Nick Bare goes 11:28 @ IMFL in first IM with no background in swimming or biking

Triathlon Forum
41

I just prefer to get my carbs through clean sources and not pure sugar.

Wait what’s wrong with Gatorade Zero? It has zero sugar/calories. I’ve switched over to that a couple of months ago and I’m feeling great and managed to keep sugar cravings at bay with it

You’re reading me wrong. I am saying I do NOT have a problem with Gatorade Zero, and I drink it all the time. If we are being specific, I actually prefer PowerAde Zero to Gatorade.

Also, FWIW, I do not think Nick is on any illegal PE drugs. I think the dude just honestly works out in the gym that much, and has been for years.

42

The day to day nutrition is definitely one of the hardest parts. I find that’s something that ends up being very personal. As long as you’re getting in enough calories there’s almost infinite ways to do it. Once you find a rhythm it’s not too bad though.

see that’s the hard part. what is enough calories. my maintenance calories are around 2800. on any given day, between strength work and endurance work I may run 2k cal in exercise. eating 4800 cal of real, quality food and not being to full to train is impossible. you’re gonna be in a big deficit. how much is enough to recover properly and still fuel the next days work. I can say the I’ve found running my macros at 50/20/30 or 40/20/40 seems beneficail

I don’t think it’s too hard to eat that much and feel fine. For some people it may be harder but with dense enough food it shouldn’t be an issue. I’ve been in the 4-5k range (along with most other people on here) for the last decade and have actually struggled to cut weight because of cravings being so high otherwise, but training quality has been incredible.

43

Is he an Army Ranger?

looks like he’s tabbed Infantryman, which is slightly different to serving in a Ranger battalion, although to an outsider it probably seems the same.

I’m speaking to the “social” component and the added distance from the mothership, not the service component. Infantry Platoon Leader is Infantry Platoon Leader in that respect.

Take my comments with a grain of salt… I’m quite a few years removed from keeping tabs on the social aspect and was the exact opposite of a tabbed infantryman.

E

44

I I gotta say, I was hugely skeptical of this guy’s chances of completing an Ironman…

Finishing an Ironman is incredibly easy.

On the other hand, racing an Ironman is very very hard.

Doing a sub12 as your first tri with no endurance sport background and in a year of training while maintaining bodybuilding is NOT easy.

This ain’t some 16 hr IM. Not impossible but would be a tall order.for most coaches.

45

I think going sub 12 in your first Ironman is impressive as nothing can prepare you for how your body will feel after that many hours of continual exercise. In my experience, it takes several years of the right training and experimentation to figure out what you need nutritionally in a variety of conditions and paces to be able to execute an Ironman well.

If you look at Nick’s Marathon PB (3:58 in Feb '18) and compare that with what he did at IMFL (4:04), that’s pretty much spot on pacing / nutrition without a power-meter and months of trial and error. It is far more common for folks to have sub 4hr marathon PRs and end up with a 5 hr IM marathon due to GI issues, cramping or other factors during their first IM attempt.

46

I’m quite a few years removed from keeping tabs on the social aspect and was the exact opposite of a tabbed infantryman.

E

You went Ranger battalion or Green Beret?

47

I’m quite a few years removed from keeping tabs on the social aspect and was the exact opposite of a tabbed infantryman.

E

You went Ranger battalion or Green Beret?

Neither, which is why I qualified my statements. Is there an issue?

E

48

I I gotta say, I was hugely skeptical of this guy’s chances of completing an Ironman…

Finishing an Ironman is incredibly easy.

On the other hand, racing an Ironman is very very hard.

Doing a sub12 as your first tri with no endurance sport background and in a year of training while maintaining bodybuilding is NOT easy.

This ain’t some 16 hr IM. Not impossible but would be a tall order.for most coaches.

This is patently false. Any reasonably stubborn, able-bodied person could complete an Ironman. Doubly so for this particular person, with his background.

49

I I gotta say, I was hugely skeptical of this guy’s chances of completing an Ironman…

Finishing an Ironman is incredibly easy.

On the other hand, racing an Ironman is very very hard.

Doing a sub12 as your first tri with no endurance sport background and in a year of training while maintaining bodybuilding is NOT easy.

This ain’t some 16 hr IM. Not impossible but would be a tall order.for most coaches.

This is patently false. Any reasonably stubborn, able-bodied person could complete an Ironman. Doubly so for this particular person, with his background.

You’re seriously telling me you could take any typical 200+lbs bodybuilder who keeps training in bodybuilding, that you can get them to a sub12 IM and 5:35 1-mile run time in 1 year of training?

We’re not talking ‘just finish IM’ here. Not some 16+hr IM. Sub12.

If you think you can get over 50% of such big athletes with no endurance background to get there, definitely let us know what your special sauce is.

50

I’m quite a few years removed from keeping tabs on the social aspect and was the exact opposite of a tabbed infantryman.

E

You went Ranger battalion or Green Beret?

Neither, which is why I qualified my statements. Is there an issue?

E

No issue. I thought you were making a jab at non spec ops personnel … it’s all good -

51

I was prepping for the Murph challenge last year and found a video on him doing one. Been following ever since.

I’m a skinny runner type and wouldn’t know a juiced physique from a natural one, but he seems legit to me. Just a lot of determination, work ethic and a shit ton of hard work. His IM prep was no different.

Hats off to TT for helping him out.

52

I I gotta say, I was hugely skeptical of this guy’s chances of completing an Ironman…

Finishing an Ironman is incredibly easy.

On the other hand, racing an Ironman is very very hard.

Doing a sub12 as your first tri with no endurance sport background and in a year of training while maintaining bodybuilding is NOT easy.

This ain’t some 16 hr IM. Not impossible but would be a tall order.for most coaches.

This is patently false. Any reasonably stubborn, able-bodied person could complete an Ironman. Doubly so for this particular person, with his background.

You’re seriously telling me you could take any typical 200+lbs bodybuilder who keeps training in bodybuilding, that you can get them to a sub12 IM and 5:35 1-mile run time in 1 year of training?

We’re not talking ‘just finish IM’ here. Not some 16+hr IM. Sub12.

Yes

If you think you can get over 50% of such big athletes with no endurance background to get there, definitely let us know what your special sauce is.

There’s no special sauce… finishing an Ironman is easy.

But…

Why do you think only the coach got him to a 5:35 mile? Why aren’t you attributing some of that to latent talent?

Why are you discounting the potentially 8 years of endurance training he did during his cadet and Army years?

Why are you giving so much emphasis to the 12hr mark at totally flat IMFL?

94 women went sub-12, including 12x W50-54 and 2x W55-59

567 men, not including pros, went sub-12, including 1x M65-69 and 5x M60-64, the winner of which who went 10:27

So that’s like 25% of the field that went sub-12, and 50% of the field went sub-13.

I have no idea what his training was, or how good his coaching was, but I stand by the statement that the vast majority of reasonably stubborn, able-bodied males with his background could finish IMFL in 12 hours, especially if they’re following some sort of structured training from a coach, with bonus points for being an former Infantry officer.

E

53

Ok, if you are that great a coach, you really need to be a pro coach.

Seriously, if you can take any young male with no endurance background (which is definitely what you’re claiming - you’re not here saying nick bare has some special endurance talent that lets him outperform the vast number of his peers) and get them to sub12 in ONE YEAR, you will literally be the BEST coach on the planet. By farrrrr. Even if you could get 50% of your non-cherry-picked young male athletes to sub12 in one year, you woudl still be the best coach on the planet.

Sub12 is eminently doable for most healthy young males after more than a year of training. If they’ve done endurance sports, it makes it faster. But if you’re going to claim Nick Bare falls in that category of ‘has done endurance sports’ or ‘has significant talent in tri’, that’s a farrrr cry from what you’re claiming that it’s literally easy for any random young male to do that in 1 year.

If however, you’re saying what I think you’re saying and saying that:

  • “Finishing a SLOW IM is easy” (like 15+hrs and NOT sub12 like Nick Bare), we agree.
  • Finishing a sub12 IM is easy after only 1 year of tri training if you have some degree of talent (like Nick Bare might) and your 8 yrs of military training has a lot of overlap in IM so you have a big head start (I honestly have no idea if it does, I’ve never seen the details of his military training), we agree.
54

Ok, if you are that great a coach, you really need to be a pro coach.

this has nothing to do with me! This is all about a) finishing and Ironman is easy, b) finishing IMFL in 12hrs is easy, and c) this dude being a Ranger-tabbed former US Army Infantry officer. He should have gone 10:30 with that background IMO. He got beat by a 65yo man I think.

55

I I gotta say, I was hugely skeptical of this guy’s chances of completing an Ironman…

Finishing an Ironman is incredibly easy.

On the other hand, racing an Ironman is very very hard.

Doing a sub12 as your first tri with no endurance sport background and in a year of training while maintaining bodybuilding is NOT easy.

This ain’t some 16 hr IM. Not impossible but would be a tall order.for most coaches.

This is patently false. Any reasonably stubborn, able-bodied person could complete an Ironman. Doubly so for this particular person, with his background.

Tell that to the over 25% DNF rate of IMCHOO this year.

56

I I gotta say, I was hugely skeptical of this guy’s chances of completing an Ironman…

Finishing an Ironman is incredibly easy.

On the other hand, racing an Ironman is very very hard.

Doing a sub12 as your first tri with no endurance sport background and in a year of training while maintaining bodybuilding is NOT easy.

This ain’t some 16 hr IM. Not impossible but would be a tall order.for most coaches.

This is patently false. Any reasonably stubborn, able-bodied person could complete an Ironman. Doubly so for this particular person, with his background.

Tell that to the over 25% DNF rate of IMCHOO this year.

they weren’t sufficiently stubborn…

57

Ok, if you are that great a coach, you really need to be a pro coach.

this has nothing to do with me! This is all about a) finishing and Ironman is easy, b) finishing IMFL in 12hrs is easy, and c) this dude being a Ranger-tabbed former US Army Infantry officer. He should have gone 10:30 with that background IMO. He got beat by a 65yo man I think.

I don’t know what the Ranger-type Army training entails, but if it has significant triathlon overlap (meaning you’re wayyyy farther ahead than the typical young male starting IM training), it totally discounts your concept that finishing IMFL in 12hrs with only one year of training is easy, as it pretty much makes the point that you have to have significant overlapping background to make it possible.

I still think it’s total bunk that finishing IMFL in 12 hrs after 1 year of training as a nontriathlete, will be easy for the majority of young men. If it were that easy, literally every male one-and-doner under 35 would do it just for the bragging rights. What is the sub12 finish rate at IMFL anyway?

58

I’ve seen some of his videos. For a dude his size, he can run quite well and efficiently. I was skeptical of his swim, but he’s got the “don’t panic” mentality to get through it, and he did put in the training needed for the rest of the race.

Now, he was in really good shape to start with. Hi story is a far cry from a couch-to-Ironman. His job, the nutrition/supplement company that he owns, looks like he doesn’t have to do much work-- like he’s got partners/subordinates that do the heavy lifting, and he can devote lots of time to training-- and has a fantastic gym on site that he can use all day long. Plus he’s already well versed in nutrition and takes a considerable amount of supplements. I’m not going to accuse him of anything illegal, but he’s way ahead of the average triathlete in terms of those supplements and general nutrition knowledge/practice to start with.

anyway, congrats to him, his results are well deserved. It will be interesting to see if he wants to continue in any other endurance sports.

59

This is where you and I will continue to butt heads. Finishing an Ironman when prepared correctly is “easy”. Especially for someone who did enough to turn professional for a small part of his triathlon career. But for the vast majority of Triathletes, finishing Sub 12 is impressive.

Now, onto Bare and his athletic background. For everyone else that doesn’t seem to have an idea. If you’re in the Army and you’re in combat arms, you run a metric fuck ton. Now, the mileage isn’t Marathoner level, but when I was a Recon PL my platoon ran 20+ miles per week. So then you do all of that for four years straight at varying levels. Then before he ever thought to do this Ironman Challenge, which based on his whole business aspect stuff this was just content for his youtube channel to help drive his bottom line (which is certainly ok). But I’d be surprised if he continues to do endurance stuff, although that I’d like to see because the lifestyle youtuber bullshit that permeates that portion of the internet is dumb.

But before the Ironman stuff he spent 6-8 months of doing serious run training building up to a marathon. Had to change up his overall physique and drop weight. But he still maintained significant mass (yet I’d say he looks more like he did when he was on active duty)…which I also found impressive considering the time he put down.

60

This is where you and I will continue to butt heads. Finishing an Ironman when prepared correctly is “easy”. Especially for someone who did enough to turn professional for a small part of his triathlon career. But for the vast majority of Triathletes, finishing Sub 12 is impressive.

Now, onto Bare and his athletic background. For everyone else that doesn’t seem to have an idea. If you’re in the Army and you’re in combat arms, you run a metric fuck ton. Now, the mileage isn’t Marathoner level, but when I was a Recon PL my platoon ran 20+ miles per week. So then you do all of that for four years straight at varying levels. Then before he ever thought to do this Ironman Challenge, which based on his whole business aspect stuff this was just content for his youtube channel to help drive his bottom line (which is certainly ok). But I’d be surprised if he continues to do endurance stuff, although that I’d like to see because the lifestyle youtuber bullshit that permeates that portion of the internet is dumb.

But before the Ironman stuff he spent 6-8 months of doing serious run training building up to a marathon. Had to change up his overall physique and drop weight. But he still maintained significant mass (yet I’d say he looks more like he did when he was on active duty)…which I also found impressive considering the time he put down.

Good info, thx.

I would still say that he had a great result for 1 year of training if all that marathon training he put in (I don’t know how seriously he did it though) only got him a 4hrish marathon - even WITH all that ranger running background.

To run your IM marathon nearly as fast as your open marathon time in your first IM is almost unbelievable unless you were totally sandbagging on your open marathon.