I learnt the hard way when I did my first Standard Distance triathlon and suffered badly. It was in a hot, dry climate and very early in the morning. I didn’t fuel properly, drank far too much water during the event and suffered with overhydration. It took four days to feel better.
Most media, social or magazine, dedicated to triathlon, has articles and questions asking about nutrition. What’s best? High carb, low carb, high fat, how much protein, how do I fuel a race? People are always asking these questions.
The variables are based around what distance races you are doing, your normal diet, your size and the weather conditions. Also, how your body uses the fuel you give it. You can of course get a highly personalised nutrition plan, but we can look at some basics we can all use to get started.
Life is busy and food is very often a convenience or last minute thought. You wouldn’t run a car on the wrong fuel, so we can do some simple things and focus on them:
Drop processed food. A good healthy meal starts with good fresh ingredients and they don’t need to take hours to cook. They can be prepared and cooked in about 10 minutes.
Plan your food week ahead. As you have a training plan, then you can plan your meals for the week and shop / cook ahead. You can of course swap things around, again, just like a training session.
Time is precious. As I’ve said before, work, families, life in general, sleep and training take up most of our time. Why not batch cook and stock your freezer, or fridge as most things will last a few days in the fridge. So instead of cooking one portion, cook four or more.
Food for early morning or late night sessions. Overnight oats, porridge pots can be easily ready. There are also good protein drink meals you can have. Plus, don’t forget your recovery drinks.
You don’t need to keep having carbs. Even though you’re training you don’t have to overdose on rice, pasta or potato all the time. Extra carbs are only really needed for long or high intensity training sessions. They should be quality carbs, not cake!!
That’s the day to day basic approach to nutrition. In a later post I’ll cover the fuelling for training sessions and racing in more detail.
