MARK RYAN

Mark's a British Triathlon Level 3 Coach (the highest level available), a graduate of Triathlon England's long term athlete development programme, and a certified Swim Smooth and VDOT O2 distance running coach. He's head coach at Oxford as well as training individuals from elite to amateur level

When I was studying there's this rule of thumb you need so many carbohydrates per kilogram, per hour. As a coach, that's what I was told was the science. And that's what I prescribed to my athletes.

"Then I listened to a podcast with the guys from 33. It changed my views completely on how we should view nutrition. It was more about listening to your body, and feeding it when it actually gets hungry.

"This was a revelation to me. Rather than going with one method that every single person should use, it should be more about trying different things. Find out what works for you. See what your body can do. Then, just fuel it in a slightly different way.

"Now I try to be more reactive with nutrition. Listen to your body, figure out when you’re hungry, and then fuel when you need it. 

"It's the principle of getting athletes to listen to their bodies, and work out a strategy that works for them. I can't see any downside to that at all. It seems much better than saying you need this many carbs per kilogram.

"Then, when you know what works for you, you go into your race confident that you've got a strategy that works. It can be different for every single person.

"As an analogy, some days you're really hungry, other days you're not. And you wouldn't eat the same food at the same time every single day whether you're hungry or you're not. So this is just aligning what you do in your daily life to your race, and thinking about them almost in a similar way.

"It just makes sense."

Mark's website www.mr-triathlon.com

Instagram @markryantriathlon