sachets like the gels so are easy to eat on the move, some of them are foul but some are ok.

Sports drink, gels are fine on the bike but I can't handle them by the time I get to the run in a IM, flat coke, ornage segments are my source of carbs thereafter. I sometimes pack a couple of very small sandwhiches in the bento box but TBH I can't be bothered to slow down enough to eat them most times. You can do long distance Tri on suprisingly little food. 

Pork scratchings, salt craving satisifed.

What sort of bento bow do people use? I've just got one and was surprised at how small it is.

There not huge SS, mine holds about four bars and three gels squashed in

I was planning on sandwiches and all sorts

Think you  might need a wicker basket on your tri bars for that....see Gladys for details

for my HIM I had about 500ml of SIS and 1 mini malt loaf per hour

the new snack pack malt loafs are just about 100cals each and you can fit 5 side by side in a bento box
plus as they are mini loafs you don't get sticky fingers

I'm a fan of real food for long distance, peanut butter rolls being a staunch favourite.

Flat Foo..ted wrote (see)

Think you  might need a wicker basket on your tri bars for that....see Gladys for details

Or Schmunkee....

Proper bars (~200kcal per bar) then gels for the bike, crisps and coke for the run.

I had something every 20 minutes on the bike, and got through almost 4 litres of High5. Probably way too many carbs for the bike but it did for then as as well.

here is the bento box you need...

for a 17hr IM what level of calories in would you expect?

My HIM was stupidly slow - I was 4hrs on the bike and TBH was awash by the end. Is food calories more important that liquid calories? I've used high5 zero tablets a lot and find them easy to drink, possibly easier than lots of sports drink.

I'm guessing by the time I get to the stagger I'll be so tired I'll either not want to eat or be that slow that anything will go!

In normal life my head goes - tired need calories yet on long events I go tired don't want to eat. I know practice is key but what's best, fluid, food, salts??? So much to learn

Pix - the answer you are after is a bit vague as it depends on a number of factors, but you will probably need about 50-60 grams of carbs per hour.  And the carbs you need are ones that are easy to digest.  So a steak sarnie won't work..... but liqued carbs will.  Many people find that they can't cope with liqued carbs (as they tend to be sweet) for hour after hour so lots of people use a mix of liqued and solids.... and as the solid sports stuff is often sweet too that's why you've got people talking about real food (bread, crisps, boiled potatoes, biscuits, malt loaf).  SIS Zero has no carbs but does contain isotonics (salts/minerals). NUUN is another similar product.  Zero is easy to drink but you will need to get carbs into you as well.  Practice with what works, and you may find that you can go a lot further than you think without eating that much.  But look out for the light headed feeling which is the onset of a bonk.... which is when you are depleted of sugars - more often happens on the bike and a full on bonk will render you totally useless - side of the road gibbering useless!  This is because your brain shuts your body down to protect the stock of glycogen left to allow major organs to work.  The body is a clever old thing really isn't it! 

As for hydration, some the stuff you read is a bit rubbish.  I've just concluded a 2 year study with a mate who is doing his thesis on this.  His conclusion having spent hours with hundreds of people running half marathons in controlled circumstances is that your state of hydration is no where near as critical as we are led to believe.  Don't allow yourself to feel thirsty, but there is no need to drink so much that you feel uncomfortable either.