Inspired by gut-rot and the front page articles on Dr Allen Lim and Skratch Labs, I went out and got my hands on his recipe book (if only just for the Allen Cake recipe).
After reading the articles and getting my hands on the book, I was wondering if anyone out there has tried (with success, or not) an Allen-esque plan for their IM?
If so:
What was/were your race experience(s) prior to trying it? Gut-rot? GI? How bad?
What daily practices have you changed, if any?
What’s your hydration/nutrition look like in the few days prior to throwing down?
I just did IMMoo and used rice cakes for the bike. They work beautifully for me, and I plan to use this formula for a while.
Cook them the night before, let them cool in the pan abd wrap them up individually before you go to bed.
Race day, two were in a bento box on the front, one was in a pocket.
I live just down the street from Skratch Labs (Lim’s company) and I’ve had rice cakes made from him, so I knew about the size they cut them to. I cut mine slightly larger so I could get around 300 calories per cake. The bacon also provided decent sodium.
Also, I paired this with carbo-pro and Skratch labs drink mix. I have no complaints.
Interesting. I just started reading his book. The recipes look tasty. How’d you find opening the cakes while riding? Sounds like you’re local to Wis. Makes it easy to make them before the race. How would you handle for a race tht you travel to?
Just out of curiosity, I have heard about the The Sweet variety of Allen Lims Rice cakes. What are the ingredients to make the sweet variety.
Also I have been using the rice cakes. Although I dont do Ironman yet, they seem to be pretty tolerable on my stomach
I just did IMMoo and used rice cakes for the bike. They work beautifully for me, and I plan to use this formula for a while.
Cook them the night before, let them cool in the pan abd wrap them up individually before you go to bed.
Race day, two were in a bento box on the front, one was in a pocket.
I live just down the street from Skratch Labs (Lim’s company) and I’ve had rice cakes made from him, so I knew about the size they cut them to. I cut mine slightly larger so I could get around 300 calories per cake. The bacon also provided decent sodium.
Also, I paired this with carbo-pro and Skratch labs drink mix. I have no complaints.
I just got my recipe book today, and they do look like tasty recipes. I also got 4 packets of his drink mix to try, looking forward to seeing how they taste/work for a harder ride.
What I also like is the writeup he has at the beginning, and a sample pantry stock list, as well as showing in the recipes what can be precooked.
Yeah it was a good article. Haven’t tried any of his stuff but now he’s got me thinking of packing pizza & BLT’s! Wait…don’t tell Jordan it’s okay to eat bacon during the race…
I’ve been thinking about all the ways to mold a leftover burrito into the perfect aero shape ever since I read that article.
Use those tiny tortillas & put them into a large popsicle mold. The kind you put Kool Aid in. Then freeze them so by the time you’re ready to eat them, they’ll thaw out & be just about right…warmed up but not spoiled. Just don’t use sour cream.
What size would you recommend? What was the calorie breakdown in liquid vs. rice cakes? At 300 calories, did you down one every 1-2hours or nibble away at it?
Could be making reference to Almond and Date Rice Cakes. They look amazing and I can’t wait to whip up a batch this weekend.
2cups rice w/3cups water
1 cup dates
1 cup almonds
2tbsp brown sugar
1/2tbsp salt
honey/agave to taste
That’s a good question, since I eyeballed it. I’d guess they were 2.5 x 2.5 inches. GIven the nature of the packaging and content, I’d open one up a mile or two from an aid station and eat it fairly quickly. I did this on the hour, every hour. It might have been better to take them in smaller doses, so to speak, but once I got them out I simply wanted to down them.
Actually, I live in Colorado and traveled for the race. I did have a big logistical advantage though. Since my girlfriend races in the pro field, Ironman set us up with a home stay and our hosts were awesome. All I had to purchase were eggs and bacon, I brought the rice. If I didn’t have that, it would be challenging.
Dodging other riders was the hardest thing about eating the cakes. Triathletes are not great bike handlers, and this was on full display in IMWI with many people swerving, riding in the middle of the road, etc… Luckily for me, I didn’t plan to dive in the them until mile 12 or so, which meant the race had thinned out some.
Could be making reference to Almond and Date Rice Cakes. They look amazing and I can’t wait to whip up a batch this weekend.
2cups rice w/3cups water
1 cup dates
1 cup almonds
2tbsp brown sugar
1/2tbsp salt
honey/agave to taste
I’m going to make these tonight but I’ll substitute 1.5 cups of light coconut milk in place of water and only 1tbsp of brown sugar.
I’m thinking about trying it out as well. I know it’s not exactly bacon, but I was thinking Spam Musubi (it’s sort of hawaiian/japanese mixture). Includes rice and spam wrapped w/ one piece of seaweed. Pic and recipe is here: http://momofukufor2.com/2010/04/spam-musubi-recipe/
I grew up eating these and I’m sure it would have enough calories and salt (also fat). It could possibly stay together better in your bike shirt. You can make these pretty easily or for those in the US, maybe try it at L&L’s Hawaiian BBQ - http://hawaiianbarbecue.com/
I sort of tried the strategy of separating food from hydration (like Lim suggests) in my last IM. I had like 4 bars (cliff mojo and torque bars) on the bike and pretty much only drank bottles w/ Nuun for sodium/eletrolytes and minerals. I had one gel and a bottle of carbo pro, but didn’t really drink it all…seemed to work really well for me. I didn’t really have to take in much on the run and relatively good all the way.
On training rides I was trying this more and more b/c I am a bit sick of gels and shot bloks, etc…I even ate a snickers at a gas station. I wanted to test out feeling a little full on the run and going in w/out having to take gels, etc…This worked OK on training rides, so I’ll keep tweaking.
I’ve talked with Lim and his crew about this several times. Of course there is a shorter shelf life due to the eggs and bacon, but they regularly serve them at 6 hours of non-refrigeration. At Wisconsin, I took mine out of the fridge at 5:15am (in foil wrappers) and I ate the last 11am from my bento box. No problems whatsoever.
I had one in my jersey pocket, though. I ate it first because I figured my body temp would warm it up. I was correct in the assumption. Of the three cakes I carried, the one in my pocket was the warmest and the one that crumbled a little.
I’ve never tried the almond/date version of the sweet cakes, but i’ve got a batch of the chocolate/coconut/walnut version in the freezer right now (can’t remember exactly what they’re called in the book). I cut them, wrap in foil/saran wrap, then freeze. I put the frozen ones in a jersey pocket, usually after two hours of Socal heat, they’re perfect. Still a little chilled, and they’re definitely sweet, but not overbearing… Using sticky rice, they hold together really well, no crumbling or falling apart.
I make an apple/brown sugar/cinnamon version that I love during rides.
If I were to return to IM I would eat real food on the bike and then move to liquids on the run. Solid food is just unrealistic on the run. Some may also experience issues eating immediately after a swim.
I’ve been using Skratch Labs drink mix and rice bars for about 5 months now. I used it again this past weekend for a 70.3. Although I had been mostly making the bacon/egg version of the bars, I decided to switch it up and made blackberry/chocolate/mint bars. Although the bars taste incredible, I should’ve stuck with the bacon/egg for the added sodium. I am a bigger guy (189lbs) and need that extra sodium.
But as far as racing/training with this ‘new’ idea of “drink your hydration, chew your food”? I will never go back to gels!