HOW TO EAT: TRIATHLON

When you’re focusing on three sports, nutrition is more important than ever. Whether you’re training for an Ironman, an Xterra or a sprint, no matter how much carbon fiber you’ve outfitted yourself with, if you focus on nutrition before, during and after your triathlon training you will perform better. 1. Stay Hydrated ALL DAY. From the moment you get up you should be hydrating. We generally recommend drinking plain water when not exercising, but using a low calorie everyday hydration option can help you hydrate better. Skratch Labs Everyday Hydration or Nuun AllDay Hydration are both good options, without adding a ton of sodium to your diet. Hydration: Skratch Labs Everyday Hydration or Nuun AllDay 2. Getting charged up pre-workout. If you work out in the morning, think about having something light, nutrient-dense and with a healthy balance of carbs and proteins. A small bowl of Kind Granola Clusters with almond milk, and serving of Justin’s Nut Butter is a light option that should energize you through a workout and keep you nourished for a while. Another option is to substitute breakfast with a shake. Depending on your caloric needs, you can make the shake using almond milk, and/or add Justin’s Nut Butter to a Vega One Shake or Fluid Recovery Shake. If your workout is going to be on the lengthier side, consider a higher balance of protein and fats. Before midday and evening workouts we suggest making sure you have a balanced meal of solid, real food. Be sure to plan ahead and avoid eating large meals within 2 hours of a workout. If you need a last minute snack before a workout, consider having a lower calorie bar that is also easy to digest. Feed Recommends: Bonk Breaker, Breeze Bars, Lara Bar, Mojo Bar. Hydration: Vega Pre Workout Energizer, Nuun Active Hydration. 3. During your workout. Fueling yourself during a multi-sport workout can be a process of trial and error. We cannot stress enough: before you hit race day, you should test out your nutrition game plan. This will help you know what your body likes for each of the events and when you need to eat what. The most important thing you can do throughout your workout, no matter if you're swimming, biking, running, or in the gym is drink an electrolyte mix. When you sweat, you sweat out the most essential pieces of fitness, electrolytes. Our favorite exercise drink mix is Skratch Labs Exercise Hydration. The Swim Before a swim workout we find it is very important to have a light stomach, be well hydrated, but not over hydrated and bloated feeling. Having water sloshing around in your stomach is terribly uncomfortable. For this reason you don’t want to guzzle a ton of water 30 minutes before you workout. Make sure you are working on your hydration all day, so you begin by being dehydrated. For some immediate pre-race energy there are all sorts of gels and chews that are easily digestible and light on your stomach. Honey Stinger Gold Gel is basically pure honey, and the natural flavor can be soothing. We also like the tried and true Gu Gels, or Gu Roctane. The Feed Recommends: Honey Stinger Gold Gel, Honey Stinger Organic Gel, or Gu Gels. The Bike Take advantage of your time on the bike to refuel and focus on nutrition. As opposed to the swim or the run, people generally have an easier time eating on the bike. When riding, you won’t have solid foods sloshing around in your gut like you will during the run. Plan ahead and test what works for you in training! During bike workouts we recommend fueling with bars if your workout is longer than two hours. If your workout is shorter than two hours and is high in intensity, gels and chews may work better than solid food. Be sure to pace yourself with gels and chews. Since they are mostly sugar / quick energy, you’ll need to dose them out evenly during your workout to avoid bonking. Bars, chews and gels all require water to digest, so be sure to plan ahead and have plenty of water to follow your gels and chews. The Feed Recommends: Bonk Breaker Bites, Gu Chomps. The Run No matter how smooth your stride is, running is high impact on your body, and therefore high impact on your gut. While you can get away with eating a larger amount of solid foods before you jump on your bike, you’ll want to avoid this before a run. If you need to put some fuel in your stomach immediately before a run workout, we recommend light bars or mini bars such as Probar Fuel or Go Macro Minis. During a run, some people prefer gels or chews. Remember that any time you’re eating food during a run, you need to follow it with water. The Feed Recommends: Bonk Breaker Bites, Probar Fuel or Go Macro Mini. Multiple Workouts When you’re training more than once a day, good nutrition becomes especially important. We sound like a broken record, but don’t lose focus on good hydration. Without proper hydration it’s proven that you can lose up to 70% of your output. As for eating food on days with multiple workouts, it’s okay to feel a little hungry, but you shouldn't be starving. Nibble on snacks throughout the day. Proteins and fats will keep you feeling full for longer. They are also more caloric so you do not need as much of them. Kind Bars, Clif Mojo Bars, Vega Snack Bars, all have a good blend of salty, sweet, carbs and proteins. Top a small Breeze Bar with Nut Butter. These are great snacks that will keep you full and get you to your next workout without overeating.  And make sure you drink fluids to help digest the food you’re consuming. One of the best ways to maximize your double workouts is to eat easy-to-digest recovery products between workouts. This will help reduce fatigue and sore muscles. One of our favorites is Vega’s Recovery Accelerator. 4. After your workout. After your workout you need to focus on replenishing your muscles' glycogen stores. You don’t have to do this all in one sitting, but you should start the proces within 30-45 minutes of completing your workout. This is when recovery powders can be a huge help to busy athletes. Get yourself a blender bottle, some Fluid Recovery and almond milk, and you’ve got a head start on recovery. Try to aim for the 4:1 carbs to protein ratio with whatever recovery product or food you prefer. Feed Recommends: Fluid Recovery, Vega’s Recovery Accelerator.  ****We've recently partnered with Triathlete Magazine to create the Train Smarter box, full of their favorite training items. Not sure what to order? Check out their suggestions here: https://thefeed.com/product/triathlete-magazine-train-smarter-box/