early in the race. Continue to regularly drink small amounts. Most athletes can tolerate 200-300ml every 15-20 mins but this will vary with the intensity of the exercise. You are more likely to drink them if the drinks are cool, palatable and easily

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

equal parts orange juice and water, plus a pinch of salt.Drink 100-200ml of an isotonic solution every 10-15 minutes; a standard 750ml bottle containing an isotonic drink should see most people through 50-75 minutes of training. You can have solid food

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

. "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

at Sports-Nutritionist.com. "Then you need to take in foods that give you the fuel to perform your best." Here's how. Calories are based on a 68kg athlete.Picture credit: Sue TallowEasy Spin or RunCalories: 200 to 300 Time before: 30-45 minutes