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

Q. I want to practise my nutrition for race day but my trainer says I should wait until a few weeks before the race so I get the maximum benefit - is he right?A. It's imperative that you experiment during training to find out what will work best

yourself before and after a session. (One kilogram of weight loss is equivalent to one litre of fluid.) Once you know your sweat loss you can prepare your fluid-replacement strategy for training and races.Pre-planningFor an event such as Ironman Nice ensure

also offer protection against some cancers.Red PotatoesThe humble - and let's be honest, it's not much to look at - potato has had a bad reputation in terms of nutrition because we have a habit of frying it in fat, covering it with cheese or mixing

with all the possible setbacks, such as having your goggles knocked off, losing your nutrition or getting a puncture. Also envisage how you think you'll feel at different stages of the race and prepare yourself for those feelings and be ready to overcome

brain, a proper nutrition plan may take a back seat.But proper nutrition is central to your training and to race success. By fuelling correctly and ensuring you're hydrated before, during and after training, you will perform and feel better and still

Every day you are bombarded with images of food, facts about food and outright lies about food, and this constant barrage has to compete with what you already think you know about food. Sometimes you just want a few simple questions answered. So that's what we've done. With the r...

When you're sidelined by injury your natural reaction should be to cut back on calories until it's time to return to training - and burning energy. But the healing process demands fuel, too. "It's like fixing a house," says sports dietitian Cynthia Sass. "A crack in the foundatio...

depends on how much contact you choose to have with your coach.If you can't afford a coach, have a look online or in specialist triathlon books for a programme that will give you a structure to follow in preparation for a race. Another option is to go

cause an electrolyte imbalance, which can also lead to nausea," says Taylor.Having a race-day nutrition plan is the best step for combating exercise-induced nausea. Some athletes set their watch to beep when it's time to take in fluids. "Develop a fluid