That's right, four bottles on the bike! BTA was refillable for water (grabbing a bottle at every aid station) the other three bottles were all the same mix:

2 scoops of plain UCAN
1.5 scoops of grape Roctane
Salt

I would drink one bottle ever 80-90 min

Other then water I carry all my nutrition with me, I had 8 gels, extra salt and a half of a payday in my jersey pockets!

How many cals per hour does this equate to and how many mg sodium per hour. Also what was your before race weight and after race weight?

Curious to know what model of Bontrager wheels you were using in kona. Couldn’t see anything like that on the website. I’m assuming they aren’t avail to the general public yet?

I didn't have any issues with the Aerohead or the visor, they worked great! I have less issue with getting sweat on my visor then glasses as it sits further off my face.

For strength I work with Erin Carson (ECFit) at Rallysport. We aim for 3x a week (Tuesday after run/swim) Friday (after early AM swim) and a home session on Sundays after my long run. TUES/FRI sessions are heavier lifting. The Sunday session is more movement based with the TG K1 machine. Erin and I will have my program in an app form available soon...stay tuned!

T.O. Great race in Kona! How tempted were you to go with Jan when he he made his move at Scenic Point, or had you predetermined you were going to stick to your race plan no matter what.

Also, how do you like your Raptor. That is one Badass truck!

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Let food be thy medicine...

Tim... small world but on Alii Drive at about mile 2 i got to chatting with your old coach from military days. Real pleasure to share story with him of your racing our little small race in Caledon Ontario Canada in 2004 with Simon’s build to Athens. We agreed of your graciousness and class from our experiences.

I am always fascinated in this mad sport what goes through the minds of us back half of marathons. Do you have a mantra or positive reinforcement words you use to stay in the moment?

Also, coming from a bike background i am curious how often in off season vs in season are you riding non tri bike(s)?

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@rhyspencer

Tim,

1. I can't help but notice that you ride a Trek and Rinny rides a Felt. Does this cause marital stress? It seems almost like a Catholic being married to a Presbyterian.

2. Do you periodically cross paths with Ben Hoffman? You live in the same town, but Ben is never mentioned on the Tim & Rinny Show.

Thanks in advance,
2old&2slow

usually 164lbs going into the race...a few lbs extra race morning with water retention from carbo loading. Lightest I've been pre-race was 159lbs...too light for me, that was 2011 and I got sick race week.

I really think the injury helped my run in Kona this year. Most importantly, it allowed be to up both volume and quality on the bike. In our Kansas camp I was hitting numbers I'd never seen before in training. The extra bike fitness allowed me to ride within myself in Kona this year. While I may have had better run fitness in years past I had always ridden too hard and couldn't access my run ability. When I hit T2 this year it was definitely the best my legs have ever felt in Kona.

The alter G was a huge benefit to my running as well. It allowed me to really train my neuromuscular without the wear and tear of some of those bigger run sessions. It really left my legs fresher then normal. You can't train like that all year (have to do the work at some point) but luckily my run fitness was great prior to the injury so I had some fitness in the bank.

I also noticed my recovery was a lot tougher after running that well with lower run volume, I guess there are trade offs, right!

Congrats on the great result. Any tips for staying healthy with a toddler?

What was your power on the bike and did you pay attention to it during the race?

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https://twitter.com/mungub

Hey Tim,

Suppose you were in a WWE doubles wrestling match. Which other pro triathlete(s) would you want in:
A. Your corner
B. Opposing sides
C. Afraid to go up against

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Take a short break from ST and read my blog:
http://tri-banter.blogspot.com/

Love this question Dan...pain caves are always fun to talk about!

When we built our house a few years back we wanted made a point to have the pain cave above ground. We wanted to look up and see the sky every once in a while we were suffering. We ended up with a pretty amazing view of the open space from the training room, which is sweet!

First the treadmills: we have both the SkillRun (flat) and SkillMill (curved & self powered) treadmills from TechnoGym and they are awesome. In my opinion, you can't really compare as they are different tools in the toolset for different jobs. I truly believe the SkillMill (curved) has been an important part of my run improvement. It really helps you get good hip drive and helps get your foot placement under your body and not out front of you. Running on these treadmills is hard though, it definitely gets the HR up. The longest I'll run straight on it is usually 30 min but I do a lot of turnovers on it too. The treadmills are right next to each other so I'll hop back and forth between the two during a run.

Next we have TechnoGyms Kinesis 1 (K1) machine in the training room. Its a beast, there are so many exercises we can do on it, its perfect for our home sessions with Erin.

Finally we have out double trainer setup. We have two TehcnoGym myCycle trainers with TVs mounted low on the wall for both of them. Since we are riding in our bars for most of our rides its nice to not have to look up to see the TV. It is a great smart trainer, smooth quiet and sturdy. I have no issues linking up to Zwift for a ride but usually just end up do my workout in a standalone mode and watch Netflix!

I didn't do any specific testing, just relied on feedback from Trek engineers and their data along with my cycling coach Matt Botrill and the data he has from so much testing. I think it is somewhat accepted now that having that space at the bottom of the frame is faster. Last year we made a bracket to mount that bottle lower, this year Mark Andrews at Trek made sure I had custom mounts drilled in the frame to accommodate the low bottle position. It is way cleaner then original setup!

Well I didn't make it too far in the Navy (LT O-3)...those first two promotions were automatic with time in rank :)

Still, I'm incredibly proud of where I came from, grateful to al the men and women serving our country and honored to still represent them when I race around the world!

Now back to triathlon, my 2020 schedule is still not nailed down. Kona will again be my focus and I'll make a decision on which other IM I'll do I the next couple weeks. I checked the box for Kona already with IM Cozumel so I have some freedom in where I go!

Other then that I'll probably do an early season 70.3 (TBD) and then I'll represent the US team in the PTO's Collins Cup event at the end of May.

Favorite 70.3 was St Croix, awesome place and TOUGH race. I hope it will make a comeback someday.

As for racing post PRO career...I count you'll see me racing much but I would love to pick one race every year, get some other former pro friends to come with and maybe have a friendly side bet!

you can't get any detail by Slowtichers! :)

So I had crashed on those pedals and messed up the body a bit, the cap just happened to fall off before that ride when I was pulling my bike out of the car. I didn't realize till after the ride but the good folks at Garmin fixed them up for me later that day!

I know, I know, I get them for free...I should've ordered a new pair after I crashed...but waste not want not, right?!

I originally rode 172.5s and switched to 165s quite a few years back. I actually have a bone impingement in my hip and the shorter crank helps me get low and avoid irritating my hip. I do feel like I ride better with shorter cranks (especially over rolling courses), my power is better and pedal stroke efficiency is better. As with life there are trade offs and I do think I run better off of longer cranks. I tried 170s and then settled at 167.5s for my preferred length. Compromise wins!

I usually ride around 85-90rpm in a race

I believe on the new 12 speed SRAM Red, the cranks only come with quarqs? Regardless, Trek built all of our bikes with them and (as you do when you get free stuff) I smiled and said thank you very much! I've used both and both works great with oodles of data collection.

In terms of fit, I am always trying to improve as an athlete and at 39 that usually means being smarter and to training harder! The work I did with Jim Manton was awesome. We paired up with Garmin's Alpha Mantis team and dialed in everything on the velodrome in LA. Last year when Matt Botrill came on board, we actually didn't touch my saddle position at all and left the front end reach and height pretty similar. We really worked on bringing my arms narrower and angled the front end up to hold me into place. The most important thing we did was work on my ability to hold position in a race. We can hold hold an awesome position for a few laps on the velodrome but doing it over 180km takes training.

haha, yah they are great! I mean they'll give me a hard time when I call the "Tommy sauce" ketchup but other then that pretty good! This is my first Christmas in summer, so I am getting used to that but on the plus side I don't have to coordinate any holiday plans..I can just sit back and watch My Little Ponies with Izzy!

I love Lawrence! No joke, Lawrence is an awesome town, I highly recommend! Last year I wanted to get down from altitude before Kona, that's where the search started. It is just hard to get the top end sessions in at altitude, at least without needing a lot more recovery. This is especially true as I get older. We were looking for a somewhere within a day's drive that had a little heat and humidity too. We actually got the Lawrence idea from Talbot (who got it from Gwen's husband Pat) I had done the 70.3 there in 2009 and it was HOT and the bike course was legit too so I figured it would be perfect. It turns out it really is great, they have an awesome 50m public pool, awesome gym with TG equipment (thank you JayHawk Club), a great gravel trail to run along the river and some nice roads for riding. On top of that the people in town are awesome, so nice. Don tell Rinny, but I think we should get a place there :)

LT America reporting for duty :)

I spit my coffee when I read the pull-ups question, so good! I'm not gonna lie...I don't think I've done a single pull-up since I graduated from Dive School :)

I do most of my running in the Mach 2s but Cliftons are great for EZ runs and the new Rincons might fight the Machs for most miles worn this spring when I get back to the US. Tempo and speed are done in Carbon X and Carbon Rockets.

Don't hold it against me for not getting those Quals :)

Thanks so much for the kind words! You definitely have to be in it to win it when racing Kona, particularly with the swim and bike. If you are a contender and don't want to take chances then I think you can snag a Top 10 just by being smart, not over biking and having a solid run. If you want then win (or really the podium) then things change a bit! The crucial part is taking calculated risks (making the swim break, staying with the leaders until the top of climb and turn around).

In terms of mindset I actually don't get caught up in trying to "win" I focus on executing my best race. I believe if I execute my best race then that is a performance that can result in the win.

I go off of grams of carbs and shooting for 110-120/hr

The Raptor rocks...I love that thing!!

As for Jan's move, I definitely ramped up my power but hit a point where I knew the power it would take to bridge would be too much at that point in the race. I just had a feeling that it wasn't my move at that point. I honestly think I made the right call.

"Don't Give up the Ship" is always in my mind!

As for no Tri bikes, I try to stay off of it in the off season. Cross, mountain, road, anything but the TT bike. We'll be here in Australia for 6 weeks and I actually just brought my road bike with me.