Triathlon nutrition

Nutrition plays a crucial role in your triathlon training and race-day performance, so you need to know how to fuel your body to achieve the best results.

As you dial up your weekly training volume, you’ll also increase your energy expenditure. This means that you also need to increase your caloric intake to fuel your training and recovery. 

You need an adequate amount of protein to help with muscle repair; carbs are an excellent fuel for endurance training, but if you feel better on a diet that’s higher in fats, that’s also completely ok. Don’t make drastic changes to your diet in the last few weeks before your triathlon race; instead, focus on making healthy day-to-day choices and fueling your body properly. 

Because you won’t be able to consume food when swimming, it’s important to ensure that you get adequate nutrition before the race and during the cycling section. Experiment with different fuel options during your longer training sessions, to see what works best for you.

Race week nutrition

Now that you’ve done all the hard work of training for your triathlon, it’s time to reduce your training volume and intensity and make some final tweaks to your nutrition.

This is when you’ll be carb-loading, or increasing the ratio of carbohydrates in your diet, while simultaneously reducing your mileage. This will enable your body to store enough energy in the form of glycogen in your muscles, which will fuel your effort on race day. One gram of glycogen is stored with 3 grams of water, so you might gain a bit of water weight during this process.

You don’t need to drastically increase your calories in the week before your race, nor do you need to rely on processed foods or sugar. Instead, focus on increasing the proportion of carbs in each meal, dropping fats slightly. For this, keep in mind that 1 gram of carbs is 4 calories, while 1 gram of fat equals 9 calories. Complex carbohydrates like oats, rice, whole grains, vegetables, and fruits are ideal.

At the same time, you need to keep your protein high to help with muscle recovery and slow the digestion of carbs. 

This approach is ideal for race day, too: You want to make sure you can sustain yourself throughout the entire race.

Consider all other areas of recovery, too: Get enough sleep, hydrate yourself well, and do plenty of stretching and mobility exercises. 

Three days before your race

At this point, you might want to reduce your fiber intake (meaning veggies, fruits, whole grains, cereals, and beans) to reduce the weight in your intestines and have a smooth race. 

Two to four hours before your race 

On the day of your race, eat a meal that’s high in carbs to top up your glycogen stores. Keep protein relatively low (below or around 15 g). Ideally, you should aim to eat this meal 2 to 4 hours before you cross the start line to give your digestive system enough time to start moving. 

Don’t try anything new on race day. Stick to tried and tested combinations that you’re familiar with from your longer training sessions.

Post-triathlon recovery: sleep, rest, cross-training, and more

If you’ve just completed a triathlon, first of all, congratulations! 

Finishing a triathlon is an impressive achievement that tests your endurance and mental resilience – and that can be really exhausting and painful. 

So, it’s essential that you allow yourself enough time to recover. Your post-triathlon recovery is an essential part of your journey, so you should treat it as such. This will enable you to get back to training without risking an injury or feeling burnt out. 

Here are our top tips to help you recover from your triathlon race: 

• Get a few days of rest: After you finish your race, give yourself a few days of rest to heal from the stress and exhaustion. You don’t need to spend this time on the couch, but make sure you keep all physical activities at a low to moderate intensity.
• Sleep, sleep, sleep: Because of the adrenaline rush, you might find it difficult to get a full night of sleep immediately after a race; it might take you a few days to get consistent 8-hours nights, but do make sleep a priority. That’s when your body does most of the repair work! 
• Be mindful of your nutrition: Make sure to refuel your body adequately after the big day. Aim for meals rich in carbs and in protein to replenish your glycogen stores and help with muscle repair.
• Decide on your next goal: Triathlon training can be very intensive, so if you don’t set a new goal, this might leave you feeling empty. Picking a new goal will help you stay focused during the recovery phase.

Triathlon gear: bike, shoes, clothing, and more

What you wear while training for a triathlon and on the day of your race will have a big impact on your comfort. Given that triathlons involve three disciplines, you need to put some effort into finding the right gear for you. 

Here’s a list of the gear you might consider: 

• A bike for the cycling part; if you’re a beginner, you can use your regular bike, while more experienced athletes might look into more specialized options. Make sure your bike is in good condition and take it to your bike shop to check it before the race
• A flat tire kit to change a flat tire if needed (make sure you know how to use it)
• A triathlon suit that you can use for all three disciplines; pick a tri suit made of quick-drying performance fabrics with padding in the crotch area (to keep you comfortable during the bike ride). Alternatively, you could use a wet suit, bike shorts, and a t-shirt
• A sports watch to track your progress during training and your performance on race day
• A towel or a mat to help find your bike once you get out of the water, dry yourself, and put your shoes on
• Running shoes to keep your feet comfortable during the run; it’s best to go to a specialized shoe store with an in-store treadmill where you can try on a few pairs
• A helmet to protect your head in case you fall during the cycling section
• Eyewear such as goggles for the swimming leg of the race and sunglasses for the other two disciplines
• Race belt to which you can clip your race number 
• Hydration gear and nutrition to get enough water and calories during your race
• A high-SPF sunscreen to protect yourself from the sun – that’s a must, even on cloudy days

Always keep in mind the golden rule, however: On race day, don’t try anything new. 

Stick to clothes, shoes, and gear in which you’ve already run long distances. You don’t want to discover halfway through your maraton that your shorts ride up uncomfortably or that your t-shirt feels itchy.