Swim, Bike, Run, Eat: Complete Guide to Fueling Your Triathlon

by Tom Holland, Amy Goodson

It’s race day and you have your quick-closure running shoes, sleek suits, bikes, goggles, and watches, but if you haven’t been training with the proper nutrition, you’ll be left in the dust in the third mile. Enter Swim, Bike, Run­—Eat to guide you through day one of training to the finish line and help your body perform at the peak of fitness. In this book, an ideal companion to author Tom Holland’s The 12-Week Triathlete, he will join sports dietitian Amy Goodson covering race-day essentials, food choices to complement your training regimen, as well as recovery nutrition. Learn how to determine what to eat; what to drink; how many calories to consume each day; whether or not to carry snacks while training; the difference between taking in calories from solid foods, semi-solids, and liquids; and whether or not to take electrolyte or salt tablets. Casual and core triathletes alike require a nutrition guide that is easy to understand with expert advice that is easy to implement. Look no further and get ready to take your triathlon to a new, healthier level.    

Genres: Fitness, Nonfiction, Sports, Health

192 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2014

About the author

Tom Holland is a renowned Exercise Physiologist and Certified Sports Nutritionist. An elite athlete himself, Holland has completed over 60 marathons and ultramarathons as well as 26 Ironman triathlons around the world. He holds a Master's Degree in Exercise Science and Sport Psychology and has been certified by the CISSN, ACSM, NSCA-CSCS, NASM, ACE, and AFAA. He is the author of The Marathon Method, The 12-Week Triathlete, Beat the Gym and Swim, Bike, Run - Eat: The Complete Guide to Fueling Your Triathlon. He also stars in numerous best-selling fitness videos including Supreme 90 Day, The Abs Diet Workout and Herbalife.

Reviews

[Qing Mirabella · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent beginner book for anyone who wants to dive deep into triathlon nutrition.

I was misled by the tile and expected to read out training plans as well as nutrition, but only found out that it’s for nutrition only.

The nutrition 101 part is boring for me personally, but I did get some valuable advices in terms of “healthy eating”. The nutrition during race and recipes could be very helpful and are bookmarked for later.

Overall, 3 stars and could be 4 stars if shortened into an article with few bullet points.

[Franta · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unfortunately I did not find much useful information here and especially I disagree with quite a lot of advice given here. Though I am probably not the target audience as I did a thorough research and testing of my training diet and eating habits and developed my own plan.
Here I was searching for some new ideas for improvement...

[Jess Kang · Rating 4 out of 5]

Useful for me who doesn't have much knowledge in nutrition!

[Jess · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good notes

[ury949]

This book will have you counting, counting, counting - calories, grams per weight, ratios before workout, ratios after workout. Actually, I don't know if I'll ever become that obsessed with it, although I did learn some basics (along with the details) of how an endurance athlete should eat.

But let's be clear - even for endurance athletes, the range is large. Personally, I don't work out two or more times a day, nor do I ever have six-hour long training sessions, but this book is written for those who do. As well as for someone like me, and even for someone doing even less than I do - he addresses all sorts of athletes. All I'm saying is that I, not being a professional athlete, did not need all the information in this book - but still I took something away from it.

There'r general ideas that he repeats to the effect of getting his point across - don't do something in a race you haven't practiced while training first (right down to using your pockets!); eat enough protein for you almost surely do not; carbs are what your body uses for energy; eat within 30 minutes after a workout (don't shower first); etc. I tend to already have a background of knowledge about nutrition, so a lot of the stuff in this book I already knew, but some I didn't, or didn't know well enough, and this book helps you focus on the things pertaining to athletes - your plan as he calls it. He addresses vegetarians and other restricted diets as well, which is good. Although I can't say I agree with him on some topics, but perhaps that's because I already have a more holistic view of food than what is in this book - for example, there isn't once mentioned sprouted grains or grass-fed beef, nor does he talk about the types of sugars and processed ingredients found in sports drinks, bars, and supplements. As you can see, my concerns of food and nutrition go beyond what is covered in this book - although if he went off into these topics, I'm sure it would be a much more complicated book than it already is. In the scope of his topic, he is quite thorough.

Not so much humor here - more of, "Check out how this guy totally failed, and I'll tell you why he totally failed." Also, the recipes in the back are nothing to call home about - basically just more examples of how you can get your three main nutrients in your meal. He's big on protein powder - it's in a lot of his meal plans and ideas. Do I recommend this book? Sure, I'd say it's just as important as improving the efficiency of your swim stroke, and maybe even more important than the aerodynamics of your bike helmet. Enjoy!

[Kimberlee · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Swim, Bike, Run - Eat" brings practical advice for the triathlete, from novice (me) to elite (the author). It ends with some good looking recipes, which I have not tried yet. The authors focus on before and after workouts as well as night before and morning of race fare. The book also illuminates supplements and carbohydrates, proteins, fats and hydration. The authors also unpack various diets, fad and otherwise, e.g., vegan. As I approach my second sprint triathlon this upcoming summer, I am glad I read this book and I have already made changes to my nutrition while reading this book, with positive results.

[Gerald Kinro · Rating 3 out of 5]

The work shows the important of nutrition for the endurance athlete. So important is food, that what fuels the body in these events, that proper eating is a must before, during, and after a race.

It is written by a competitive triathlete and a dietician. It is a beautiful book with its many colored photos. Information-wise, it does not do it for me. Since diet, quantity and quality is covered, the work needed to greater coverage of food. For example, it sets guidelines for the amount of protein required. With this I would have liked to see charts and tables of the various foods that shows their nutritional makeup.

[Holly Pablo Monasterial · Rating 4 out of 5]

I started this book with little to no knowledge about triathlons. From a beginner's standpoint, then, this is an easy-to-understand guide that explores which foods to eat and why. I'm happy the author's voice is helpful and not at all condescending. Adding a sprint-distance triathlon to my life's to-do list.

[Jessica Fulk · Rating 5 out of 5]

While I'm not planning on training for a triathlon any time soon, I wanted to learn more about nutrition from a professional athlete. This book was very easy to read and understand, I felt the author was very well informed and experienced. It was well worth reading, I learned a lot and have a much better understanding of sports nutrition.

[Amber De · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good info for fueling and eating for longer workouts.

[Kristin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good book for training and race-day nutrition. It answered a lot of questions I had about how to fuel long workouts and races.