I did a half iron on just water and Infifnit a couple of weeks ago. It can be done but ill advised. Your body will start to "burn" muscle fibre instead of glycogen stores.

Why do you want to do this anyhow?

I'm usually about a 2:05-2:10 guy and have never taken any other than water/gator during an Oly race.

I've never understood (unless you're a 3hr person) why some people get all loaded up with fuel belts for an Oly race. Seems like too much bulk and weight.

My times for the OD races are about 2:30 or so. I take in only gatorade and water. One bottle on the bike and I run with a bottle in hand. I don't eat anything during the race. The bike is only an hour + a few minutes.....you can get away with one bottle and then drink on the run. I only use the water at the aid stations to pour on my head.

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Paul

I'm a 2:05-2:10 guy too...i take two carbooms and a bottle of gatorade...no need for any more if you eat properly leading up to the race.

I've done Hawaii IM on only Gatorade.

For an Oly it would not be advisable to eat anything solid. You should be going too hard to digest anything other than simple suger ie Gatorade.

<I've done Hawaii IM on only Gatorade.>

Are you serious?

I know if I tried that,I would crash and burn for sure.

Totally serious. I started out with some other premixed liquid which got hot and nasty. I chucked it early on the bike and went with cold Gatorade the rest of the way. I never take in Gus or solids in an ironman.

Do the math. The body can only absorb about 250-300 clas/hr. 2 bottles of Gatorade=300cals. In Hawaii you can easily put away 2 bottles an hour, closer to three. This was last year with horrible conditions. I didn't bonk and finished 10:42, 322 overall and 23 out of about 300 or so in the 40-44 age group.

Most people I see doing Ironmans are taking in WAY more calories than they can absorb. It's no wonder so many have major GI issues.

Great results, slick!

Some of us bigger people can digest a bit more than 250-300 calories, but, I think you are dead-on right that too many take in too many calories. Any racer will do better to optimize their intake to match their uptake...any more and they're increasing their chance of GI trouble.

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Quid quid latine dictum sit altum videtur
(That which is said in Latin sounds profound)

That's true. as a reference I weigh 160 lbs, 5'9".

Even the Clydes shouldn't go over 400 cals/hr though. In Hawaii it's so damn hot out there you can still easily do this with regular old Gatorade and nothing else. The big plus is they keep it ice cold out there which is HUGE.

Yep, I have GI issues with more than 400 calories/hour. 6' 185#. Not a Clyde, but, not a waif.

Oh, and just for the record, I'd take only a small amount of anything other than water on an Olympic...and not too much at one time! Those people taking a gel before a sprint...I don't see how they don't puke. Unless, of course, they aren't going at near-maximum output the entire hour.

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Quid quid latine dictum sit altum videtur
(That which is said in Latin sounds profound)

Yes. Doing a sprint should feel like you are holding yourself under water for an hour (or less). Anything less and you aren't going hard enough.

For sprints I take all the cages off my bike. No need to take in anything.

Gotta agree..........after working an run aid station for IM AZ, I came to realize that a lot of people act like it's a buffet out there.

I did Kona last year on less than 2500 cals or about 200-225/hr for this slow old gal. I think it is more important to keep sodium/electrolytes in good shape than try to eat your way through the race.

FWIW, I do a HIM on about 600 cals and an Oly on maybe 300.........all liquid/gel.

G

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It's a little like wrestling a gorilla.........you don't stop when you're tired.........you stop when the gorilla is tired.

<I didn't bonk and finished 10:42, 322 overall and 23 out of about 300 or so in the 40-44 age group. >

Great race Slick!

What your saying makes sense.

I just dont know if I could drink 20ish bottles of gatorade through the course of the day without having to pee often.

Good point. This strategy is only effective at very hot races where it is difficult if not impossible to keep up with fluid losses, like Hawaii. despite drinking 2-3 big Gatorade bottles an hour I only peed 2 times all day.

Lake Placid this wouldn't work as well because usually it is cool in the morning and you are not sweating as much. In this case it might make sense to take in some more concentrated calories untill it gets hot.

In Hawaii I didn't care what it tasted like as long as it was COLD. And the only thing cold was Gatorade at the aid stations.