Confluence Running · Nutrition education
For a 140.6 or another full-distance event, build a practiced nutrition system for a long day.
Evidence → explanation → your plan
During prolonged exercise, carbohydrate intake helps maintain blood glucose and carbohydrate use. Gels, chews, maple syrup, and drink mixes are delivery formats. The serving and tolerated intake matter more than the format alone.
Read the evidence ↗Glucose-type carbohydrate and fructose use different intestinal transport pathways. Blends help support higher carbohydrate intakes in prolonged exercise. Higher numbers still need a trained, comfortable gut.
Read the evidence ↗Review taper meals, breakfast, swim-start timing, bike storage, run access, and permitted resupply bags. Arrange familiar supplies and a reserve. A sports dietitian helps align the plan with your training and expected race conditions.
Use the race-week and breakfast guide to rehearse your meal timing.
Use long training sessions and bricks to establish bike and run intake. The 60–90 g carbohydrate per hour range is a long-course reference, with lower amounts used when appropriate to effort and tolerance. Do not copy another athlete’s high intake or suddenly increase your caffeine or salt.
Include different formats if they help you eat consistently. A mixed-nutrient food’s total calories are not the same as its carbohydrate contribution. Keep food accessible and eat at safe times.
| Illustrative leg | Practiced target | Planned carbohydrate |
|---|---|---|
| Six-hour bike | 75 g per hour | 450 g |
| Four-hour run | 50 g per hour | 200 g |
Total during these two legs: 650 g. Breakfast and pre-start intake are additional. This is an arithmetic example, not a requirement for every full-distance athlete. Divide supplies among accessible storage and permitted resupply points. Recalculate for your own split estimates.
A three-hour interval between bike resupply points at 75 g per hour needs 225 g available plus a reserve. Label concentrated bottles clearly and plan water separately.
Eat and drink in manageable stages as appetite returns. Keep food available during travel and the following day. See recovery nutrition.
Test long-session intake, the later run, flavor variety, bottle loss, missed aid, and temperature changes. Use a contingency you have tried rather than taking a large catch-up dose.
Tailwind Nutrition | Endurance Fuel | 50 ServingsCheck the selected flavor, serving size, caffeine, ingredients, and live availability.
Maurten | Gel 160 | Sports NutritionCheck the selected flavor, serving size, caffeine, ingredients, and live availability.
Untapped | WafflesCheck the selected flavor, serving size, caffeine, ingredients, and live availability.
Research discusses intake above 90 g per hour in trained athletes. Greater carbohydrate oxidation does not automatically establish a better race result for every athlete. Keep intake above the established starter framework as an advanced, individually supervised experiment rather than a new minimum.
Build from repeated training evidence: the amount consumed, gut comfort, fluid intake, pace, and whether the plan remains practical late in the session.
Source: Morton and colleagues. From Metabolism to Medals. Journal of Nutrition, 2026. Open access, CC BY.
