From all of the advice that I've received (long time experience
triathletes and coaches) and from other reading, protein is not
necessary during exercise and in fact it can (and often does) cause GI
problems on the run and particularly so for longer distance races.
There's lots of research around the research that Accelerade and other
drink manufacturers produce which indicate the benefits of protein, etc.
which have differing opinions.
However, I find that the most telling story is what my body says -- I've
had bad luck with anything protein after 3 hours and this also lines up
with what race directors say about gastrointestinal distress problems:
they can almost always attribute it to something with protein.
This became clear to me with longer distance runs or long bike w/
transition runs -- dropping the protein in the drinks resolved my GI
distress.
My findings from experimentation (you should do similar
experimentation):
Be more concerned with keeping the carbohydrates in your system as
you're burning them as well as your electrolyte balance.
I now use Carbo-Pro [maltodextrin] w/ water and Thermolytes for
nutrition (to bring in the calories) and have another hydration system
for the race course on the bike to (for IM or half-IM that means I'm
taking the Gatorade Endurance on the course but this is for additional
hydration, not the main source of calories). On the run, I use the
provided GU (or bring my own) and water -- may change to Coke towards
the end of the run (TBD).
The Olympic distance is a borderline case but you really only need a
carbohydrate based drink + some electrolytes during hydration (which is
more dependent on sweat rate, race conditions, and duration).
Save the protein for post-race recovery and here even Chocolate milk
serves this purpose well (see the article here:
http://fitnessmagazine.com/fitness/story.jhtml;jsessionid=T4JBELA4BTAGXQFIBQNSCZQ?storyid=/templatedata/fitness/story/data/1140708671387.xml)
--
Bryan Woodruff
Redmond, WA
"cg" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]:
Quoted message said:I am trying to maximize my nutrition during a tri (olympics this year,
1/2 next year). I am doing my third tri this year and have
experimented with some different things, but wanted some feedback.
Last year I used EnduroxR4 on the ride. Someone told me that was more
for recovery after a race and that I should consider another drink
(accelerade, cytomax, gatorade endurance, etc). I think this is
because of the carb/protein ratios. All these drinks are better than
the other in some area, whether one is better for protein but not as
good in electrolytes.
I was also recently introduced to e-gels (from Crank) as an alternative
to GU and Hammer, both of which I used last year.
After reading about the contents of each of these products I am a bit
confused as to what to use this year. I am thinking that a good
strategy would be to find the right combination of drink and gel by
looking at what each provides. What I mean is using the e-gel because
it is heavy with potassium and sodium and then a drink that is high
carb. Or a drink heavy in potassium/sodium and a gel with protein and
carbs.
Any discussion would be much appreciated.
Curry
