Food Glorious Food - A Case Study

I get asked all the time how much food do I eat. I can't really answer that question because I don't really pay attention to what I eat all day. I literally eat all day. The best I can tell you is that when I am awake I am eating and when I wake up at night to use the bathroom I eat then too. I'd also like to say, "if I'm not working out then I am eating" but the truth is when I am working out I am actually eating even more. I thought it might be interesting, and fun, to walk you through a typical Saturday's bike workout menu.

It has taken me a few months to refine my nutrition plan for the bike portion of my race. With a little over a month until race day I still have some more refining to do. I have my eating schedule in place but I need to make some more food substitutions and still want to try some new things. Before I tell you what I eat I think it is important to first explain when I eat because that took just as much work to figure out. Every workout for the past few months has been an experiment. Whether I am swimming, biking or running I am always trying new foods, new gels, new liquids and new drugs (Imodium, Pepto and so forth). I feel like my life is an experiment. I am the scientist and the subject! That is why this is a case study.

The subject (me!) is a 34 year old male training for a double iron distance triathlon. His current weight is 152 pounds and he trains, on average, approximately 30-40 hours per week. His rough estimate for a daily calorie consumption (from meals and snacks) is at least 5000 calories and water consumption is at least 150 ounces a day.

The current bike nutritional plan is timed on the hourly clock and not on the workout clock. That may sound confusing so let me explain. Instead of eating and drinking at intervals from the start of the workout (the time I press Start on my watch at the beginning of the workout) I now eat and drink at intervals based on the time of day. I decided to do this because there are times when I need to take breaks during the workouts and when I am not moving forward I still need to be eating and drinking so that I don't get behind. The time in between calorie consumption is the same but is easier to follow and will make it much easier for my crew during the race since they will just need to look at the time of day to figure out what I need to be eating and drinking.

Here is the breakdown:

• On the top of each hour (60 min mark) I take some E-gel
• Every 15 minutes (15, 30, 45 and 60) I drink plain water
• Every 20 minutes (20, 40, 60) I drink a Sustained Energy mix (my secret)
• At the bottom of each hour (30 min mark) I eat some solid food
• Depending on the conditions salt tabs are consumed on the 30 and 60 min marks

As you can see I pretty much am eating or drinking something every 10 minutes while on the bike. I will plan to do this for the entire 224 mile bike portion of my race. I am aiming to consume at least 400-450 calories an hour. That may not sound like a lot but I am figuring to be on the bike for 14 or so hours so that adds up quickly.

Here is the case study- Last Saturday my bike ride was 210 miles (I actually cut it shorter then what I was suppose to do believe it or not). I started riding a little before 4:00am and finished a little after 7:00pm. I did eat breakfast at 3:00am before I started working out and I ate dinner at 9:00pm after my run. The list of food below is only what I consumed on the bike and not in meals for the day. This is what I consumed while on the bike.

1. 10 E-gels, 1500 calories
2. 14 scoops of Sustained Energy, 1554 calories
3. 3 Sandwiches (Canadian Bacon and cheddar on a potato roll), 495 calories
4. 2 Powerbars, 480 calories
5. 4 Nature Valley Granola Bars, 560 calories
6. 2 Uncrustable sandwiches, 420 calories
7. 6 Fig Newton bars, 600 calories
8. 2 Pay Day and 1 Snickers bars, 750 calories
9. 1 banana, approx 80 calories
10. 2 cups (16 oz) of sweetened apple sauce (I gots the Motts!), 400 calories
11. Gatorade, 290 calories

I think that pretty much sums up my day on the bike last Saturday. Now for our total calorie count...drum roll please....7129 calories consumed while sitting on my bike seat. Yummy! There you have it. I'll admit that I'm even a little surprised to see the total number. Add is the calories from the meals I ate and I consumed almost 10,000 calories last Saturday. Michael Phelps has nothing on my diet! 31 days until race day...but who's counting right!