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Notes on IM nutrition from the field.
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I need to give credit and thanks to efernand on this forum for helping me (whether he realized it or not) with my nutrition plan at IMNZ. Here are a few notes:

1. On the bike I relied predomanently on Hammer Nutrition Perpetuem, drinking 5 large water bottles of it. I also ate 2 Pro4 energy bars picked up through the aid stations. I also had 4 E-Gels, which I think is the best energy gel.

2. My calorie, mineral and fluid intake on the bike SEEMED adequate, but may not have been...

3. I lost 6 kilos (13.2 pounds) from the time I was weighed in at registration to the weigh in after crossing the line on race day, approxmately 50 hours later, in the course of my 11:16:45 race. That weight loss put me in the medical tent for an our and a half. I was extremely dizzy and somewhat disoriented. My reaction time was very poor and it was difficult for me to understand simple things people were asking me.

4. While the race was excellent and everyone involved deserves a tremendous "Well done!" Kiwi style, I personally needed two more aid stations on the run. There was not enough water on the run. I got dehydrated. On the first run segment I averaged about a 9:30 pace, the second one, after I found my legs and loosened up and started to race I was going on target at 8:30 pace, which is what I trained for. By the third and forth segments of the run I had begun to really slow down due to dehydration/fatigue/inadequate training/lack of calories- something. Perhaps a conspiracy of all of them. My pace on the last segments (3&4) was over 10:00 per mile, and I didn't walk one solitary step.

5. I learned a lot and I know I can faster next time.

Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com
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Re: Notes on IM nutrition from the field. [Tom Demerly] [ In reply to ]
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5 bottles of liquid on the bike? Isnt that less than one an hour? Im thinking you should have down at least 2 more, of course hindsight is 20-20. Isnt there a saying in Kona about how you should have to pee near the end of the bike? just wondering, did you down any sort of salt pills?
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Re: Notes on IM nutrition from the field. [apolack1] [ In reply to ]
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I tend to agree apolack1.

The bottles were the large size ones and the environmental temperature was quite low- easily in the lower 60's high 50's fahrenheit at the beginning of the bike. I was wearing arm warmers, knee warmers and two layers on top. It was damp, foggy and chilly for the first 2.5 hours on the bike. That is why I didn't drink more.

As you pointed out, that certainly contributed to me slowing down during the run.

Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com
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Re: Notes on IM nutrition from the field. [Tom Demerly] [ In reply to ]
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Tom, 1 large bottle on the bike per hour should be sufficient for a guy of your size in those temps unless you are a big sweat guy or unless you were peeing like crazy. Refer to some of the work by Dr. Tim Noakes who is the head doc for the Comrades Marathon and has worked closely with Ironman NZ staff in the past. It does not sound like you would have dehydrated in your LS wetsuit (a commonly overlooked Ironman phenomenon that should garner more attention by coaches and nutritionists), given the cool water temps. So the loss of body mass must have occurred during the run. It is often hard to estimate how much you are really taking in on the run. In a faster race like a marathon, with the speed and spillage, i doubt that I barely get 500 mL in three hours. In an ironman at much slower speed, I know I get WAY more fluid than I need. Looks like you were low on the intake. Did they have one aid station per mile. Personally, I think this is way too much and can lead to overhydration in middle of the pack runners, but clearly that was not your issue.

Either way, a fine time heading out from our freezing winter this year !

By the way, I did a 100K XC ski event the day after your Ironman NZ race with 6500 ft of vertical climbing. The temps were between minus 6 and zero C and I took in 2.5L of salted Gatorade (1000 calories), a powerbar (220 cals), and 500 cals worth of granola bars, so a total of approximately 1700 in 6 hours (~300 cals per hour) as I took 6:11 to finish.
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Re: Notes on IM nutrition from the field. [devashish paul] [ In reply to ]
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First off Devashish, that race sounds amazing. Yo did a 6500 foot climb on XC skis? Incredible. Also, it sounds like you nailed your nutrition for that. Salted Gatorade? Very interesting idea. I'm glad you included that. Thanks!

I think the number of aid stations at IMNZ were perhaps not the issue, but the location of them. At the high (far) end of the run course there seemd to be a lot of them spaced either reasonably or close together. Maybe too close. On the section coming back into town and in front of Lake Taupo they need another aid station in my opinion.

Your comment about spillage is a good one. Someone hands you a 6-8 oz cup of water and, running a 9:00 mile, you wind up wearing 1/2 of it. That means you are only getting 3-4 oz per cup. The most I could get were three cups through an aid station- a Coke and two waters. Most stations I only got two, a couple just one. That wasn't enough IMHO.

I just wonder- why did I feel so shitty in the last 13 miles? I know my training could have been better, but this was my third fastest Ironman (10:42, 11:07, 11:16, 12:24 in 1986 Hawaii) and definately my hardest. Hmmmmm.

Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com
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Re: Notes on IM nutrition from the field. [Tom Demerly] [ In reply to ]
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Tom, ever think about wearing a small hydration pack during a race? I've gotten so used to mine that I honestly don't think it affects my racing. ran 2 out of 3 20k road races with it last year and wish I had had it on for the third. sometimes those darn aid stations are not where you need them to be. My 1/2 iron last year probably would have been a dnf without it.

Jim
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Re: Notes on IM nutrition from the field. [Jim] [ In reply to ]
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Jim,

In this case it would have been just the thing to use. I used an Ultimate Direction hydration pack frequently during training and it worked perfectly. That is an excellent suggestion.

From now on I am taking one with me to Ironman races. Good thinking sir.

Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com
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Re: Notes on IM nutrition from the field. [Jim] [ In reply to ]
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In Reply To:
sometimes those darn aid stations are not where you need them to be.
I agree. that's why I wear a fuel belt in long course races. I also like that I can have bottles w/ different fluids in them. Sometimes I really want water, sometimes gatorade, endurox, etc...
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Re: Notes on IM nutrition from the field. [jaylew] [ In reply to ]
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Fuel belt would have been good too. There is a lot less spillage with the little bottles than trying to drink an aid station cup of Coke. To the credit of the people at IMNZ they did have Coke in larger cups that were more "spill proof" and easier to drink from on the run.

In retrospect it seems like a stupid mistake I made. I made a recon of the course and a map recon of the aid station locations- it seemed like enough to me and I didn;t want to carry any extra weight on the run. My plan was to go fast and light.

Problem with that plan is, when it goes bad- it goes REALLY bad, as in 4:15 marathon bad when I should have done a 3:45.

-Good thing there's a next time.

Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com
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