If transition is triathlon's fourth discipline, nutrition should be the fifth. Making fuelling mistakes could mean your race ends in disaster. And the longer the event, the more critical your food and drink strategy becomes. But it's not easy
. "Training rides are prime opportunities to practise race-time eating and drinking strategies," says Eberle. Once you discover a winning formula, you'll approach your next triathlon with a foolproof plan.Change it: Test new foods on shorter rides before
With three disciplines to consider, it's easy to make mistakes when you're eating and drinking during training and racing. That's the bad news. The good news is that it's easy to avoid triathlon's common nutritional pitfalls if you plan ahead
sprint triathlon. Part of the way round I completely ran out of energy and my time was terrible. For my next race I had porridge for breakfast and finished in a great time."There are certain things to bear in mind with regard to eating before training
for you on race day. So I would say that the more time you have to try different sports bars, gels, energy drinks and timings, the better. As well as thinking about which carbohydrate you'll take on board during the race this is also a good time to plan
-hour ride or two-hour run will burn more carbs than a long recreational ride or even a one-hour race. Consume about one gram of carbohydrate per 400g of body weight. The harder you ride, the more glycogen (carbs) you require."You need plenty of energy
's good to start to eat well, drink plenty of fluids, and prepare for the challenge ahead. Many triathlons start early in the morning, so it's always a good idea to travel to the race venue the day before to register, rack your bike and walk around
'd expected and I did not have time for all my energy drink. Lessons learned."Helen Jenkins, 2008 ITU World Champion"I once had a problem at the Windsor Triathlon with heat exhaustion - I hadn't drunk enough the day before the race, which was freakishly hot. I
against your skin on race day - and it should not be a new sensation."You wouldn't use a mountain bike to train for a road race and the same rule applies to your triathlon preparations," says Dan Halksworth, a former Commonwealth Games swimmer who is now a
and the other with 600ml of isotonic energy drink," says Will Clarke, former Triathlon World Under-23 Champion. "Leave a water bottle in a baseball hat by your bike, which you can leave in transition just so you know you've got water to take on straight away
