First, congrats, that is an amazing accomplishment! I will be there as well and hopefully we have a great weather weekend! At this point you have put in the work, you should be a couple weeks from taper. You were smart to preview the course! You have to trust your training at this point and just have fun and enjoy the experience at the race.

If you've previewed the courses, you don't need info. from people who've done IMLP.

You need to dial in your nutrition........like yesterday. What did you use in training? Did that work?

Interestingly enough, I know people who benefit tremendously from on course nutrition. Me? I don't notice it much. I'll pop a GU when I feel like im getting fatigued, and maintain a slow, steady stream of gatorade. Pre-race or pre-training usually consists of two eggs, wheat toast w/almond butter, a scoop of cottage cheese and a banana.
Since this is my first foray with a 70.3, I'll keep mental note of when/where I fueled for future reference.

I'm guessing the ones you know - do long course?

Up until now, you haven't needed to worry about it. And, you may not have to, now. But, this (HIM) is the first distance it becomes somewhat critical (your size, level of exertion, weather conditions, etc.. will dictate what your needs are). I'd hate for your first date with the 70.3 distance to be a bad experience......especially since it's not that hard to nail down (and you still have time).

Correct. But even during long rides or runs I hear, "I definitely needed that GU." I dont notice much. And yes, your point is very valid; this will be my longest distance-so I have no experience in the matter.

We all benefit from nutrition :-) You should still have a couple of long training sessions left, be strategic in planning your nutrition during those sessions. The new Gatorade formula is much different and gives you more of what you need through drinking. I do 24 oz per hour and 1 gel + 3 shot blocks per hour on the bike. On the run I just do Gatorade / water at the tables and a gel every 45 min / hour. You want to be comfortable with your plan so that you get enough energy without having GI issues. If you are waiting until you feel fatigue, you are waiting too long.

A couple of thoughts:

I just did Steelhead and have been racing for the past 17 years but I learned something (or relearned it yesterday).

In training your exertion levels just aren't the same unless you did a complete race sim. It's hard to simulate everything. Exertion, stress, etc. For example I did a sim 4 weeks ago entailing a 53 mile ride at HIM pace and a 6 mile run. Had a great workout that day but I didn't get the swim simulation prior so I although I thought I accounted for the calories but I don't think I accounted for it enough. Having a planned eating routine helps to minimize problems rather than eating when hungry cuz when your hungry it may be too late. If you eat regularly you shouldn't feel that fatigue of early bonking.

Weigh yourself pre and post long ride. Pay attention to how many pounds you lose. A 24 oz bottle is 1.5 pounds. For example, if you lost 3# on a 3 hour ride (and you estimate that this is what it would take you to finish) then drink an additional 2 bottles of liquid (could be water if you have enough calories ingested) during the race. Make sure you take enough volume. Dehydration is worse, IMO, than being slightly under-nourished. If you drink too much, all you'll do is pee. Not a bad problem to have if it's hot.

I did my first 70.3 this year...Syracuse. In hind sight, bonked big time on the run. The weather was hot and windy. After a hot, windy, hilly bike course, I hadn't considered salt intake during training in the cooler spring temps that I had been training in. Lesson learned! Salt, salt, salt. I lost 17 lbs that day. Granted, I doubt LP will be that hot and windy in September, but don't do what I did!

I would recommend figuring out a nutrition plan, I can't tell you how important it is to your enjoyment of the day.

Also, what do you consider a "long ride?" I can usually get away with a few swigs of water for a ride up to 40 or so miles, but anything beyond that, let alone a half marathon afterwards is recipe for disaster.

Once you realize you're depleted, it's too late.

I am not doing IMLP but have Maine coming up in 2 weeks. A bit nervous as my last two 70.3's didn't go quite as planned. I feel I'm ready this time though and have put in the work. Have you done any bike>run bricks, esp longer-ish bricks? I found those to be key so you understand well the feeling of running off the bike. It's important that the slow, impeded feeling running right out of T2 does not get you down mentally. You will get your legs under you, just give it a few miles! Good luck hope you have a good race.

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"The first virtue in a soldier is endurance of fatigue; courage is only the second virtue."
- Napoleon Bonaparte

Congrats on the significant improvements to your health and fitness. You'll have a blast. I've heard it's hilly.

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maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

I'm in the same boat. I have 34 days till my first 70.3 in OBX. I can feel the nerves starting to build especially since I had to Jake back my running a few weeks ago due to some kind of foot issue. Hope to get a really long run in this upcoming weekend but definitely getting nervous.

Congrats, that's awesome. Good luck w/the injury and race. Ill be posting my experience when I'm done.

Same to you I'll be interested to hear your post race report. That event maybe on my schedule for next year

17lb loss on a 70.3 is insane! Good info to know.

Weighing yourself pre/post ride is solid advice. Since you're not that far out from the race, perhaps weigh yourself before/after your long ride this weekend and make it a brick, so you can see how the nutrition you took in on the bike serves you on the beginning of the run.

Pacing on the bike is also especially important with this course, as the run back into town (starting near at the last 1/2 mile or so of Riverside Dr) has a lot of uphill, so overexertion on the bike will result in a long slog on the last 5 miles of the run. For bike pacing, one piece of advice which helped me (in addition to watching HR, watts, etc.) was to consciously ignore every other rider in the ~3 miles after the ski jumps (miles 3-6 or so), as everyone tries to 'win the interval' and ends up using a ton of energy. (There is actually about 400 feet of climbing which seems to go unnoticed since it is small in relation to the rest of the course.)

Good luck! I'm actually on vacation in LP this week, hope you and your friends/family have a great time here!

Going forward, you pretty much need to double the swimming and running training if you want to do well. 100 miles of biking is sufficient if done right.

For this race not much you can do in 26 days considering that's less than 3 weeks to taper. Pace yourself. Don't start too hard. Especially the swim, but bike and run too. Stay safe. Have fun. That's it.

You'll finish but honestly on 20 mpw I think you'll be walking second half of the run. That's fine for your first half. :)

Are you trying to say you need to be running 40+ miles to do well in a 70.3...? And swimming 6x a week?

I don't agree with you on this one. I think like many things, it depends. Granted it depends on experience but it is very doable (and to do fairly well) to race on 20-25 mpw running plus ~4.5-5.5 hours biking per week which is what I get in.

Just did Steelhead and set PR (just under 5 hr) with my last 7 weeks leading up to this were 8:05, 10:48, 10, 8, 13:50, 8, 10. I'm 45 so I increase volume/intensity x 2 weeks then shorten my weekends on the third to recover cuz I have to work and like to attend my kids' events. A fair bit of my training is higher quality/intensity stuff so this might be different from the OP.

To the OP, don't fret. Just enjoy the journey and appreciate what you've accomplished. The proverbial hay is in the barn. You've come a long way and lost a ton of weight. Work- life balance is hard especially when you do longer distance tris but very doable and possible to even do well (although it might not the 4h30m-4h40m that everyone on Slowtwitch completes a HIM ;)

I suggest you do some quick research into endurance nutrition, say 3+ hours of triathlon or ultramarathon. You seem to think you don't need much of a nutrition plan. I would argue you have the same human body that pro athletes have. They all have nutrition plans that follow basic guidelines. Hammer nutrition's website has a free knowledge section full of nutritional guidelines that will get you in the ballpark to keep you from falling apart for 70.3 or beyond. Good luck!

I'll see you there...likely from behind all day!

Congrats on your great accomplishment to date, 30 lbs in 10 months is awesome.

I only take GU and salt tablets. I expect I will ride somewhere around 2.5hrs in a half and 3 GU per hour is right for me, so rounding up it's 8 GU for the ride. I pre-mix them in a bottle with water so that I take a swig of it every 15 min roughly. Each hour I will also take a salt tablet, if it's super hot then maybe one every 45 min. For drink I use eLoad (just the mix, not extra tabs in it). It's in an aerobottle so I drink every 10 min or so. Generally go through 2-3 bottles on the ride depending on how hot it is. On the run, I will normally take 2 GU and drink at almost every aid station. I just drink what they have and don't carry my own.

Lake Placid was always the perfect course for a 70.3. I felt that way each time I did the IM :-)

If you see a guy in a black sleeved tri suit with a Red Maple Leaf and Canada on the front, it is more than likely me.

Have a great race!

Gary

Thanks for all the replies. I'll be sure to post a write up of my experience when I'm done.