by Mr. Cleetus » Tue Jan 03, 2012 11:43 pm
There's no tri specific diet you really need. A key thing is to make sure you are getting enough calories in, especially if you are training for IM distance. Having said that, many normal build people tend to find it difficult to lose weight when training for Ironman, just because they do want to eat so much. You want to make sure you are getting good recovery meals quickly after your sessions: some carbs, some protein.... When I am training big volumes, or any time really, I find it easiest to sort out what the main protein source for the meal is (beans, tofu, whatever), and then decide the rest of the meal from there. The protein debates tend to go round-n-round-n-round but the general consensus seems to be that when training for endurance events (especially ultra stuff) that you need a pretty solid amount of protein - nearly as much as strength athletes. Luckily that is easy to do! So my advice is to eat a pretty standard diet, just make sure you are getting enough and are recovering well.
Just as important for IM is your race day nutrition. Everybody is different, so it is a pretty personal thing that you will need to experiment with during your training to see what you are able to tolerate under stress and for hours on end....
