Nutritional strategy is a popular and oft-analyed subject in the triathlon
training world. Indeed, the multi-sport world has a habit of working itself
into a state of indigestion when it comes to the subject of fueling and
nutrition for endurance events.

Having observed yet another Tri-forum thread on fueling for a 1/2 IM event
and the varying exhortations of how much to eat (see the Biggest Whopper
below), I thought it would be more useful to redirect the conversation to
how little one should eat, while also viewing the never-ending fueling
discussion within the context of better considered general training methods.

It is my experience that during training, endurance athletes should practice
eating as little as possible while not bonking. Common sense tells us that
the body does not enjoy ingesting and digesting large amounts of food while
exercising vigorously under what are often uncomfortable weather conditions.
Energy diverted to the digestive process would be better spent if directed
to the legs and arms we use to move us forward. Logical enough.

If training is a practice in bodily adaptation, then more thoughtful
consideration ought to be given to teaching the body to perform without
having to rely upon systemically disruptive additive fuel.

Let us consider the oft-regurgitated mantra that "we must train slow to
teach the body to burn fats." Must we really?

In my opinion, traditional LSD base-training combined with what I view as
excessive caloric minimum RTAs (recommended training allowances) promotes
inherent fuel-burning inefficiency. To train slow while also teaching the
body to ask for frequent food hand-outs is a recipe that teaches the
opposite of what we wish to ultimately accomplish----to race fast while not
having to somehow eat a banquet in arduous conditions.

It is unreasonable to expect that on race day, the illogical GSEAL (go slow
& eat a lot) training method will allow us to be efficient fuel-burning
racers. After-all, race day will see you racing at a harder and faster pace
than the vast bulk of what all your training has been. It is axiomatic that
your body will only do that which it has been trained to do.

GSEAL-bred athletes will either be more vulnerable to bonking because they
will have trained their bodies to burn fuel inefficiently, or they will have
to greatly complicate their race efforts by ingesting an even more
inordinate amount of fuel than they have already practiced. I believe it is
this combination of sub-optimal training and excessive RTAs that causes one
to read of so many Ironman race efforts being derailed by fueling issues,
gastric distress, bloated bellies, vomiting, overhydrating, etc.

M2 Fuel Burning Efficiency

Two-pronged strategy:
1. Practice controlled deprivation in training rides.
2. Unless you wish to race slow, structure training intensities that more
closely resemble race
pace.

Controlled Deprivation simply means waiting longer to eat during a training
ride, and then eating sparingly thereafter. You are only to eat that which
is necessary to avoid bonking. It is interesting to see how quickly the
body adapts once it learns that there will not be early, frequent, and
bountiful cheap fuel handouts.

How much one eats and how frequently with the controlled deprivation method
is a function of fitness, practice, and the individual. Generally, it
should not be necessary to fuel for rides of 2hrs or less. In the early
season when your long ride might be 3 hours, you might take a gel or piece
of bar (not the whole enchilada) but not until 1.5-2hrs have passed.

As the duration of the long ride increases along with your fitness, you can
expand the duration of no-fuel rides as well as the time you wait before
taking fuel on longer rides. Three hour rides with no fuel quickly become
no-brainers. Longer rides of 5-6hr duration should see you waiting up to
2-2.5hrs before taking fuel, and you can then refuel sparingly with a gel or
piece of bar every 45-60'.

In addition to teaching your body to be more efficient in its use of fuel,
you will both develop a much keener sense of how far you can go on a given
amount of fuel, along with better awareness of the warning signs that you
are in need of more fuel. Knowledge of one's body is an integral part of
being a successful endurance athlete.

The shorter interval quality based training that I advocate, in addition to
being more time efficient and effecting better overall performance, also
teaches the body to economize its use of existing fuel stores. Shorter
focused intensity intervals (1.5-3min) with relatively short rest intervals
(15-60sec) mean that the workout is still aerobic (enhanced aerobic in m2
parlance), and thus muscle glycogen is spared despite the more focused work
effort and faster speed.

Done properly, enhanced aerobic interval progressions can be performed for
many months while improving throughout. With over fourteen years of
experimenting with this type of training, I have observed the following:

· My body has become extremely fuel-efficient over the years, to the point
where I can routinely perform 100m rides with no fuel beyond my fluid
replacement drink.
· Workout time can be compressed considerably. One hour spent with Enhanced
Aerobic interval work translates into allowing me to ride steady-state on
the roads for 3 hours.
· Workouts are varied, interesting, and purposeful, and obviate the need for
2-3hr indoor grind-a-thons. It continues to amaze me that so many people
and coaches torture themselves with indoor sagas that are both tedious and
relatively unproductive. Herd mentality I suppose.
· Race day nutrition does not become a feared 4th event complete with
complicated strategies, execution plans, and all the unnecessary worry that
goes with this.

Summary
The time and effort spent devising complicated caloric formulas and ratios
and then trying to figure out how to cram it all down is treating a symptom
instead of the underlying issue. Endurance athletes should consider ways to
make themselves more fuel-efficient warriors versus simply throwing food and
calorie-counts at the problem and creating other troublesome side effects in
the process.

Can the simple and logical, yet counterculture methods I describe work?
Well, if racing Ironman events is to test the limits of human performance,
then I am able to reference 14 years of Ironman events and training, and
say that the proof is clearly in the pudding!

Biggest Whopper, and what motivated me to write this article as I just
couldn't take it any longer:
As part of the discussion thread on fueling for a ½ IM, one coach described
his typical ½ IM breakfast as the following:

"a bagel, 2-3 bananas, a pear, cottage cheese, 2 hard boiled eggs, 1
serving of Sustained Energy, and shot of Hammergel."

What would this gorged fellow do for a full Ironman event?! While it is
generally a good idea to top off the fuel tank with a light breakfast of
some sort, no properly trained athlete, regardless of weight or ability,
should have to consume what this coach practices as pre-race nutrition.