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

Tuna and butter bean salad Arrange 2 handfuls watercress (or other salad leaves) and some chopped peppers on a plate. Spoon 100g tinned tuna on top, breaking it up as you go. Scatter over 100g (approx of a 410g can) butter beans. Pour over 1

or 2 parts water) in the two hours before the race, then another 125-250 ml shortly before the start.DO drink away nerves. If you can't eat because of pre-race nerves, try a liquid meal (such as a meal replacement shake, milkshake, smoothie or yoghurt

- part of a series in our 2009 Flora London Marathon build-up. On Friday April 17, we'll be welcoming Olympic athlete - and Lucozade Sport Super Six mentor - Liz Yelling into the forums between 1pm and 2pm to answer your last-minute race-week questions

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

and that there is an optimal window for ensuring maximum glycogen replenishment. FerrousFerretA. Here are some top tips:   1. Carbohydrate - about 1.2g per kg of body weight  (i.e. roughly 70g)   2. Protein - about 10-20g is enough (so that ratio is not far off)Good options

. At Ironman New Zealand in 1997, men expended, on average, 10,036 calories and consumed 3,940. Women burned 9,253 calories and consumed 3,115.Aim to take in around 250 calories an hour from food, and roughly the same from sports drinks. Studies suggest

in bed breathing - a 70kg 25-year-old male may have a BMR of roughly 1500-1600 calories a day." Keeping track of the amount of calories you take in is important. "To maintain weight throughout an off-season you have to watch what you eat," says Suffredin

'.But despite all the hours of putting left after right, if you're not prepared to provide your body with the fuel it needs along the way to the finish line, you won't get there half as quickly as you'd planned. A race nutrition strategy is as important to your

'.But despite all the hours of putting left after right, if you're not prepared to provide your body with the fuel it needs along the way to the finish line, you won't get there half as quickly as you'd planned. A race nutrition strategy is as important to your