Ironman Nutrition Plan

As you all know I am a big fan of First Endurance nutrition for all of my training and racing.  There is a reason for the FE love:  First Endurance is owned by Triathletes and they make products specifically for Triathletes.  This may sound like a marketing ploy and at first I too was skeptical, until I used the products.  You can go back through the many, many posts on this blog and read about all of the different types of gels, drinks, bars, and salt tabs I have sampled over the years.  They all are average (at best) when compared to the First Endurance product line.

Since FE has done such a remarkable job of differentiating itself from the other nutrition companies I will be using them for most of my race at Ironman Texas on Saturday.  PowerBar Perform, Bars, and Gels are the official IM sponsor so they will be the on course provided nutrition.  I will use this when my FE supply is depleted.

I read an article by Pro Triathlete Michael Lovato after he raced Kona last year and he described his IM nutrition in detail.  He is a little bigger than me so my calories won't be as high as his but I am going to use a similar plan based on his recommendation.  Find that article HERE.

Here is my plan:

Race Morning:

Wake up at 3am and eat a whole wheat bagel (250 calories) with peanut butter (2 spoons - 200 calories) and wash down with a cup of coffee (black) and 2 scoops (320 calories) of Ultragen Recovery drink.  I am aware Ultragen is a recovery drink but I have been training with Ultragen before my longer swim and bike workouts and it has really agreed with me. I like the calories before long efforts.  Then I will go back to sleep until 4:30am.

At 4:30am I will wake-up again and have a banana (135 calories).

I will then walk to transition with a 24oz bottle of EFS Drink (200 calories/2000 electrolytes) and sip on this as I walk to the swim start.  About 10 minutes before we enter the water I will have 2 shots of EFS Liquid Shots (200 calories/600 electrolytes) just to keep the blood sugar level from dipping.

Total Calories before race:  1,305 in 3.5hrs or 372 per hour.

Bike Nutrition:

3 bottles of EFS Drink with 200 calories per bottle (600 calories total). Large drink every 30 minutes.
2 flasks (10oz) of EFS Liquid Shots (800 calories total).  Plan to take every 45mins, should actually only be about 8oz total.
Alternate between water and Ironman Perform at each bottle hand-up.  (200 per bottle x 4 = 800 calories)

Total Calories on the bike:  2200 in roughly 6hrs or 366 per hour.


Run Nutrition:

Begin the run with my Nathan's hand held bottle.  This will be filled with water and I will refill at each station with Perform or water.  I will also carry a 5oz flask of EFS Liquid Shots in my tri jersey.  This is 500 calories and I usually will take a hit every 30 minutes.  This will get me through 2.5hrs and then I will just live off the course.  Each refill of Perform will be about 180 calories in my hand held.  My stomach does very well with perform, especially if I sip between each aid station as opposed to downing large amounts of liquid at each station.

I am choosing to run with the hand held bottle because I train with it and since it is going to be hot and humid I would prefer to constantly take in liquid as opposed to my stomach getting sloshy at each aid station.

Total Calories on the Run:  ???  Estimate will be around 180-200 per hour so if it takes 5hr then 1000 calories.  If it takes only 4hr then 800 calories.

Another key nutritional requirement for what is more than likely going to be a 90 degree day with Texas-sized humidity will be my sodium intake.  One of the main reasons I use FE products is because of the large quantities of sodium in both EFS Drink (1100+ Electrolytes) and Liquid Shots (1500+ Electrolytes).  On a hot day this is essential.  Many Ironman participants complained when PowerBar Perform because the exclusive on course sport drink replacing Gatorade - I though this was great because Perform has over 600mg of sodium per 20oz bottle. Gatorade is like a quarter of this amount.  This is like taking two (2) Salt Tabs per drink.  This is essential on hot & humid days!

Now I have an extremely high sweat rate so I am going to have a few salt tabs on the course just to be safe.  I will keep some in my bento box and in my run special needs bag but really I do not intend to use them.  They are just more of a fall back if I begin to cramp.

So this is my plan.  I have been practicing and tweaking it for over 6 months and am pretty confident it hits my nutritional needs.

Feel free to critique and tell me your plan but with the race 5 days out I am not changing a thing!

Next post will be my Goals and then tracking information.

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff