I’ve been working on my fuelling over the past six months or so. To be brutally honest, I don’t think I’ve been doing it right, especially when it comes to TR workouts 
Long story short, when tackling a TR workout, I estimate my fuelling needs based purely on the ‘efforts’ within the workout. My mind doesn’t seem to consider anything below Sweet Spot as needing fuelling. I know that this sounds daft and YES, I do fuel my pure endurance zone workouts.
This morning I will tackle Reinstein -1. My mind only sees the three O/U blocks. The three sections at 50% (total of 21 minutes) don’t even exist. When I’m loading up my bottle(s), it hit me this morning that I’m not even taking these into account.
When I tackle a TR workout, I very rarely drink or eat during what I consider to be an effort. I use the recovery to refuel and address breathing.
Have I stumbled on a major flaw in my approach to fuelling for indoor training? If so, it’s taken three years for this lightening bolt to strike.
Unless you have 20+ minutes between intervals, I’d say considering what’s going on before and after the workout is more important. What are you eating before the workout, and how long before? What are you eating directly after the workout? Are you taking into consideration your next workout, not just this one? Even if it’s just 1-2h endurance, if you’ve got a hard workout within the next <48 hours, you’d probably be best served by taking on carbs during the ride.
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When I do anything above a Z2 ride, I fill up a bottle of SIS turbo + (62g carb) and supplement that with chomping on a date bar (actual block of dried dates, as dates have a GI of 100, so quickly absorbed) or taking some gels. Depending how I am feeling.
But I generally have a bowl of porridge with peanut butter 1/2 hrs before my workout with a couple cups of coffee.
Depending on the workout, and length I sometimes use two bottles of SIS Turbo +. Generally though I am good with just one and some food / gel. I generally do workouts between 60-90mins.
For example for this one Ericsson +2 (done at 105%) I had one bottle 750ml bottle of SIS Turbo +, and some mouthfuls of a date bar, whilst topping up with water during the breaks.
Like you @PusherMan I rarely drink during the block unless it’s a sustained effort which is constant. Id would say just try to aim for 60-90g carbs per hour and you should be good.
Why’s that? Are you running out of energy mid session?
Nothing wrong with that. Eating and drinking is difficult at threshold or above in my opinion. If you have recovery valleys then theres nothing wrong with using them for refuelling.
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I use the valleys for refueling as it can be tough to fuel during the intenser intervals. I take the approach that Jonathan mentioned on the podcast a while back: “If I’m spinning the pedals, I’m fueling.” This means regardless of intensity I will take on 60 g of carbs per hour, even during Petit and other lower intensity rides. It has helped me tremendously during this season so far as I’m already 20 watts ahead of last year’s PRs for the same amount of training. It also makes the RPE of the workout drop for most rides.
I feel this not only helps in establishing a fueling habit but also helps me hit the necessary calorie intake for the day. My problem historically is not getting enough calories in rather than too many.
It’s not that complicated. I do: 750ml/hour of fluid. 60-100g of carbs/hour regardless of workout intensity. Experiment, find what works, stick to what works.
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If I’m doing some sort of interval work, I’m trying for around 80-100g an hour. If I’m doing Z2 or recovery that’s when I’m “training” my gut and push just a little further and further. Last weekend I did Conness (2:45 at 0.63IF) while taking on 350g of carbs. It was a little uncomfortable halfway through it, but I broke new ground. Never could have done that a year ago.
