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by Coach Maura

For carrying gels and energy bars:

• Invest in a Bento Box for your bike. Fuelbelt [www.fuelbelt.com] has a great new one that zips closed.  This is great for longer races as it can hold all your food and keeps it fresher than your back pockets can!

Pill dispensers are essenstial for salt tabs, caffeine pills, ibuprofen and the like...some ideas for carrying these:

• Special plastic race-specifici pill dispensers sold at Fuelbelt [www.fuelbelt.com]
  
• Smaller pill holders for short races that they sell at CVS
  
• Those great mini-M&M candy holders!
  
• Snack-size ziplock bags (though a bit tougher to open and close while riding, so be sure to practice)

For the run you may still need fuel, pills, gels, etc.  Here are some options:

• Attach a small zipper pouch to your race belt...this is the easiest option, as you can move it to the front to get what you need then slide it back out of the way.
  
• Use a traditional Fuelbelt that has both water and gel holders.
  
• Use the same pill dispenser options as the bike....remember tossing loose pills into the back of your tri suit is a bad idea....as you sweat they are going to melt and you will find yourself without the essentials you need.

There are all sorts of other unique ways to carry nutrition, but I have found the above options to work the best....so give them a try and see what you think!

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