I’m not fast (12:xx), but I’m all liquid for IM. My infinit is about 320 cals/bottle

Very interesting. So if I understand correctly:

1. one bottle behind your seat is a slushy mixture of infinite solution
2. you grab a bottle of water at an aid station
3. while moving, you pour some of the slush into the water bottle.
4. repeat over and over: grab a fresh bottle of water, add more caloric slush

Is this pretty much your process?

---

"If it costs you 30 minutes at Maryland so what" -dwreal

Yes thats correct. Just to clarify I use a refillable BTA bottle to do all the mixing, currently an XLAB Torpedo so I can squirt the slushy Infinit mix into it and then fill the rest with water (that I grab from aid stations). No mess and you can do it while riding without skipping a beat.

I'll go out on limb and say if you have 5 Nutrigrain bars you absolutely will develop GI distress for the reasons you already know: digestion requires blood, enzymes, liver and stomach function, and when your body is under mild stress you will not digest properly (not to mention the fiber content!).

I know that in this age where fame and infamy are the same thing the idea of becoming an internet sensation by crapping your pants in a race seems appealing. But one day you might look back and regret it.

I have a sub 10, so will assume that allows me to respond. ;-)

All liquid (Infinit) on the bike. 275-300 cal/hour split between 2 concentrated bottles.

My gut just never did well with solids or gels.

I have a profile design aero bottle between my bars and two behind the seat bottle cages. BTA means between the arms?

Do you have a problem with the slush just sitting at the bottom since there is no way to stir it up or does it mix pretty well just form riding?

So it seems like I have the setup to do all this without any bike changes, I also have handling skills enough to fill the front bottle on the move.

I guess my issue now is, a month out from my race, do I have enough time to experiment with new nutrition. I can handle Gatorade like a champ. Maybe I just have a bottle on the back packed with extra Gatorade power, similar to infinite... same idea to get more calories, just not dealing with a new product so close to race?

---

"If it costs you 30 minutes at Maryland so what" -dwreal

Using Infinit, my process is to start with 1 concentrated bottle on the bike (aero bottle on the down tube), anther in SN. Infinit mixes very well and doesn't get slushy, but you need to dial back the flavor in the formula if you are going to concentrate it.

I keep water in my BTA bottle and refill that at aid stations. After sips of concentrated Infinit, I chase with water. I get the 2nd Infinit bottle in SN.

I guess everyone is different. My last 17 hour ride I took in:

3.5 gallons of gatorade
8 slice of pizza
14 nutrigrain bars
3 bananas
5 sticky buns
6 gels
14 sugar wafers
1 cliff bar

I pissed all day but 0 crapping. But again this was at a lower intensity.

---

"If it costs you 30 minutes at Maryland so what" -dwreal

If you can consider a 9:29 PR with a 4:41 bike PR split fast...

I have a Dark Speed Works aero bento on my top tube. I can get 5 sleeves of Cliff Shot Blocks into it. In T1 I also stuff 4 gels into my back pocket. I eat 3 shot blocks on the 0:20 and 0:40 of each hour, and 1 gel on the 60:00 of each hour. I take bottles of Gatorade at each aid station and depending on the temperature of the day I'll usually go through two or three bottles of that. I also carry a tube of Base Salt that I try to remember to hit every half hour or so.

Basically 1000 calories of shot blocks, 400 calories of gels, and around another 360-ish of Gatorade to total around 1700 calories for the bike leg.

I did my first real full a few weeks back in 9:31 with a majority of my calories coming from solids and had zero GI issues. Every hour I'd have a Honey Stinger waffle, a pack of Honey Stinger chews, and 12oz of water with a scoop of EFS, 3 salt tablets, and 30oz of water. It was obviously all spread out over the hour so every 5-10 minutes I was eating/drinking something. I'm also used to stuffing my face with spicy Thai food or dairy before tough workouts so my stomach is pretty used to putting up with my shit.




Disclaimer: Sponsored by Honey Stinger

---

Fourth year Elite.
- AP Racing Team
- Dimond Bikes
- Strava
- Insta

Low intensity changes the discussion. That is the point. Your body wasn’t under a stress level that inhibited digestion. This is hardly a surprise considering the duration of the event.

My Goodman, are you hoping he craps his pants!

(Oh one other thing. Digestion is easier on the bike because you are not erect. How would you describe the BM after the event. Pleasant? Our racer is planning on running after the ride, you know!)

I say yes really.



Maybe somewhat true for PE and relative heart rate. I think that heart rate is a good measure, but also affected moreso by heat/dehydration, etc. that other metrics might be.



%FTP whether bike or run is lower for slower athletes. It's more time based than speed based. An athlete who rides 4:15 for an IM might be able to go 75-80% FTP. An athlete who rides 6 hours will be less maybe 70% more or less. And depending on the relative fitness of the athlete, the %age might be higher or lower.

Sure, slower athletes can ride 80% of FTP for longer, and they'll walk most of the run. But, a targeted bike FTP of <70% might be a better strategy for a less fast athlete. That 10ish % difference does make a difference in digestion I think. Some solids, ok I think, especially if it keep hunger away. I think that primarily liquid nutrition is the 'safest' way to go...N=1s for solids excepted, if that makes sense.

Edit to add. I generally lump blocks and gels into the liquid category.

---

Brandon Marsh - Website | @BrandonMarshTX | RokaSports | 1stEndurance | ATC Bikeshop |

I used to agree with you, but after IM Whistler a couple of years ago, I puked after the finish and pretty much puked a non digested bonk breaker bar that I took in the first 90min of the bike. From there, I have taken only soft calories (gels and liquids) with better energy late and few GI issues.

---

---

"Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go." T.S. Elliot | Cycle2Tri.com
Sponsors: SciCon | | Every Man Jack

The be clear, I am a big proponent of liquid calories but I also don’t do IMs.

Dumb question but I tried this and my slurry stops up my water bottle hole. How did you get around that?

Yeah I don't think you can really compare that ride to an IM bike. 2 completely different animals.

There's another issue that hasn't really been mentioned is that you need to be able to run after the bike without GI issues. Just because you didn't
bonk or didn't have GI issues on the bike, doesn't mean your bike nutrition is dialed in. I know my bike nutrition is good when I can run a ~10k off a 5 hour bike without issue. In the past, I would be fine on the bike but as soon as I started running (within 2-3 miles), GI distress.

---

blog

9:15 ironman. On the bike: I eat 4 gu chews every 30 minutes. That's 180 calories an hour. I start with three bottles on my bike- one BTA, and then one between my legs and one behind my seat. The BTA and one of the others is gu roctane, and the third is water. I try to go through a total volume of one bottle an hour. My gu roctane bottles are about 250 calories. At every aid station I grab bottles of gatorade and refill my bta. It works out to be ~300 calories an hour as I mix drinking water and gu/gatorade.

---

http://www.savagesentiments.blogspot.com/
http://www.tricoachmartin.com/
https://www.facebook.com/teameverymanjack

I use one of the wide-mouth bottles like the Specialized Purist. Might have to shake it occasionally, but if you get the consistency right it should work no problem

Don't race IM's any more. But when I did, I was a sub 9:30 guy and back then, I would use solid foods - Powerbars, CLIF bars etc. for calories. Never had any problems.

That (above) was in the pre-gel days. These days I just ride. I rode 100 miles last weekend in a little over 5 hours, and I used mostly gels, and a couple of CLIF bars for my calories.

---

---

Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

"I was planning on taking in almost 375 calories per hour. "


Sounds like too much.

Have you tried that on a five hour training ride?

A truth I found about Ironman racing was that if my stomach can't handle some solid(ish) food like a powerbar on the bike, then I am going too hard.
If my stomach stops processing liquid calories, then I've gone WAY too hard.
Generally, as the race progresses I eat less solid and eventually go all liquid.

I'm not kidding about spicy pepperoni sticks. Something about hot spicy food calms your stomach. Just don't overdo it.

It's all personal and does not really matter.

My coach is a pro athlete (8:09 best) and uses solid (1-2 bars) and gels and it works well for him.
Sometimes he uses only gels.
I also eat bars/gels (best half is 4:44).
Cam Wurf eat Mars bars, and it also works for him.

Someone uses only liqued like infinit nutrition. I would try too if I lived in the US.

Can we call bananas liquid calories? I love some of those while racing a IM.

---

2024: Bevoman, Galveston, Alcatraz, Marble Falls, Santa Cruz

1-2 sleeves of clif bloks & a payday

---

Brian Stover USAT LII
Accelerate3 Coaching
Insta

I can't speak for the OP but that doesn't seem all that out of line. I do around 320-350/hr depending on how much Gatorade I get in along with my 300 calories of blocks and gels. I weigh 148lbs if that matters.