Race nutrition

Looking for a little insight on the topic of race nutrition. After reading Dan's race report and the topic of falling losing some energy during the run, got me thinking about myself.

I'm preparing for my first Half Ironman this coming August would like to use the next couple races as a testing for my nutrition. For those who have done Olympic and above triathlons, and probably could even look at Marathiners.

How did you come up with what your calories burned per hour was? Did you use a generic calorie burn calculator? Did you have the metabolic testing that shows you exactly what you burn at each heart rate zone? Did you just use trial & error? Or something else?

Just like Dan, I think I'm losing some in the run because of my lack of nutrition, I'm sure the lack of bricks havent helped much at all.

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

I know for me it was trial and error. Less than 400 cals an hour, I start sucking eggs... 400 + cals per hour I feel great for longer distances. I stuck with that for my first Half Ironman and felt fresh after the race aside from my sore knee...

Curt we're unique to say the least with the compromised digestive systems but the key is to find something that won't upset your gastric balance.  Sitting in the port-o-joys for large amounts of time during the race or sacrificing socks to the tree fairies is no fun.  I speak from experience.  :)  It was trial and error for me...  mostly error.   Don't wait till  your race to get your plan down though.   Train with different stuff and see what works for you.

I shoot for around 120-130 calories per hour.   My coach and nutritionist worked with me on devising that plan and it has been successful in my last two races.   (Wildflower 70.3 and Heatwave Oly-ish)   A combination of prescription Welchol in the days leading up to the race along with honey packets swiped from Chic-Fil-A and Powerbal Gel Cola Gummies is all I use on the bike and run.   I'll swig on a tiny bit of Gatorade at the aid stations but I mostly just stick to water for fear of gastric distress.  

 Why the Welchol?  How does that effect your nutrition?  New to me just wondering

I wore my HRM for all my workouts for a while. Based on that, I figured that I was burning an average of 300 calories per hour. I tried replacing that much during workouts, but it was too much and I tried just eating before and after and that was too little. So now I aim for replacing about 200 calories per hour.

I've also tried different things will running and biking. I found I could consume anything on the bike and be fine, but on the run, I have to stick to liquids. Anything that involves chewing upset my stomach. Even with the liquids I have to be careful as sometimes I get painful gas if they are mixed too strong. I do gel in T2 to give me a boost before I set out on the run and that seems to work well.