What can my nutrition strategy look like if there are no aid stations in a COVID-safe race?
Coach Will takes a look at an important part of the new style racing and one that most triathletes have sat at the top of their concerns: how can I eat! He discusses aid station format and some thoughts about balancing speed and nutrition to ensure the best possible results. This will be an ongoing area to optimise.
First, let’s cast our eyes over what we expect aid stations to look like at these races as it is going to be very different from what we are used too. Event organisers need to reduce touchpoints to conform to the new COVID-safe guidelines. This will mean that aid stations are likely to be self-service to minimise interaction between athletes and volunteers, and potentially, there may be a reduced number of aid stations. Don’t expect to be able to fly through aid stations and grab a bottle on the move. You will need to come to a stop to pick up anything you need. I know that most will feel a bit uneasy about having to stop but remember everyone is in the same boat, and everyone’s safety is a priority.
Bearing that in mind then, I would advise being as self-sufficient as possible throughout the event only really using the aid stations if you need a top-up of water on the bike and if you need a drink on the run. To be self-sufficient requires some considerations: how much fuel/ fluid to carry with you and how are you going to carry everything.
Let’s start with how you can work out how much fuel you are going to need to carry. If you are using power, you can use software such as Best Bike Split to estimate your time for a given course. It uses the details you put in about yourself and your bike, takes historical weather data and gives you a reasonable estimate of the bike split you’ll likely do. Using that estimate, we would suggest adding a bit of extra time to allow for error or any mishaps you may have out on the course, so you don’t end up running out of fuel. You can then use the guide of 60-80g of carbohydrate per hour and work out how many grams of carbohydrates you need to carry in your preferred form. You can also use historical data from similar training rides to the demands of your upcoming event to get an estimate of your bike time. Similarly to the bike, using historical run data, you can get an estimate of your potential run time to consider how much fuel you’ll need to take with you on the run.
Now let’s turn our attention to how you can carry all your fuel, particularly during the bike portion of the race. For a half-distance race, you should be able to have everything you need with you unless it is a particularly hot day then you may need to top up on water. For your fluids, there is potential to carry up to four bottles if need be. If you’re riding a TT or Triathlon bike, we’d advise fixing your bottles in the following places:
One between your aero bars
One on the down tube
Either one or two behind the saddle depending on what bottle mount system you use.
If you are on a road bike, you can have one bottle on the down tube, one on the seat tube and again either one or two behind your saddle. If you use gels and bars as part of your nutrition strategy, then we’d suggest carrying those in a top tube bag.
For a full-distance event, it may be a bit harder to carry everything so utilising special needs is recommended. You can also consider mixing double strength carb drinks and taking water to ensure the dilution of the carb drink is balanced. As always, trial this in training first as your stomach may not agree with this method.
As we move into this new style of “racing”, nutrition becomes more of an influence than ever before as not only may you suffer the consequences like before of ‘getting it wrong’ but also now, you will spend time stopped at aid stations to refuel. With your new nutrition plan, it is essential to factor in what you need to fuel, but also how you will mitigate the new rules. This adaption becomes a new skill to add to your toolbox.
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