Pros use them.

Spare tires, CO2, at least.

Personal preference for gels and other fluid.

Intend to use it as an emergency and at least you will know its there.

I find I can carry enough with me to avoid the special needs area. I can carry two bottles on my frame, so I put 1000 calories of Hammer Perpetuem into one bottle (doesn't taste awesome at that concentration, but hey you gotta do what you gotta do), then stick 6 gels into a bento on my top tube. The other bottle gets a shot of Skratch. I concentrate on fueling with the Perpetuem until it runs out, chuck the bottle at a aid station, grab a Gatorade or plain water. If needed I also chuck the other bottle and swap it out during the ride. Once the Perpetuem is gone, I go to the gels.

Sure that can add weight and maybe a little aero drag, but is it going to be more time lost to an aid station where as you say they can have trouble finding your bag? Or maybe crash in the confusion? I'll take my chances carrying everything I need.

I dont stop for special needs. I've been able to pack 1600 cals into a large water bottle and use that for the entire bike. I make an extra bottle to put in special needs just in case I eject or drop my main bottle.

I use Infinit, and used SN bags for LP and Kona.

It's worth the minor time cost to have your own stuff.
Plus, it's nice and cold, if you keep it in a mini soft cooler, along w a frozen bike bottle.
And it's nice to have maybe a spare tube and CO2's in there, in case you used any on lap 1.

You can always Plan B and use what's on course, if there are any snafus.

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float , hammer , and jog

Not a KQ but in my last IM I did a 4h 45' bike split and did use the Special Needs on the bike. I race with Infinit also, and have issues with Perform and now also Gatorade. I start with 4 bottles on the bike and whenever a bottle is empty I discard it at an aid station. At the SN I take 4 new bottles.

I've found the SN process to be quite simple, there aren't many people that actually use it and especially if you're a strong biker it won't be very crowded inside the SN area as well. I think last year I was in and out in less than 30 seconds.

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_____________________
Don't forget to attack!

Not a KQ but I have a similar setup and use Infinit as well. I did IMFL last year and skipped special needs.
I had a 600cal bottle on the downtube and another 600cal behind the saddle. I used a Torhans 30 up front that I filled with water at aid stations. I had a 4-5 gels with me to supplement calories and get a boost of caffeine once in a while. Otherwise it was 1 sip of infinit every 10 minutes + a few gulps of water. I planned for a low 5h split and 300 cal / hour.

I did pack a special needs bag and had 2 tubes and 2 CO2 plus an extra bottle of Infinit in case I dropped one or whatever.

I'm doing IMMT this year too and I'm still experimenting to see if it's worthwhile to go with a Gatorade + Gels approach. That way I won't need to carry all that stuff on the bike and just use the aid stations to get more Gatorade. If it doesn't work well in training I'll just go back to using Infinit.

Talk to Dev, he would know that course pretty well.

I wouldn't say that special needs are "unsafe" I would say that I have seen some unsafe behaviour over the years from athletes. Personally haven't used special needs in 15 years or so. and I am about 2200cal on the bike. I just go wide and avoid. The idea of CO2 and an extra tube is a good one though.

If you are at a time in the race where the crowd is thin (looking to KQ) then you will likely be fine,

Maurice

This is basically what I did for IMFL 2014 though with 750cal in each bottle. But for IMLou this year, I'm considering putting the 2nd bottle of Infinit in SN and lightening the load. This would also allow me to run an aero bottle on the downtube, with another like bottle in SN, and also a single cage behind the seat (for spare water) rather than two. I just feel that's going to be a bit faster, even if I have to stop for 30s at SN.

I don't but being a bubble guy I might miss the slot stopping at any time on the course. However, I don't use liquid nutrition. I use solid nutrition on the bike. I only pick up water on the course.

I've never took anything at SN. I'd be happy to use it if I could find where it's an advantage to me.

Maybe if I used more calories than I can wag I'd need a refill.

Besides, I'm not very special.

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@christopher_borden •
Spinning Spoke • Dimond Bikes • Flo Cycling • Castelli Cycling

How big is your bottle? How can you load 750cal into it?

I just went back and checked my race report, it was actually 700cal per bottle, not 750. Standard bottle size, which I think is 24oz?

My custom Infinit blend is 300cal per serving (2 scoops). I was skeptical at first, but it mixes very well, I have no problems with it at this concentration, I just dialed back the flavor. I drink water from the BTA bottle after each drink of Infinit.

I run BTA bottle and aero downtube bottle and nothing else. I still get over 400 cals per hour on the bike and (for hot races) over 40 oz of fluid per hour. 10 aid stations out there, use them.

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Ironman Certified Coach

Currently accepting limited number of new athletes

out of 16 races - 13 official Ironman races (including four at Kona. One KQ and three rolldown spots. yes, bragging) and three iron-distances - I have always used special needs bags. They are almost always in a volunteer's hand when i get to them. During a race, I like stuff with very little flavour; it goes down easier and stays quieter in my stomach than fancy flavours. On-course supplies could be mixed to a different strength or just not taste good. The electrolyte fluid at one half was just awful.

Bike: start with one bottle of Perpetuem or Sustained Energy, mixed with ELoad. pick up a second bottle with the same mix at SN. Pick up lots of water at the aid stations.

Run: start with thee or four Gu or HammerGel. Pick up another three or four at SN. I often finish with one or two unused gels.

I have only lost SN bags at one race, Vineman, where both my bike and run bags went missing. That cost a bit of time looking for them, and a bit more trying to figure out what i needed from the on-course stuff to make about the same number of calories, and what I could digest. It also added to the stress a bit, but it did take my mind off how much my legs hurt :-) Tthat experience did not deter me from using SN in later races.

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run well, run happy
george

I have in previous years used special needs but don't do it any longer. In some races they've returned my bag quickly while other races it has taken minutes so I no longer want to take that risk. Like many others have said I also use a concentrated bottle of nutrition which I dilute with water which I get from aid stations. I tend not to use nutrition from aid stations on the bike as again there is risk involved - you may be fine, but you may get something which doesn't agree with you or you may miss what you need.

I'm also on the bubble although things have worked out for me this year - if I had stopped at special needs I would not be going to Kona this year.

Stopping at BSN: 1 minute

F'ing up nutrition and walking during marathon: 1 hour

Not that I'm racing the same race, but generally speaking, if you are in my age group, I strongly urge you to skip BSN.

I never have used SN, Nate.

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-Of course it's 'effing hard, it's IRONMAN!
Team ZOOT
ZOOT, QR, Garmin, HED Wheels, Zealios, FormSwim, Precision Hydration, Rudy Project

Not a KQ, but I fit ~ 1200 calories of infinit in a bottle, carry two on the bike. Have a 3rd in SN in case I lose one but haven't had to stop yet.

Key is to mix it bit by bit. Couple scoops of infinit, a little water, shake it up, add more water, add more infinit, keep going till you have as many calories as you want. Also helps to mix it the night before and let it dissolve more.

Final product isn't actually that think and after I take a shot of that I just drink a little water.

I've gotten 1400 cals of infinit into a bottle. Trained like that several times and had no problem.

Water/electrolyte in the bta. Concentrate BTS. maybe a gel or bar in bento to break up monotony. Never had an issue. But I'm also not a KQ guy, so I am probably doing it wrong. No nutrition issues though. I just got used to taking a small sip of a bottle every 10-15 mins

^^^^This.

Even if you don't plan on using SN; have spare calories, spare salt tabs, spare CO2, and a spare tube in a SN bag.

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ECMGN Therapy Silicon Valley:
Depression, Neurocognitive problems, Dementias (Testing and Evaluation), Trauma and PTSD, Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)

I only used it for an extra spare tube & CO2. I live off the course for liquid nutrition and don't want to slow or stop to grab a bag.

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TrainingBible Coaching
http://www.trainingbible.com

I should have specified, Nate, that's what I do as well.

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-Of course it's 'effing hard, it's IRONMAN!
Team ZOOT
ZOOT, QR, Garmin, HED Wheels, Zealios, FormSwim, Precision Hydration, Rudy Project

I use 1 concentrated bottle of EFS/ Carbopro mix.. 1400 calorie bottle... one water bottle then refill that on course...a couple gels in bento box..it's so easy....I have emergency stash at sn...never have used

This is a North American thing. The three Euro IMs that I've done, none had special needs bike bags. The Europeans seem to do just fine without a bike special needs bag.

Don't get me wrong. If they offer it, definitely use it ... even if it's just used to contain spare tubes, back up nutrition, and etc, but one can perform just fine without a special needs bag or stopping for one.

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My marathon PR is "under three, high twos. I had a two hour and fifty-something."