As part of monthly feature sponsored by EAS (www.eas-uk.info/eas), Tri247 is going to be providing regular nutritional tips and information. EAS sponsor many top athletes, among them Tim Don and Nicole Cooke.

Chewing over race-day nutrition!

Most athletes know that eating or drinking something new on race day is a big 'faux pas', always 'try before you fly' in case the product settles in your stomach like a brick, tastes awful, doesn't sustain you etc. However, gut problems on race day are still extremely common and can steal a PB right from under your nose regardless of how fit and prepared you are. Not eating and drinking certainly isn't the solution, so what else can you do?

What many don't realise is that dealing with food and drink at race pace is totally different to digesting and absorbing it at training pace. When you exercise hard, blood supply to the stomach is significantly reduced and diverted to working muscles. In addition, the nerves that fire off when we are stressed sit right next to those which govern our digestive tract. So its no wonder race day nerves and excitement also make our stomach rather sensitive.

So, lesson one is to test your fuel and fluid choices in race intensity workouts and/or low priority races. Lesson two - if you get overly nervous before a race, make it your mission to learn some relaxation techniques and give yourself slightly longer to digest your pre-race meal. Rather than say two hours, give yourself perhaps three hours and top up your blood sugar with a gel or sports drink 10 mins before you start (of course, trial this in training!)

Other things which may be a perfectly normal part of your diet, but may be giving you issues on race day include:

• High dose vitamin C supplements
• Aspirin
• Spicy food
• Too much alcohol or caffeine
• Cruciferous vegetables (eg kale, turnip, cabbage or broccoli)
• Too much fructose (fruit juices, some sports drinks, honey)

Note: these are not blanket recommendations! Individuals differ so detective work is required to find out what is right for YOU so that you can fuel up with confidence.

Why is breakfast important? Many of us will have heard the message countless times that "breakfast is the most important meal of the day". For once this 'old wives tale' has many elements of truth in it, but why?

Well firstly let's talk about the athlete's friend, glycogen. Glycogen is stored in the muscles and the liver. Liver glycogen is the main source of glucose that keeps our brain alert, motivated and focused. Now even if you had a big plate of pasta for dinner, by breakfast time the next day, liver glycogen will have been depleted during your overnight fast. So breakfast gets the old grey matter back into gear.

Next, breakfast fires up your metabolism (the rate at which you burn calories). Our body functions best if we eat about every 3-4 hours. Obviously we can't do that overnight so by breakfast time it can be 12 or more hours since we last ate. Without a morning meal, your metabolism stays in slumber mode.

Thirdly, don't fall into the trap of thinking that skipping breakfast will help you to lose weight. Studies have shown that when you miss breakfast you tend to over-compensate later in the day eg that mid-morning latte and pastry contains three times the calories of a bowl of porridge and a banana! Breakfast-eaters tend to be leaner and lighter than breakfast-skippers.

A well balanced breakfast of a high fibre cereal or porridge with low fat milk and some fruit or unsweetened juice takes five minutes to eat and could give you a quarter of your daily requirements for a significant number of vitamins and minerals; that's definitely worth making time for!

When the going gets tough for Tim, he tears into an EAS Energy Gel. This little pouch packs an immediate energy burst to get you through ‘the wall’. Tim has one when on the bike – and sometimes while running too, depending how the race is going. This concentrated gel sustains energy by delivering simple and complex carbohydrates supported by taurine and chromium. With 40% RDA of antioxidant vitamins C and E, it helps combat free radicals released during intensive exercise.

What’s more it has BCAAs (Branch Chain Amino Acids) to replace those sacrificed during intense exercise. BCAAs comprise 1/3 of muscle tissue and they are the first to be used during strenuous activity but are essential to muscle health and strength. EAS Energy Gel also has Taurine and Chromium to enable the carbohydrates to be taken up by the body. Its low acid formula guards against any digestive discomfort - so, you can literally take Energy Gel on the move – even if, like Tim, you’re moving pretty fast!