I have been a lifelong endurance athlete, to include 3 years of triathlons, waaaay back in the day. I accomplished my goal of completing an Ironman-distance event and moved on to other endeavors. I must say, though, it was not without benefits as I learned a very, very valuable lesson during the 1 IM I did, and that is: NEVER rely on on-course feeding. You can take advantage of it if you wish, but you should absolutely, always, and without fail carry enough fuel with you to finish the distance.
In my case, doing the Cape Cod Ironman in '88, the promoters did not prepare properly and there was ZERO fuel at any of the aid stations beyond mile 10 of the marathon by the time I got there. The only thing that saved me was that a volunteer at one of the aid stations around 20 miles in had his own personal 2-liter bottle of coke in an ice chest, and I was able to persuade him to let me have the last few sips. I had bonked so badly that it took 3 days for my urine to return to normal color.
I did the 100 mile event at Unbound last year and carried all of my calories with me, and would do the same thing for Leadville this year if not for the fact that I'll have a support crew available at two locations throughout the race.
In my case, doing the Cape Cod Ironman in '88, the promoters did not prepare properly and there was ZERO fuel at any of the aid stations beyond mile 10 of the marathon by the time I got there. The only thing that saved me was that a volunteer at one of the aid stations around 20 miles in had his own personal 2-liter bottle of coke in an ice chest, and I was able to persuade him to let me have the last few sips. I had bonked so badly that it took 3 days for my urine to return to normal color.
I did the 100 mile event at Unbound last year and carried all of my calories with me, and would do the same thing for Leadville this year if not for the fact that I'll have a support crew available at two locations throughout the race.