"Big units" (those athletes over 190 pounds) have different fueling requirements than smaller athletes. Kevin Purcell, top age group coach, former elite age-grouper and "big unit" himself, shares advice for determining what works for you, along with his personal pre-race and race nutrition strategy.

Happy to share mine; back in the day when I lived with my younger brother and training partner, it was basically oatmeal in the am and chicken breasts/salad for lunch and dinner. That was 15 pounds ago. No bread. Very easy b/c I paid the grocery bill and nothing else was in the house. Snacks were apples and mandarin orange slices without syrup from a can. Pretty exciting.

Currently, mine is extremely affected by 2 teenage girls and a thin wife who eats anything and remains that way. I am admittedly weak in regarding my ability to self select now. Generally I avoid any rice or bread at the dinner table. Still eat sandwiches with bread for lunch. English muffin with almond butter for breakfast.

3 months ago, I reviewed some USADA diet recommendations and got my wife on board. We have moved things around a bit, and the girls have relented. They kick the almond butter out; now we have two "peanut butters"...

Here is the highlights:
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USDA Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005

Focus on fruits. Eat a variety of fruits — fresh, frozen, canned or dried. For a two thousand calorie diet, you need two cups of fruit each day.

Eat more orange and dark green vegetables such as carrots, sweet potatoes, broccoli and dark leafy greens. Include beans and peas such as pinto beans, kidney beans, split peas and lentils.

Consume calcium–rich foods. Consume three cups of low–fat or fat–free milk (or an equivalent amount of low–fat yogurt and/or low–fat cheese) every day. If you do not or cannot consume milk, choose lactose–free milk products and/or calcium–fortified foods and beverages.

Make half of your grains whole. Eat at least three ounces of whole–grain cereals, breads, crackers, rice or pasta every day. Look to see that grains such as wheat, rice, oats, or corn are referred to as "whole" in the list of ingredients.

This is a remarkably common problem among athletes who experience difficulties at the ironman distance. After extensive preparation and the enormous expense to compete at the event, we are derailed by the one system we likely have given little thought to during the time leading up to the event. Yet a significant number of athletes are unable to race to their potential because of nutritional or gastrointestinal issues on game day.

In order to fully understand the problem, I think it is helpful to discuss the physiology of nutrition during endurance events.

Most people maintain normal gastric emptying and intestinal motility by remaining below a heart rate which corresponds to less than 70% VO2 max effort. If you don’t use physiologic testing to facilitate training, this corresponds to approximately 80% of your maximum heart rate or the effort commonly referred to as “steady”.

Both science and personal experience suggest that intermittent high periods of exertion (surges) slow your gastric absorption and intestinal motility more than a higher average constant heart rate without surges. In other words, an average hr of 140 that includes several periods of 170, will shut your gut down more than a steady average hr of 145.

One of the most popular topics on any discussion board is anything linked to nutrition. These discussions are pretty much the same old thing over and over. It is a lot easier to talk about change then do it.

Some of what I recommend goes against widely-held views within the traditional framework of sports nutrition (but not against the cutting edge of elite nutrition). The tips that follow are both healthy and effective.

Food is an emotive topic and most of our ‘issues' with food stem from an emotional basis within ourselves. A rapid change in weight (up or down) is a sign of stress. Your ability to effectively implement these tips will be strongly related to your emotional stability at any one time.

I like to eat like a Hobbit. Even on my lower volume days, I'll aim to eat four meals throughout the day. On my highest volume days, I will get up to eight meals a day. Let's focus on a low volume day, which is more like a standard day, for a long course athlete:

First Breakfast - four to six pieces of chopped fruit, with a cup of non-fat cottage cheese, crushed walnuts

First Session - typically a swim often followed by weights or stretching. I'll have bananas and/or some INfinit recovery

Second Breakfast - stir fry (red onion, mushrooms, eggs and smoked chicken or fish) served with oatmeal or quinoa. Sounds a bit strange but it works for me.

Lunch - more fruit salad or, perhaps, one or two wraps

Second Session - typically a ride, I'll use water, bananas and sports nutrition products during this session

Dinner - either a monster salad that includes an avocado mixed with meat or fish or a stir fry served with brown rice or quinoa

If you read my first two nutrition articles you are probably expecting something pretty intense for my final installment. Truth is, the more serious you get with your nutrition, the simpler your eating becomes. Before I get into my tips for getting to race weight, let me outline my view of the basics surrounding body composition.

The body that you have is the long-term result of input vs. output. As an athlete, your goal is to maximize your session quality and speed of recovery. When session quality is high, recovery speed is rapid and weight is stable - you have a very effective nutrition strategy. Sure you may want to be a little leaner, but from a training point of view, you are close to optimal. It's worth bearing this in mind because being even a few pounds underweight will delay recovery, reduce session quality and greatly increase your risk of injury.

Most athletes spend their time talking about nutrition strategies that relate to training. Specifically, what to eat during races/key sessions and how to speed recovery. The real issue for body composition is what you eat when you are not training.

An effective nutrition strategy results in an athlete developing a virtuous circle, where food is used to enhance the body's ability to operate efficiently. Athletes that are seeking to reduce unwanted body fat should remember that a key component of this virtuous circle is eating the rights foods and the right times. Failure to replenish muscle glycogen after workouts will short-circuit this virtuous circle of training, recovery and improved body composition. Athletes must eat (and eat well) in order to reach their ideal body composition and train strongly.

Your fastest race weight will always be slightly higher than you think optimal. When you are "just right", you have gone too far.

Be strong to go fast.

So, here is what I do when I want to have my body running optimally.

Following from Part One, this article shares ideas on common questions/issues that athletes face.

#1 - Fat Phobia
Many endurance athletes have a very strong fear of eating any fat calories. Good fats are essential for recovery and are a healthy way of improving the quality of our food experience. When I start working with athletes that have been seeking to lose weight, they are nearly always on a no-fat diet that is high in carbohydrates and low in protein. In my experience, this diet is sub-optimal from both a recovery and body composition standpoint.

#2 - The Protein Rut
We all have our training routines and many of us have our nutritional routines. In reviewing training diets, I often see athletes receiving the majority of their protein from one of the following sources: dairy, chicken or tuna.

I make a focused effort to broaden my diet to include a range of plant and animal protein sources. Moving away from a single, dominant protein source has improved my recovery. I have also found that eating lean beef had a positive impact on my training. In 12 months I was able to improve my iron figures by 20% overall without the use of supplements.

#3 - The Benefits of Higher Protein
Most sources recommend a daily protein intake of one gram per kilo of bodyweight (0.45 grams per pound). I've found that most of my athletes tend to perform best at about 0.80 grams per pound. I have found that a higher protein diet leaves me more satisfied, especially when combined with a moderate amount of good fats.

#4 - Breakfast, the Missing Meal

The purpose of this article is to share some of my experience with sorting out my eating habits over the last few years. These are the first steps that I took in order to begin my transition towards a healthier lifestyle.

I have no formal training in diet or nutrition and have always found it very useful to consult with experts in all fields. For me, the challenge has been to find an expert that can offer advice that actually works. The articles in this part of the library focus on what really works, not explaining research that was funded by sports nutrition companies.

Motivation
I think it is important to understand our motivation in making the food choices that we do and, therefore, I'd like to share a few points on my relationship with food over the years.

Food as a Signal - The times when I have been making the poorest food selections have been the times when I was under the greatest levels of stress. Stress can come from a variety of sources; training, relationships, children, work, finances, partner alignment with life goals and others. When these sources of stress have been reduced, my food choices have improved.

In this sense, my poor eating habits were merely a symptom of a wider issue in my life that I was failing to address.

Food as Nourishment - Food is essential for our survival, period. In the past, there have been times where I felt a certain sense of guilt at every meal. It was almost like food had become an enemy and was preventing me from achieving my ideal self. This is a very dangerous situation because it sets up a negative cycle.

When we view food as a source of strength, it is far easier to establish a virtuous cycle where our strong nutrition choices move us towards our ideal self. By acknowledging my flawed view of food, it became easier to see food for what it really is... a source of energy and pleasure.

Psychology vs Nutrition - Kristen Martin

There is a spectrum that runs from "disordered eating" to "eating disorders".

Eating disorders are NOT about food, they are a manifestation of a deeper issue.

Psychological markers include: low self esteem, depression, anxiety, anger, loneliness, perceived lack of control, perceived inadequacy (NOTE - who doesn't feel like this from time to time? The seeds are in all of us.)

Society places an extremely high value on being thin - respect, attraction, value.

High achievers with low self esteem are at significant risk. NOTE - that would probably include nearly every age group female swimmer, at some stage of their development. NOTE - for this reason a critical role of a coach is to build the self-esteem of their athletes (young female, esp).

Family structure can be a trigger, it's not the style, it's the severity of the style.

Anorexia is typically about control. Bulimia is typically about release. NOTE - creating non-food pathways for venting and support is critical.

We start with food/weight obsession... then we use food to control/vent/avoid dealing with painful feelings... at first "it works", we feel very successful with the disorder mechanism... then the cognitive ability disappears, the senses are gone, reason is absent... then it takes over our lives and becomes powerful.

To successfully treat you need to: (a) change behavior; (b) restore cognitive function; then (c) work through the underlying emotional issues.

Some bulimics find that "it works" and therefore treatment is about providing other avenues to release/support/cope.

Most people value their disorder (protector, friend, comfortable, secure) but eventually they become miserable as it gains total control over them.

It is terrifying for them to leave the comfort of the disorder. They are losing their coping mechanism then find that they must deal with the feelings from the underlying issues.

Competitive Ironman Nutrition Planning

© 2003 by Ultrafit Associates
[With Edit/Update by Gordo in December 2008]

The following is a suggested guideline for reducing the likelihood of an in-race stomach "shutdown" while eating prior to, during, and immediately following an Ironman-distance race for experienced athletes who are focused on fast times or race placement.

If your goal is to finish the race then the pacing instructions here will be too aggressive, but the refueling suggestions may still be effective.

My best advice is contained in the Second Edition of Going Long.

You may need to modify this plan to fit your body size, previous race-nutrition experience, and personal food likes and dislikes. The plan you adopt should be refined starting weeks and months ahead of your Ironman race by experimenting in workouts, especially bricks and long sessions, in C-priority races, and, finally, in B-priority races. Don't do anything on race day that you have not done successfully many times before.

Determine how many Calories you will take in during the race and the strategy for doing so. As points of reference, an 11- to 12-hour Ironman could burn up to 7,000 calories and a 9-hour Ironman could use up to 8,000 calories.

Gastric problems are a leading cause of poor performances and DNFs (did not finish) in Ironman-distance races. If your stomach "shuts down" during the race then you very likely went out too fast.

Other contributing factors can be: too much solid food; a lack of fluid; or excessive fluid. The following is intended to prevent these occurrences.

Prior to Race Day

• Reduce food intake as your training volume tapers down (late Peak and Race periods).
• Eat "normal" foods during this period. Do not "experiment."

Day Before Race

Endurance athletes love to eat! Here are some ideas on how to carboload for your key races. Be wary of eating too much, excessive early pacing, rather than lack of pre-race food, limits athletes.

The basic protocol is simple, eat normally pre-race, then add 10g of carbohydrate per KG (2.2 pounds) the day before the race.

Observations:

10g CHO per KG, as we don't need to load-up our fat cells, I would adjust downward for an AG athlete with higher body fat percentage. The protocol was done on elites. So I am guessing, male 4-10% body fat.

This is a HUGE amount of CHO to eat in one day. Take me... 73KG -- 730g CHO, 2920 CHO cals. That's a heap on the day before an IM when not training, when glycogen stores are already topped up from reduced training volume.

I ate too much PRO with my CHO -- this made my stomach feel very full at times and I had plenty-o-gas. By the end of the day, I was so CHO-ed out that I ate salad for dinner (with two avos and some halibut) I think that an athlete would have to be very organized with CHO consumption breaking it into hourly feedings through the day. This would be a pain for some.

At the Olympic Training Center they noted that the science on PRO aiding CHO absoption is weak. However, they noted that BCAAs are required post exercise so supported the overall view that PRO is required immediately post exercise (although for different reasons than some folks report). My morning weight was up 3lbs on my simulated "race morning" -- this is normal.

I held quite a bit of water (possibly useful for hot races like Hawaii). I peed five times in the first two hours of exercise. My hyrdation was good throughout the day.

This conversion comes by way of Coach Chris Hauth. He can be reached via email at chrishauth@gmail.com.

It's that time of year where I like to chime in again regarding some of the posts on your website. Especially when it comes to Body composition and nutrition.

Weight is not a training tool.

As most of you know already from this site, I coach about 15 athletes every year towards Ironman. I usually work with athletes that have prior IM experience, but every year I have a few that join my program that are IM rookies. My requirement is that this athlete has some prior athletic ability in a competitive sports arena, usually one of our three sports. Some of my athletes have been working with me now for 4+ years. I don't really like to just help any athlete get to the finish line, I enjoy coaching those athletes that are looking for a boost, to get out of that grey area, that comfort zone, and try to achieve all they can at Ironman. Mostly these athletes are looking to qualify for Hawaii and enjoy working with someone who has qualified the past 7 years.

Every season we go through some very similar discussions about body composition and nutrition. Those athletes that have worked with me for 2+ years no longer partake, but the newer athletes all repeat in this theme. There are a few point I always like to make to newer triathletes looking to 'break through'.