First don't take the good bottles if you don't want to chuck them.

The only authorized place to drop empty bottles is at a bottle exchange. dumping bottles any other time will get you a penalty if offical sees it.

RD may have something set up to toss bottles at before trying to grab full one from volunteer. Races I've done have had a kiddie pool or piece of ply wood stood up on end to fling bottles at/to.

Slow down as you reach for bottle!!!

Jim

You need to give this a lot of thought and planning.

1. You will do several bottle exchanges while on the bike, so don't even bother with good bottles, because you will never see them again.

2. Give a lot of thought to what you are drinking, how, and how often.

3. I like to run a JetStream in the front and two super-concentrated bottles of Accelerade behind the seat. Right before a bottle exchange I'll squirt a little concentrate in the JetStream, and then pick up a bottle of water as I pass through the aid station. As I leave the aid station I play Chemistry Class and mix the pure water into the JetStream as well. What won't fit in the JetStream I'll drink outright before disgarding the empty bottle. Once the bottle of concentrate is expended that is chucked as well to make room for more bottles at Special Needs.

4. During Ironman I went through four bottles of concentrated Accelerade (560 Calories per) on the bike alone.

Thiks is only one of several methods of bottle exchange and nutrition management. Do a little research and experiment with what will work best for you. You can be in the best shape in the world but if you don't have a good nutrition plan you will never see the finish line.

eric

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Everything changes, everything is connected; pay attention. -- Buddhism in 7 words

Uhhh... Go do a couple of triathlons before your October Ironman. An olympic distance, a sprint. Any race will teach you more than you'll ever learn sitting at your computer asking how to swap water bottles. Ironman race day is not the day to find out you completely freak when you are in the water with more than 5 people, or what it's like to get swam over, or kicked in the face and have your goggles knocked off in the swim or a mulititude of other potential issues that may come up that you've never thought about. Training is good, but there is no way to duplicate the stress and learning you'll get from even a short sprint race.

>Go do a couple of triathlons before your October Ironman.
>An olympic distance, a sprint. Any race will teach you
>more than you'll ever learn sitting at your computer
>asking how to swap water bottles.

Do oly or sprint distances normally have bottle exchanges on the bike? If not, how is that going to help with BRM's rather specific question?

I think the point of the post about doing another race before was simply to get used to the many little things. i.e setting up transition. Coming out of the water and finding your bike. the swim start and all the million little things that if they suprise you can through you for a loop and in your first ironman I think that it doesn't take much to throw you off your game you are already nervous as hell.

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"which is like watching one of your buddies announce that he's quitting booze and cigarettes, switching to a Vegan diet and training for triathalons ... but he's going to keep snorting heroin." Bill Simmons, ESPN

they should be holding the bottles from the top with 2 or 3 fingers you should grab from the bottom. If they are holding it in the middle skip that bottle, it's not worth crashing for. You can practice with a friend in your driveway if worse comes to worse.

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Brian Stover USAT LII
Accelerate3 Coaching
Insta

Thanks everyone for contributing. I have learned a great deal about IM from the books I have read and on forums like this one. Much appreciated.

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Go Big Red