3-500, mostly on the bike. I believe, at least at my size (172lbs) that 200/hr is not enough; unless, that is an average including no intake on the swim and lower intake on the run.

My intake goes like this: 1000 cal pre race meal, 2000 cal on the bike, and basically what ever I can get down on the run which is usually 2 gels/hr + gatorade coke, etc.

---

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.

you need to get in about as many as you can absorb on the bike, which depending on your size will be from 400-500. The run will be mostly about maintaining, and the calories you take in on the bike will help make sure your run isn't about surviving. Try to be diligent about the on-the-bike comsumption, because that is your race right there. The run will involve coke and maybe a gel or two, but that's it. It's all about calorie consumption on the bike. Dan wrote a great article on this site about race fueling. It seems alot of questions come up where there is an article on this site with the answer :)

good luck,

tommy

Slowtitch has a great article on IM nutrition. I followed it (more or less) last year at IM Florida and it worked really well. Gel every twenty minutes on the bike with water - alternate water, gatorade, soup and coke (starting at mile 13 of the run) on the run. Didn't get anal about counting calories but ate and or drank at every aid station.

About 400 calories per hour on bike. Accelerade and powerbars. About 200-300 on the run: Gu and coke the last hour.

My whopping 156lb, 6.1ft frame sucked down 2000 cals at breakfast then 300/hr-350/hr on the bike. You have to train yourself to absorb that much on the bike (never mind the 4-500 others are saying here!), so start working on it.

More importantly, the post race feed was in the neighbourhood of 3,000 cals once the king cans of Heineken were taken into account...

I think that it is just an experimentation thing. What works for one person doesn't work for others. I think that one of the reasons that very few pros step out and crush the field in their first irondistance race is that the nutrition aspect is hard to nail down. When you're training you don't spend the same amount of time at the same level of intensity so it is only by racing a few of them that you really get a good idea for what you need. It is probably somewhere between the 200 and 500 mentioned here but that is a pretty big range, especially if you're not very big. I've done 2 ironman races and improved my nutrition in the second one but still bonked (just later in the run than on my first one). Hopefully, I will be doing another one this year and I'll see if third times a charm.

yes it is a personal thing and yes it is experimental.

It seems clear that the more you can absorb the better it is in the long run. Note, that I said absorb not just swallow. I have been training myself to absorb more and more over the last years. I did many long hard bike workouts with my racenutrition and took more and more calories until I hit the top (vomiting, diareah...). The same will happen during a race, so you need to hit the top before you can tell how much you can absorb.
Currently I'm at around 500/h, I'm 175lbs...

Mark Allen claimed once that he could take up to 800/h...but nobody sayd that he's the standard!

King cans of Heineken???? surely only champagne after completing an IM ;-)

I'm thinking king of cans over champagne anyday!!! Then again, I don't think that the WTC should have banned Chuckie V for his silliness with a can of beer a few years ago. I figure there are more carbs to replace some that you burnt off in the race too :)