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The next tip for you guys taken off the 32Gi FB site :-) IM 70.3 NUTRITION TIP - PRE-RACE AND RACE DAY HYDRATION Every athlete is fully aware of how important it is to hydrate oneself during an endurance event, but what about pre-race hydration, in other words leading up to the event. Recently composition scales manufacturer Tanita did some testing on over 5700 participants in Ironman events and how their pre-race hydration levels impacted their performance. Pre-race check in hydration levels were taken in the participants over a 3 year period, and it turned out there was overwhelming evidence to demonstrate that finishing times of properly hydrated participants were faster than those who were not properly hydrated. Proper hydration levels needed to measure around 55%-65% to be considered adequate. This hydration factor measured is an indication of body fluid, which could be stored at either intra or extra cellular, or in the muscles. Fluid in the bladder of course is a waste, as it will be excreted at some stage, meaning its not being absorbed. These results clearly show that is important to hydrate yourself properly pre-race and this does not mean hydrating yourself the morning of or the day before the event. You should be hydrating yourself consistently leading up to the event to ensure that the fluid intake is properly absorbed by the body. Ensure you consume at least 2litres of liquid a day and if you are training even more. This does not mean stimulants such as coffee or tea, it means good old fashioned water and herbal teas such as rooibos. Caffeine can act as a diuretic and dehydrate as opposed to hydrate. Hydration is also a factor of electrolyte levels not just water intake. When drinking during an event you should ensure you take in an electrolytic drink. Consuming water alone without any electrolytes can lead to electrolytic dilution which can extend to over-hydration and of course, the terrible symptoms of hyponatremia being cramp and nausea. One should ensure that a drink being consumed contains sufficient sodium to assist with electrolytic balance. Another important factor to take into account is that the body can absorb more liquid when it contains a glucose forming carbohydrate, water on its own is least absorbed and this is not desirable at all during an endurance event. Ideal concentrations are around 5-8% carbohydrate to liquid. Highly concentrated carbohydrate solutions such as gels, can lead to GI problems meaning digestive distress, so if taking in something like a gel ensure you consume sufficient liquid (average around 300ml's depending on concentration) with it in order to give a better ratio of carbohydrate to liquid to aid absorption, and mitigate GI distress. Be smart on race day, drink frequently as opposed to large amounts at once, this will keep the body hydrated and make it easier for the system to absorb the liquid, by not overloading it. Do not wait until you are extremely thirsty to drink, remember the body takes time to absorb the liquid intake and waiting until the last minute, may well see you landing up in trouble soon after, due to the liquid not being adsorbed on time. This can lead to stomach distress because you over consumed liquid and its just sloshing around in the stomach and your body is not able to cope with and absorb the excessive amount. Remember if you feel a full bladder you are over consuming, there is no need at all to have to empty the bladder during the event. Another consideration which I stress at all times, is that when it comes to mixing your energy drinks, remember one very important factor. Always separate your energy requirements from your hydration requirements. A simple example is that if you have a serving of energy drink which needs to be consumed in an hour for example, and its mixed with 500ml's of water according to recommendation, well 500ml's of liquid in an hour can be fine on a fairly decent temperature day. However on a very cold day, chances are you might only consume half of that if not less, meaning that you are taking in far less carbohydrates than required meaning your energy system is going to suffer and you might go hypoglycemic. It is important to know how much liquid you will usually consume on a cold, warm or hot day as your body sweats differently on those days and fluid loss will differ. On a cold day I usually keep my energy requirements in a concentrate separate to my water requirements, to ensure I get the desired amount of liquid and carbohydrate intake. On a hot day, I could possibly have the normal serving or a slightly diluted serving in order to balance fluid and energy intake. We hope this helps to serve you as a guide. You must give hydration very careful thought before the event and ensure its planned for so that you go in knowing exactly what you need to do to stay hydrated, fuelled up and able to perform. All the best The 32Gi Team The next tip will be on the caffeine or no caffeine debate ;-)

If you have a scratchy throat go and get a neurobian injection asap,(dis-chem nurse can give u one) its a B1,6,12, it will boost your immunity and assist in getting u there in good shape, make sure also get some good sleep. ;-)

You wont lose fitness in 2 weeks, the thing is to just keep the muscles active without overdoing it so you can still perform on the day. Reducing mileage is great, I still throw in a little intensity, not too much, but short bouts where recovery is quick, so 15-20minute tempo run short 2 minute intervals on the bike, on short rides. Just so my legs feel that they want to race:-).

Some posted 70.3 prep tips from the 32Gi FB site: DAILY NUTRITION LEADING UP TO 70.3 Any lead up to an endurance event can be nerve racking and not from a fitness point of view. The last thing any of us want is to land up getting ill or injured just before the event. We want to get there in one piece and feeling ready to race. Too much time, effort and expense has been put into preparing for the event, and that last thing we need is to be blindsided by a disaster. To ensure we get there in top form there are a few things that need specific focus over the next 12 days. 1. Keeping your immune system strong is very important. Putting in long training hours and physical strain on the body definitely lowers our defenses. Firstly focus on getting plenty of solid uninterrupted sleep at night, to ensure the body is in a complete recovery stage. Eat frequent meals throughout the day, and do not skip meals. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, make sure its packed with some complex sustainable carbohydrates, protein and fiber. An example could be a bowl of raw oats, low fat yoghurt, teaspoon sugar free peanut butter, blueberries, strawberries, half banana, flax seeds & honey. Eat approximately 6 meals through the day and if you are training you need to add some meals in order to fuel before during and after in order to ensure your glycogen stores are being managed and kept topped up and that you are fuelling your recovery process as well. 2. Eat a variety of plenty of fruit and vegetables, vary the fruit and vegetables and the colors. 3. Reduce sugar intake drastically, sugar is known to weaken the immune system, its also likely while you are tapering you will gain unnecessary weight as you are not burning off the calories you were during training and sugar based products of course are additional calories. The last thing you want to do is go into a race much heavier than anticipated. 4. Focus on eating easily digestible proteins, such as fish, chicken, turkey etc. Cut down or out red meats. 5. Eat health carbohydrates, meaning natural and not processed. Stay away from white rice, pastas, etc. Rather eat quinoa, brown rice, sweet potatoes, potatoes, wild rice, 100% rye. 6. Eat healthy oils such as avocado, flax seed, coconut and certain fish such as salmon, mackerel, sardine which have healthy oil as well. 7. Hydrate plenty, at least 2 liters of water a day, that does NOT include coffee or like stimulants. Coffee should be reduced drastically to at least maximum a cup a day, and if you do drink coffee then an additional 2 cups of water compensate for the dehydration effect that caffeine produces. In the next 70.3 NUTRITION TIP we will discuss the importance of pre-event hydration and how it can impact performance for race day :-) Eat well, stay healthy and train safe. The 32Gi Team

The best way to recover from fatigue is nutrition, without a doubt, you need to focus on eating proper healthy meals each day, up your protein intake and eat plenty of complex carbs, also hydrate constantly at least 2l of water a day. Look at taking some decent multi-vits as well u welcome to contact me for a more accurate breakdown, one of my fields of experience is assisting fatigued athletes with recuperation on the nutrition side. I would say recovery if its been a lot for muscle breakdown would be around 10 days, have u been for a blood test to see your blood protein levels if they are excessively high, it means muscle breakdown, which means rest, and dietery change.

For anyone who is wanting some solid nutrition advice and preparation tips leading up to and including IM 70.3 race day follow 32Gi on Twitter or Facebook, tips are not product specific we deal with everything but product specifics to keep it credible and not make any sales pitches we are just here to help and advise on a professional level, with just under 2 weeks to go your training preparation is over time to get the rest right all the best m

There is quite a different and unfortunately I cannot publicly state what and why but if u pm me I can give u the run down all The best m

Nope Accelerate is high GI it gives an immediate release but we have been very clever in using a combination of specific carbs to stagger the release and slow the taper over 2 hours ;-) it is a bomb which does not implode great for high intensity racing :-)

Just rest, u can still recover before 70.3 and put in an excellent effort, my best races were weeks of rest just before the big day and it's amazing how u perform on the day, u can easily recover solid weeks rest and then some very light session before Be should be fine

Definitely if u feel pain stop immediately stretch daily u r moving into taper period so u will be fine for the big day relax and dont stress :-)

Nice one Tankman

It could be the change in bike position, my advice ice 3 times a day, take water place in a polystyrene cup and freeze, peel off little by little and rub the area up and down for 20 minutes, then ask your doctor for a script 15mg Coxflam it's easy on he stomach and will take down the inflammation even the pain and u can take daily for a few weeks so that even through IM u should be ok

What kind of running distances have u been doing weekly, did u suddenly up your pace or distance too much too quickly, did u recently fit the new inserts in your shoes?

How have u been treating the ITB? One thing I need to say is when the ITB flares here is no running anymore, it's stop and I mean stop immediately, stretch it out and ice it using a polystyrene cup method for max 20min do this 3 times a day every day, and stretch out every day as well. Does the riding impact your ITB as well?

Also very tough, yeah crazy must be american LOL, one of my pro-athletes in the US Emily Field, ran 50 marathons in 50 days, and she average around 3:10 per a marathon = ridiculous, she won the San Francisco Marathon on day 50.

They are doing the 70.3's from Johannesburg to East London and then racing it, so they are covering the JHB-East London route in a 70.3 format :-)

Its only a token :-), as there is not water everywhere on route, but its still a great initiative leaving them with some broken legs for sure LOL, TOTAL MILEAGE is hectic, 180km's running 720km's riding some swimming and then a 70.3 mmmmmm

Hi all Just thought you might find this interesting, we are sponsoring 2 guys Ulrich Roux and Joff Gouveris who are raising awareness for the Sunflower Foundation which is a massive support for children suffering from Leukemia in South Africa. These guys part of a group called Cool Runnings are doing 8 x 70.3's down to East London and then racing 70.3 in East London. On days when the guys wont have the opportunity to swim they will run an extra 2km's so 90km Cycle 23km Run, I think this is a daunting but incredible initiative and you can follow the goings on the 32Gi Twitter or Facebook page, so for those that are feeling a little daunted by 1 x 70.3 think about these guys who have 9 ahead :-) later M

Have you tried 32Gi Accelerate yet, would love to hear your feedback ;-)

Hi Dave Let me know what you ate the night before and morning before your ride, bonking is simply glycogen depletion, probably means you were over your threshold and not able to access your fat stores, in this case it would have been necessary to take in additional calories, drop me a mail I can analyse your nutrition and give you some advice. Most of my rides up to 70km I go on water and thats at a fairly high pace, its all about pre event nutrition and of course the level of your glycogen stores at the time you actually started riding, lots to say but need to head into a meeting :-) all the best m

my training has been awesome this period, but not racing 70.3 I will be on a beach on the Mayan Riviera in Cancun thinking of you LOL, relax and enjoy guys u worked hard now enjoy the race

I lost 2.3kg's it was the best training period ever wish I had a few more weeks of this, last week to go.

I rode this area today, that particular road has cars flying down it, especially trucks and it's a really dangerous stretch, today it was extremely quiet, but for the few cars there were it was high speed driving :-(. I have ridden passed this couple quite a number of times in the past, they seemed really dedicated, my heartfelt condolences go out to their families and friends :-(.

DV8 plenty of science and case studies posted on the hub over a year ago including an article I wrote for triathlon plus which incorporates the scientific studies into Isomaltulose for endurance seek and u will find plenty around, check out the 32Gi Rocks thread, later m oh one more thing 32Gi launched Accelerate last month designs together with a leading sports scientist in the states ;-) it works like a bomb for racing better than the 2:1 ratio :-) the scientist was mentioned in an earlier post and no it's not Jeukendrup althought I have chatted to him a fair amount :-) enjoy

Old science and Jeukendrup is the chief scientist for Gatorade now and he uses Isomaltulose ;-) check their products also maltodextrin oxidises at a higher rate than glucose it's a lot faster :-) USN and Biogen also both use Palatinose now ;-)