I'd recommend the following basic nutrition supplementation strategy for endurance athletes in addition to a well planned diet in support of training:

1. A daily multi-vitamin - provides you with a base each day of vitamins and minerals

2. Protein supplementation - (if you're not getting sufficient intake from food) a protein supplement is great to help you bridge the gap from what you're getting in your diet and what you actually need each day.  Many athletes are unknowingly protein deficient and this greatly inhibits optimal recovery and muscle development - hurting performance improvement, contributing to muscle soreness, etc.

3. "Your personal elixirs" - these items can be any form of placebo or actually working supplements that you have determined through your own experience to improve your performance.  This could include glucosamine-chondroitin products for joint health, additional vitamins and/or minerals (example: sodium and potassium if you easily deplete electrolytes while sweating), and various energy or performance products that you've found to be helpful.

Be sure to get items 1 and 2 covered and then make your training your personal lab for determining other supplementation that may beneficial.

With all of the great food and hydration products available for endurance athletes it can be a confusing maze to attempt to find a race day nutrition strategy that fits your specific needs and preferences.  There's bars, gels, caps, powders, beverages and "optimally" engineered goodies of all varieties that can be useful but are sometimes distracting and confusing for athletes of all levels that are looking for the right nutrition or seeking for the next level in competitive performance.

As you attempt to find your nutrition groove for race day I'd recommend that you be open-minded to what's available and stay away from boxing yourself into a nutrition strategy that relies only on "optimal" or "highly engineered" nutrition products.  I'm not suggesting that all of those bars and gels out there aren't great products and all that they're billed to be.  The point that I want to make is that you should try a variety of options, some may be less conventional, to find what fits for you.

Your best race day nutrition strategy needs to: (1) fit your preferences and tastes and (2) provide fuel, hydration and replenishment for your body's physical demands.

Don't use "optimal" products if they don't fit requirement 1.  If you can't seem to stomach energy bars, you may need to go with some old fashioned PB&Js or another favorite snack on race day instead.

Whatever nutrition products or homemade concoctions you attempt to use for your race day nutrition, you need to be sure that these choices have passed the ultimate test of successfully fueling, hydrating and replenishing your needs during your most difficult and grueling training sessions.  If they pass this test you can feel 100% confident that your strategy will deliver for you on race day. 

When it comes to nutrition, I think that it's best to try to engineer your diet to get a majority of your nutrient requirements from whole food sources.  Nature is often better at serving up the nutrients our bodies need and wholesome fruits, vegetables, grains and lean meats are more than capable of providing the essential elements that the body needs to perform well.

With that said, I also believe that nutritional supplements have their important place in a triathlete's well conceived nutrition plan.  There are two reasons why supplements are important: (1) availability and (2) convenience and timing.

1.  AVAILABILITY: In a perfect world, we all have the nutritional knowledge and culinary capabilities to plan and prepare nutritionally optimal meals.  These meals contain a perfect blend of vitamins, minerals and macro nutrients to fit our exact nutritional requirements.  OK, we don't live in a perfect world and our prepared foods are often deficient or are often lacking in the ability to make the nutrients we need available to our bodies.  Nutritional Supplementation can serve as a base line or support system to help improve the consistency of our diet's ability to make required nutrients available for our benefit.

2. CONVENIENCE and TIMING:  Again in a perfect world, we all consume exactly what we need at the perfect moment in time that our body requires for optimal performance.  Nope, this doesn't happen either.  Schedules and the "realities" of life often times get in the way of optimal nutritional consumption schedules.  Nutritional supplementation can help to improve the convenience and timing of essential nutrients for triathletes.

My two most recommended nutritional supplements fall under these categories:

1.  Multi-Vitamin Supplement:  This is a must for any serious endurance athlete.  This is a supplement that should be taken as an AVAILABILITY aid.  It's surprising how many cramps and other vitamin/mineral deficiency related problems seem to disappear when a daily Multi-Vitamin is taken.

2.  Post Workout Recovery Drink:  This supplement becomes more and more important as your workouts become more taxing or increase in volume.  Recovery is a key to making progress.  If you can't recover quickly and completely, you'll see slower performance improvement and/or negative performance improvements.  The nutrients (specifically protein and carbohydrates) that are immediately replenished using a post workout recovery drink after a workout will help to increase recovery time and effectiveness.  This supplement is best used as a CONVENIENCE and TIMING aid helping the triathlete to consume the needed nutrients when the body most needs it.

After the holidays, dropping back down to your racing weight often means some extra focus on daily calorie consumption.  A Runner's World article posted on MSN's Health and Fitness site offers some good tips on how to rethink your daily snack and meal choices to shave off some unneeded calorie intake and eventually a few pounds: 

By merely replacing some of the foods you currently eat with lower-calorie alternatives, or even by simply adjusting the proportions of foods you're already eating, you can trim several hundred calories from your daily intake and start getting leaner. Here are some examples of how to eat for a trimmer waistline. Even if you don't eat the exact foods listed here, you can still apply these calorie-cutting principles to your own diet.Read the entire article on nutrition and ab fitness here.

	Instead of	Eat This	Calories Saved
Breakfast	1 cup Wheaties cereal with 2% milk; Grande Starbucks Caffe Latte with nonfat milk	1/2 cup Wheaties with fresh strawberries and 2% milk; Tall Starbucks coffee with half-and-half and sugar	186
Rationale : Due to their high fiber and water content, fresh fruits fill more space in your stomach with fewer calories. By adding fruit and reducing the portions of other foods, you can trim calories and still feel satisfied. (Cut 20 more calories by replacing 2% milk with skim.) Coffee drinks made with syrup and milk are calorie bombs, especially in larger sizes. For a lean caffeine fix, drop to a medium coffee sweetened with half-and-half and sugar.
Snack	High-calorie energy bar	Kettle Valley Real Fruit Bar	90
Rationale : Energy bars are convenient and tasty snacks, but they can pack a lot of calories and are dismissed by some nutritionists as as "candy bars in disguise." Choose a bar with 150 calories or fewer, eat half a bar and save the rest for tomorrow, or look for a leaner choice. Kettle Valley Real Fruit Bars contain 1/2 cup of fruit and no added sugar or preservatives.
Lunch	Turkey sub; 1 serving of baked potato chips	Turkey wrap; baby carrots dipped in light ranch dressing	134
Rationale : One of the few positive legacies of the low-carb craze is the popularization of wraps as an alternative to sandwiches. Tortillas have fewer calories, and it's easier to stuff them with veggies. Most "light" alternatives to snack chips are still relatively high in calories and low in overall nutrition. Instead, try baby carrots dipped in light ranch dressing. Carrots contain fiber, which will keep you feeling full longer.
Snack	Trail mix (2 parts nuts to 1 part dried fruit)	Trail mix (1 part nuts to 2 parts dried fruit)	116
Rationale : While trail mixes that contain nuts and dried fruit are quite nutritious, those with more nuts than fruit are heavy on calories. A one-ounce serving of mixed nuts contains 175 calories and 1/4 cup of dried fruit contains 100 calories, so to make this snack significantly lighter, choose a mix with more fruit than nuts.
Dinner	Chicken (4 ounces) and vegetable (3/4 cup) stir-fry with white rice (1 cup)	Chicken (3 ounces) and vegetable (1 cup) stir-fry with brown rice (3/4 cup)	87
Rationale : You can lower the number of calories in almost any meal by increasing its vegetable content and shrinking its meat and starch content. You can lighten up further by swapping a refined grain for a whole grain. You can make this substitution to other meals by adding more veggies and subtracting cheese from pasta dishes, burritos, and pizza. Also, choose whole-wheat pastas and breads.
Dessert	Fruit sorbet	Dove dark chocolate (one piece, .28 ounces)	100
Rationale : Some desserts have fewer calories than others, and sorbet is lighter than most. But dark chocolate is the world's best dessert by far. Dark chocolate releases mood-boosting serotonin in the brain, so just a single 50-calorie piece can satisfy you better than a whole bowl of sorbet. And the antioxidants in dark chocolate are good for the heart.

To read the full article on nutrition and ab fitness click here.

The Wall Street Journal posted an editorial on the correlation between exercise and weight loss that has drawn quite a bit of attention:

The idea that exercise produces weight loss is seldom questioned in workout-mad America, but Gary Taubes says evidence for this belief is, well, thin. Mr. Taubes writes in New York magazine that most studies on the link between swimming laps and losing weight demonstrate little beyond one widely accepted fact: “exercising makes us hungry.” In fact, he says, exercise may even lead to a weight gain, though he doesn’t deny its many health benefits.

Just working out frequently, alone, won't necessarily help you drop pounds.  As many triathletes will attest, as your training volume increases, so does your appetite and it takes a focused nutrition plan to help you reach and maintain your desired optimal performance weight.

Weight loss in both cases of sedentary individuals and endurance athletes seeking peak performance are common in terms that both will require the individual to run a calorie intake deficit.  Meaning that if you are sedentary and burn 2,000 calories per day, you need to consume less then 2,000 calories per day to run a deficit and use the body's stores of calories for energy (to loose weight).  Also, in the case of the endurance athlete, if he/she burns 4,500 calories in a day but consumes 4,700 calories, the athlete shouldn't expect to see any significant weight loss trends and possibly may start to see weight gain over time.

Macronutrient composition of one's diet will also have an impact on the prospects for the type of weight gain or loss but by no means does limiting calorie intake to some magic equation of protein, fat and carbohydrates result in weight loss in and of itself.  Much of the success that people have with fad macronutrient diets is generally a result of the individual becoming more aware and exercising more discretion over their eating habits...in most cases resulting in a restriction of excess calorie intake.

As endurance athletes, this is insight that we are all probably well aware of! 

The June North American Sports Newsletter highlighted two items on hydration worth mentioning:

The first item is a recent post in the Nutritional Resource Center on the PowerBar website:

"New Fluid Replacement Recommendations from ACSM

The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) recently updated their position on how to best hydrate before, during and after exercise.  Is your hydration strategy up to speed? Read on to find out what the experts are saying.

Is hydration important to performance?

Absolutely! Exercise generates internal heat. To function at your best athletically, that heat needs to be released. As your internal temperature rises, your body responds by increasing blood flow to your skin and initiating sweating. More blood flowing to your skin transfers heat away from your core and toward the exterior of your body where it can be released. The evaporation of sweat in warm or hot weather is the primary avenue for losing heat and so sweat losses can be substantial. Sweat is composed of water and electrolytes and if they aren’t appropriately replaced, dehydration can result. Conversely, if too much fluid is consumed, overhydration or hyponatremia can occur. Both dehydration and overhydration impair physical performance and can pose serious health risks. So, having a hydration plan is critical to athletic performance and important for your health."

The article continues with some valuable advice on determining your body's hydration needs and how to establish an adequate hydration strategy.  Click here to read the entire article.

The second item gives a link to aid in locating stores that sell Gatorade's Endurance Formula:

"Gatorade Endurance Formula is available in one Litre ready-to-drink bottles at major grocery stores and 50.2oz powder canisters in specialty stores nationwide. This year, race participants can kick off their training with the help of a new online store locator to find and purchase Gatorade Endurance Formula.

It's easy to use: go to www.enduranceformula.com, then type in your zip code in the “store locator" section and a map will be generated with every grocery and specialty store in your area that carries Endurance Formula ready-to-drink or powder mix.  Gatorade Endurance Formula is a specialized sports drink that contains approximately twice the amount of sodium (200 mg per 8 ounces) of Gatorade Thirst Quencher, along with chloride, potassium, magnesium and calcium to help sustain hydration by more fully replacing what is lost in sweat.

Gatorade Endurance Formula also contains a 6% carbohydrate solution (14 grams per 8 ounces), just like Gatorade Thirst Quencher, which research shows is optimal to help speed fluid back into the body and fuel working muscles."

Gatorade's Endurance Formula is a great product, but it's not available everywhere that Gatorade products are sold.  The website cited above will be helpful if you've had difficulties finding a place to buy the product.

Hydration mistakes on race day can be costly, so be sure to do your best to dial in your hydration strategy each day during your workouts.

Here's a great article written in 2003 by Steve Born, an UltraCycling champion and record holder.  It covers some interesting points on common nutrition mistakes made by endurance athletes.

The "10 BIGGEST MISTAKES ENDURANCE ATHLETES MAKE":

1. EXCESS HYDRATING
2. CONSUMING TOO MUCH SIMPLE SUGAR
3. EATING TOO MUCH SOLID FOOD DURING EXERCISE
4. STAYING WITH YOUR GAME PLAN WHEN IT’S CLEARLY NOT WORKING
5. TRAINING ON TOO FEW CALORIES
6. CONSUMING IMPROPER AMOUNTS OF CALORIES DURING COMPETITION
7. FAILING TO CONSISTENTLY TAKE SUPPLEMENTAL ELECTROLYTES
8. CONSUMING TOO MUCH PROTEIN DURING EXERCISE
9. NOT CONSUMING ANY PROTEIN DURING EXERCISE
10. NOT CONSUMING ENOUGH CALORIES AFTER WORKOUTS

Click here to view the entire article...

Endurance training can take its toll on the immune system.  An article on Peak Performance Online suggests: "Running a marathon, competing in a long-distance cycle race or doing an extended workout can stress out your immune system enough to make you ill.  In fact, research suggests that marathoners are six times more likely to become ill following their 26-mile races than the average person in the street or the runner who puts in an easy three-miler."  In an article published on VeloNews.com, nutritionist Monique Ryan also concurs that "Periods of heavy training are also associated with a depressed immune function and compromised immune function can be further aggravated by inadequate nutrition. The body's susceptibility to a respiratory infection can be elevated for 24 hours after a tough workout, and a demanding race can impair your immune function for one to two weeks."

So how does the endurance athlete maintain good immunity health and continue a demanding schedule of training? 

1. Proper recovery after training sessions and periodization of workouts to avoid overtraining:

Dr. Lynn Fitzgerald, in an article on foot-traffic.co.uk, elaborates on the importance of proper recovery and avoiding overtraining to help prevent immunity weakness.  Dr. Fitzgerald states: "It is well established that a single intense training session results in immune system depression in elite athletes, including runners, and that restoration of full immune competence depends on adequate physiological recovery...Our research and others have shown that an athlete’s time to recovery post-training is a sensitive predictor of an imminent state of burnout or overtraining. Within any one individual athlete, their immune ‘profile’ may fluctuate throughout the year. Thus, for example, full recovery from an exhausting training session may be observed within six hours at the start of the competitive season yet take fifteen hours in the final weeks of competition."

Watch for signs of overtraining on a daily basis and be willing to adapt your training to your body's response.  Also organize your annual training plan to offer proper periodization to encourage healthy and sustainable performance gains.

2. Nutrition that supports the increased demands on your immune system:

Monique Ryan suggests a few nutritional strategies in her article on VeloNews.com which include:

• supplementation of vitamin C
• adequate intakes of zinc, iron, vitamins B6 and B12, and Vitamin E
• high intake of fruits and vegetables (source of phytochemicals and carotenoids)
• calorie balance and consumption of essential fatty acids
• carbohydrate intake before, during, and after training

Regardless of how great your training is, if you don't get the right nutrients at the right time, you won't be able to make the performance gains you could and will probably find illness a constant companion.

Pay attention to your body's response to your training, train smart and keep your nutrition in line with your body's demands and you'll do a lot to keep your immune system healthy and capable.

Looking for some healthy recipes to mix up your diet a bit?  The 24 Hour Fitness website has a nice little database of some nutritious meals and more.  There's a little of everything, from appetizers to entrées to desserts and everything in between.  Click here to visit the recipes site.

Two-time Ironman World Champion, Normann Stadler, discusses his race day nutrition in this short video interview on Ironmanpower.com.