Get access to more than 30 brands, premium video, exclusive content, events, mapping, and more.
Get access to more than 30 brands, premium video, exclusive content, events, mapping, and more.
The ultimate mapping app made for mountain biking.
Create a personalized feed and bookmark your favorites.
Create a personalized feed and bookmark your favorites.
Already have an Outside Account? Sign in
Digital + Print Intro Offer $2.99 / month*
*Outside memberships are billed annually. Print subscriptions available to U.S. residents only. You may cancel your membership at anytime, but no refunds will be issued for payments already made. Upon cancellation, you will have access to your membership through the end of your paid year. More Details
Training for a half-iron/70.3 triathlon is no small feat, especially when integrated into a busy life. If you are following a training plan to prepare for your race, but unsure what and how much to eat to support the training load, rest assured that you are not alone. Prioritizing intentional daily nutrition to support health and training can be the Achilles heel in endurance training – there’s a reason why they call nutrition the “fourth discipline” of triathlon! Never fret, we’ve got a triathlete’s meal plan for 70.3 training to help you out.
For most busy triathletes, meals are often a last-minute grab-and-go situation, or raiding the pantry for a quick, satisfying snack to fill the belly. Triathletes may have the best intentions for healthy fueling, but when caught in the one-two punch of tired and hangry, all bets are off the table.
To simplify your life and take the guessing game out, we created a basic meal plan to:
This 70.3 meal plan for triathletes is aligned with Triathlete’s popular Super Simple 70.3 training plan; specifically, weeks 10, 11, and 12 which represent two build weeks followed by a recovery week. This way, you can see how to adjust your meal plan in response to increasing and decreasing training loads.
RELATED: Triathlete’s Complete Guide to Training for a Half-Iron/70.3 Triathlon
Keep in mind you are eating to fuel the body, not lose weight or improve body composition. There is a time and place for weight loss, but not in the build training phase of a half-iron distance triathlon.
This 70.3 meal plan is broad and is not designed for a specific age, body weight, body composition, gender, food intolerances and allergies, dietary restrictions, or portion sizes. Athletes are unique, so our macronutrient needs to support training, recovery, and health. You may use the macronutrient guidelines below to personalize your serving sizes; however, if you are unsure how to meet your nutritional training needs or would like help with specific goals such as improving body composition, building fat-burning adaptations, or achieving weight loss in the post-season, seek the advice of a Sports Certified Registered Dietitian (CSSD, RD).
This meal plan for 70.3 training is designed to fulfill the recommended macronutrient guidelines for endurance athletes, which are as follows:
Note: 1kg equals 2.2 pounds; use your current weight to calculate your individual needs.
You’ll notice each day includes three meals and two or three snacks. At a glance, you may mistake this meal plan for an open buffet of non-stop consumption. That’s not the case. Balanced snacks are necessary when meals are more than four hours apart to help stabilize blood sugar, maintain energy levels, decrease hunger and cravings, and fill nutritional gaps.
For example, if an athlete wakes at 4:30 a.m. to work out, the breakfast/post workout meal is at 7 a.m., lunch at noon, and dinner at 6:30pm, the mid-morning and afternoon snack are necessary since the meals are 5 or 6.5 hours apart.
As you can see, the timing of your workout(s) dictates the timing of meals and snacks. For example, if the training is early morning (5 a.m.), shortly after waking, a small dose of easy-to-digest carbohydrate (such as the pre-workout snacks listed at the end of this article) will suffice pre-workout, with breakfast as the post-workout fuel after the session. On the other hand, if training is at 4 p.m., a pre-workout snack is needed and possibly a post-workout snack depending on dinner time.
Recovery fuel or snacks are most effective up to 45 min post workout.
When following the meal plan, remember the components of each meal can be substituted according to your preference. For example, if the meal calls for broccoli and you are not a fan, no problem! Simply refer to the veggie list below and swap it out. Adjust portion sizes to meet your individual needs.
The same principle applies to snacks – if you don’t like the snack listed in the meal plan, swap it out with one of the snack options listed at the end of this article.
Hydrate with at least 16 ounces of water at meals and 8 ounces at snacks. You should also be hydrating throughout the day—even on rest days or days when your training load is low.
Sports fueling and hydration are a key element in your overall daily nutrition, but because sports fueling is highly individual, it is not included in this meal plan. Instead, please use your sports nutrition of choice for all training sessions.
For more on building your sports nutrition training and racing plan, go to these links:
For now, we will focus on daily nutrition broken out as meals and snacks.
This meal plan for triathlon training corresponds with Week 10 of Triathlete’s Super Simple 70.3 Plan, which represents a second cumulative week of a build focus in this training plan. By the end of this week, fatigue may be accumulating depending on management of life stress, sleep, nutrition, hydration, and recovery. Consistent and proactive refueling is critical to offset overreaching, chronic fatigue and ensure positive physical adaptions from training.
Just because today is off from training doesn’t mean you should restrict calories and intake. It takes up to 24 hours to restock glycogen stores and 12 hours to restock the liver with fuel. So use today as an opportunity to adequately recover from previous training and fuel up for tomorrow’s session.
Bike 50 minutes with 5×3-minute hard efforts scattered
*Depending on the time of day this workout occurs will dictate the timing of snacks/meals. (See below)
Swim 1,400 yards total. Main set: 8 x 75 sprints, RI = 20 seconds. | Run 1 mile easy, 6 x 800m at 5K race pace with 400m jog recoveries, 1 mile easy .
On days with two training sessions, it’s essential to fuel and hydrate in and around workouts to support positive adaptations and recovery. In addition, the speed work in today’s run requires an intentional post-workout snack with protein and simple sugar within 45 min, if possible.
Bike 40 minutes moderate + 18 minutes comfortably hard.
Swim 1,400 yards total. Main set: 2 x 300 yards race pace, RI = 20 seconds. | Run 5.5 miles moderate + 4 x 10-second hill sprints.
With two sessions today and a long ride tomorrow, prioritize carbohydrates, protein (after the sessions), and hydration today.
*Dinner both tonight and tomorrow night are prime opportunities to test drive your pre-race dinner.
Breakfast or the pre-ride meal is a prime opportunity to test drive your race-day breakfast.
The evening of a long workout and the evening of successive long training days, topping off with a carbohydrate/protein snack 30-60 minutes before bed helps facilitate recovery and supports sleep, especially from dairy due to the slow release of casein protein.
Run 13 miles moderate. | Swim 2,000 yards total. Main set: 1,500 time trial.
Breakfast or the pre-swim/run meal is a prime opportunity to test drive your race-day breakfast.
With two sessions today, prioritize carbohydrates, protein (after the sessions), and proper hydration.
This triathlete’s meal plan for 70.3 training corresponds with Week 11 of the Super Simple training schedule, and represents a third cumulative week of a build focus in this training plan. Be mindful of energy levels, mood, and how your body feels as you progress through this week’s training. Bring awareness to how you manage life stress, sleep, nutrition, hydration, and recovery. Consistent and proactive refueling is critical to offset overreaching, chronic fatigue and ensure positive physical adaptions from training.
Just because today is rest from training doesn’t mean you should restrict calories and overall intake. It takes up to 24 hours to restock glycogen stores and 12 hours to restock the liver with fuel. Use today as an opportunity to adequately recover from previous training and fuel up for tomorrow’s session
Bike 55 minutes with 4 x 4-minute hard efforts scattered.
Swim 1,500 yards total. Main set: 10 x 75 sprints, RI = 20 seconds. | Run 1 mile easy, 5 x 1,000m at 5K race pace with 400m jog recoveries, 1 mile easy.
On days with two training sessions, it’s important to fuel and hydrate in and around workouts to support positive adaptations and recovery. In addition, the speed work in today’s run requires an intentional post-workout snack with protein and simple sugar within 45 minutes, if possible.
Bike 40 minutes moderate + 20 minutes comfortably hard.
Swim 1,500 yards total. Main set: 3 x 300 yards race pace, RI = 30 seconds. | Run 6 miles moderate + 4 x 10-second hill sprints.
With two sessions today and a long ride tomorrow, prioritize carbohydrates, protein (after the sessions), and hydration today.
*Dinner both tonight and tomorrow night are prime opportunities to test drive your pre-race dinner.
Bike 60 miles moderate + 10-minute transition run at race pace.
Breakfast or the pre-ride meal is a prime opportunity to test drive your race-day breakfast.
The evening of a long workout and the evening of successive long training days, topping off with a carbohydrate/protein snack 30-60 min before bed helps facilitate recovery and supports sleep, especially from dairy due to the slow release of casein protein.
Run 14 miles moderate. | Swim 2,200 yards moderate.
Breakfast or the pre-ride meal is a prime opportunity to test drive your race-day breakfast.
The evening of a long workout and the evening of successive long training days, topping off with a carbohydrate/protein snack 30-60 minutes before bed helps facilitate recovery and supports sleep, especially from dairy due to the slow release of casein protein.
This week’s meal plan for 70.3 training aligns with Week 12 of the Super Simple 70.3 schedule. Despite pulling back on intensity and duration, the week’s training still includes hard efforts and endurance sessions. Overall, it’s simply a small reprieve from the build focus. Therefore, daily nutrition will continue to align with each day and follow day’s training to ensure you are adequately fueled, recovered and prepared for the last build up to race day.
After three weeks of a focused build in this training cycle, today’s rest is an opportunity to restock glycogen and liver stores with fuel and repair muscle tissue. Additionally, use today as an opportunity to adequately recover from the previous three weeks of training and capitalize on your hard-earned fitness as you inch closer to race day.
Bike 45 minutes with 5 x 2-minute hard efforts scattered.
Swim 1,300 yards total. Main set: 6 x 75 sprints, RI = 20 seconds. | Run 2 miles easy, 1 miles at 10K race pace, 2 miles easy.
Bike 40 minutes moderate + 10 minutes comfortably hard.
Swim 1,300 yards total. Main set: 2 x 300 yards race pace, RI = 30 seconds. | Run 5 miles moderate.
With two sessions today and a long ride tomorrow, prioritize carbohydrates, protein (after the sessions), and hydration today.
*Dinner both tonight and tomorrow night are prime opportunities to test drive your pre-race dinner.
Breakfast or the pre-ride meal is a prime opportunity to test drive your race-day breakfast.
The evening of a long workout and the evening of successive long training days, topping off with a carbohydrate/protein snack 30-60 minutes before bed helps facilitate recovery and supports sleep, especially from dairy, due to the slow release of casein protein.
Run 10 miles moderate. | Swim 2,000 yards moderate.
Breakfast or the pre-ride meal is a prime opportunity to test drive your race-day breakfast.
The evening of a long workout and the evening of successive long training days, topping off with a carbohydrate/protein snack 30-60 minutes before bed helps facilitate recovery and supports sleep, especially from dairy, due to the slow release of casein protein.
Small portion of sports gummies 12 oz sports drink One sports Gel 1 -1.5 Graham cracker 10 Saltine crackers ½ cup applesauce One medium banana One slice of sourdough toast/bread
1-2 rice cakes with 1 tbsp nut butter, 1 tbsp honey or maple syrup or Jelly, one banana 8-10 crackers with 1 tbsp nut butter English muffin or two slices of sourdough bread with 1 tbsp nut butter and jelly One packet of sports gummies 100-240 calorie sports bar A handful of pretzels with 1 tbsp nut butter 100-120 calorie sports drink (25-30g carbohydrates)
15-25g protein and 1 to 1.2g CHO/kg body weight, 16-24oz fluid) within 45 min of a workout to optimize recovery and positive training adaptations.
For long and intense sessions, the recovery window extends to the first four hours to take advantage of restocking glycogen, healing damaged muscles, and decreasing overall physical stress. For the first four hours, aim for 1-1.2 g carbohydrate per kg body weight, and 15-25g protein per hour.
6 oz Greek Yogurt, ½ cup granola, 1 cup berries 20g protein powder, 8 oz milk, English muffin Bagel w/cream cheese or nut butter, and jelly/honey as desired 3/4 cup cottage cheese with strawberries and toast
Not every workout needs a post-workout snacks. You can forego the snack on days that you have one session a day, or you have a long recovery between two workouts, your workouts are under 75 minutes and low to moderate intensity, or you can have a meal within 45 minutes.
You don’t have to deprive yourself of dessert! If you’ve got a sweet tooth, try one of these healthy options:
1 cup strawberries with 1 oz Dark Chocolate (70+% cocoa). 1 oz Dark Chocolate (70+%) and a glass of milk. Applesauce Pudding Yogurt parfait Small cup ice cream Frozen berries with vanilla yogurt Greek yogurt frozen bar Popsicle
Susan Kitchen is a Sports Certified Registered Dietitian, USA Triathlon and Ironman Certified Coach, accomplished endurance athlete, and published author. She is the owner of Race Smart, an endurance coaching and performance nutrition company that works with athletes across the globe as they strive toward optimal health, fitness, and performance.
Train smarter, race faster, and crush your tri goals.
Join Outside+ to get Triathlete magazine, access to exclusive content, 1,000s of training plans, and more.