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how much do you drink on bike during ironman?
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I tend not to drink that much and worry that it's going to end up biting me during my first ironman. In my most recent HIM (2:36 time on bike), I drank maybe 40oz (and that may be a slightly high estimate) on the bike. I ate gu gels to gain some extra calories that I was not consuming in liquid form. On a 3.5 hour ride this past weekend (probably heat index in mid-upper 80s, partly cloudy), I drank again less than 40oz. I've read a good rule of thumb if you're drinking enough you should pee at least once during HIM bike and at least twice during IM. Should I be aiming for 20-25oz (ie one bottle) per hour? I've started trying to drink at every 15 minutes but I'm obviously not drinking enough at those times. It's one thing to "get away" with this during a HIM but with IM I'm concerned I will pay on the run for not drinking enough on the bike. Any advice would be appreciated.
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Re: how much do you drink on bike during ironman? [mickison] [ In reply to ]
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To answer your question, yes.
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Re: how much do you drink on bike during ironman? [mickison] [ In reply to ]
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Just drink when you're thirsty, people tend to over complicate things.
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Re: how much do you drink on bike during ironman? [mickison] [ In reply to ]
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Lots of factors go into how much to drink on the bike IMO: heat, humidity, course, duration, effort, size, sweat rate, etc. For the 6 IM races I've done, I've tried to avg one large bottle an hour (28 oz) of Infinit containing about 275 calories. If a hot and humid day, then I'll drink on top of that another 1/2 bottle of water each hour. Over a long period of time I've raced at top condition at 160, and upper 170s other times, but calorie and fluid goal typically the same. If the weather is cool, then I plan to drink less and get calories from more solid sources. I find in those conditions that I don't sweat as much, and extra fluids just cause me to pee more often.

I did do a sweat study 15 years ago at Ga Tech and they confirmed that the bottle an hour was good for me. You can perform your own tests on the trainer or riding outside by weighing before and after and taking into account whatever fluids you drank during the run. The biggest thing that I notice if I haven't had enough to drink is headache on the run, and the more dehydrated that I get, the less I'm able to perform. Also, when you get too deep, you can't get out of it by putting more fluids in. So it's better to use the bike to keep up and then you can more easily monitor it on the run with so many aid stations. Good luck.

http://jmassieblog.blogspot.com
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Re: how much do you drink on bike during ironman? [mickison] [ In reply to ]
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To expound on ATL Dad, this should not be seat of the pants, it should be tried and true tested and practiced. Do not rely just on peeing!! FYI - 27 time IM finisher including some classic blow ups. I now know exactly how much to drink based on the conditions. I usually pee in T1 and then am fine for the whole bike. For me, my base line is 28 oz fluids/hr broken into "doses" every 15 minutes, and adjusted up or down based on temperature, etc.

The key is that you follow the basic principles of fluids, salts, and calories; calculate proper dosing; and, then test and practice many times at race speed and conditions. Race by plan and execution - that means working all of this out to precision well in advance of race.

Best wishes in your IM!!

David
* Ironman for Life! (Blog) * IM Everyday Hero Video * Daggett Shuler Law *
Disclaimer: I have personal and professional relationships with many athletes, vendors, and organizations in the triathlon world.
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Re: how much do you drink on bike during ironman? [mickison] [ In reply to ]
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Disclaimer......IMLOU will be my first. I also weigh 195#.

My last 3 races have been HIM's. For two of them, 1 bottle/hr was fine. The middle race was at 94 deg. 1 bottle/hr. was not enough.

I did 75 miles at IM pace, this past Saturday. I did everything the way I plan to do it on Oct. 15th, including prep the night before. I had my bottle/hr (Infinit at about 300 cals/bottle...ea. w/ 3 scoops of base salt) PLUS a gatorade...and a 20 oz. water. I peed once, before my brick run (9 mi). I drank 48 oz. of gatorade endurance and had 2 gels on my run. When I finished, I could still see yellow in my pee. That's 160 ounces of fluid @ IM pace. I'm not sure I can drink any more.....and, if I'd only drank when I was thirsty, I'd likely have gotten in trouble.

To be fair...both the heat and % humidity were in the 90's on Saturday. Hopefully, I won't have to deal with that on race day.
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Re: how much do you drink on bike during ironman? [david] [ In reply to ]
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david wrote:
To expound on ATL Dad, this should not be seat of the pants, it should be tried and true tested and practiced. Do not rely just on peeing!! FYI - 27 time IM finisher including some classic blow ups. I now know exactly how much to drink based on the conditions. I usually pee in T1 and then am fine for the whole bike. For me, my base line is 28 oz fluids/hr broken into "doses" every 15 minutes, and adjusted up or down based on temperature, etc.

The key is that you follow the basic principles of fluids, salts, and calories; calculate proper dosing; and, then test and practice many times at race speed and conditions. Race by plan and execution - that means working all of this out to precision well in advance of race.

Best wishes in your IM!!

Thanks. Yes. I will be practicing this. Last weekend I did an initial test and drank very little for whatever reason. I have a 3 hour bike and 5 mile run this weekend so will test some out then
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Re: how much do you drink on bike during ironman? [iruntrails] [ In reply to ]
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iruntrails wrote:
Just drink when you're thirsty, people tend to over complicate things.

this is what I have been doing but, for whatever reason, I tend to drink very little. And I ride in the heat most of the time and still tend to not drink that much if I go by thirst. My most recent HIM, I bonked on the second half of the run and fear part of the reason is I'm just not taking in enough fluids on the bike.
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