21 Apr Practice Your Nutritional Strategy

Last week an athlete of mine sent me an email asking if we could talk about his nutritional plan for his upcoming Ironman. Of course I agreed, so we had a quick chat.   I first asked him what he has been using in training, which sounded pretty good to me. I then asked what he was thinking about come race day. He went onto explain that a friend told him what she uses and so he ordered all the supplements she uses and was going to try it on race day. I said to him, “have you ever tried any of these products before?” He said no. So I went on to say, “So let me get this straight, you have been training with a few familiar products but a friend told you what she uses so you think you should go and change your entire approach a week before your big event?” He said yes. And so I said, “You don’t think there is the slightest chance that these new products, that you have never tried, might cause some problems with your gut?” He agreed that it could. So then why risk wasting all the training you have done but trying something new on race day? What he was using in training was fine and could get him through the event very successfully, but like most athletes as the event nears many start to look for answers to their doubts on every other street. So my message to you is practice what you plan to do long before your event nears. Know your nutrition. Know what it is supposed to do for you, how it works, and when you need to consume it. I use, and recommend, XRCEL as my carbohydrate source because of its extended release properties and the fact that its easy on my stomach. Whether it’s XRCEL or any other nutrition product you have to make sure you properly plan out and try your nutritional strategy several times before your big race.

You can use a series of tune up events to try this, an event that is close by, and won’t shake your confidence if it doesn’t go as planned. Or try it during a long training session you have several weeks out from the big one. But what ever you do, don’t go to the expo or tri webpage and buy a new supplement the week before your event because you read an article about some new amazing product or your best friend got in your ear about what they do.

Happy Training and Racing

Scott DeFilippis – Professional Triathlete, Coach