Muskoka 70.3: The Other Lovato's Fueling Plan

Prior to Sunday's race up in Canada, Amanda and I participated in a "people's press conference", which enabled us to interact with other athletes who were toeing the line in Muskoka, and to answer their questions. Unlike at some events where folks are too shy to ask us anything, we had several really good queries.  The majority of questions centered around fueling pre-race and during competition. 

One thing that Amanda and I both tried to emphasize was that no matter how dialed in our nutrition plans seem to be, changes may be necessary on a race-to-race basis. The body had different needs depending on what time of year the race is, the conditions of the race, the timing of the race with regard to your training blocks, as well as your body's changes over the course of your triathlon experience.

Factoring in all of the above, I made a few tweaks to my fueling plan for Muskoka.  I learned a lot about how my body responds to racing a 70.3 in September, in the midst of my Kona preparation. Last year I raced in Branson, and after the race determined that I was very under-fueled before and during the race. I tried to capitalize on that lesson up in Muskoka.

Due to the higher training load coming in, and the shorter taper before the race, I chose to really emphasize my pre-race meals.  Thursday, Friday, and Saturday (morning to afternoon), I did my best to eat quite a bit of food. I knew my metabolism was ramped up, and even though I was resting during the week, I needed those calories.  Without boring you with all the details, suffice it to say that I ate heartily for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and even plenty of dessert!

The day before the race (starting mid afternoon), I began to lean more toward a gluten free diet: rice pasta with tomato sauce was for dinner, and I ate it at about 6:00 p.m. 

Race morning gave me a bit of a limited choice, as we did not have a refrigerator in our room. This meant that I could not have a smoothie or a Naked Juice. 

My breakie consisted of:

1 GF Bagel, 

2 tablespoons of almond butter,

1 tablespoon of jelly,

1 banana,

1 bottle of EFS Fruit Punch (18oz), and

3/4 Carol's Cookie, for a total of

1100 calories.

Once on the bike, I quickly determined that I would be needing more fuel for this ride. Not only was it longer, but I was not feeling snappy and fresh - likely due to the shorter taper. It was a very hilly ride, so the workload was going to be quite high, and, on top of that, it was quite cool, so I knew I would burn extra calories at the start (to keep warm).  

In addition to my standard intake, I added a fuel more calories.  In total I took:

1 flask of Vanilla EFS Liquid Shot - 400

1 32-oz bottle of Fruit Punch EFS - 250

1 24-oz bottle of Fruit Punch EFS - 200

plus, 

2 on-course gels - 200

for a total of 

1050 calories in 2hr26.

For additional fluid, I consumed approximately 30oz of plain water.

Total: 86 fluid ounces (probably a bit low, but I did manage to pee with 10 km to go).

On the run, I sipped approximately 75 calories of EFS Liquid Shot at 4- to 5-km intervals (one entire flask of 400).  I later took an on-course gel at 18km, to make sure I finished strong (100cal). Total of 500 calories for the run. I also sucked down as much water as the aid station cups would allow: approximately 2 to 3 ounces every 2 to 3 kilometers.  Fortunately, the weather was ideal, and I did not pay for the low fluid totals (about 24oz total).

Major modifications were that I consumed about 250-300 calories MORE on the bike; and my pre-race fueling was quite a bit more significant.   And the end result: zero cramping, zero GI distress, and one victory (two if you count my better half's!).