All of you IM veterans, assuming a 7:00AM start for an IM, what do you eat and when do you eat it the last 48 hour before the start of the race. I am curious as to how you keep the fuel tanks full but not create “elimination” issues during the race.
I barely even want to say anything for fear that someone will do what I (or others) would do instead of what they have done in training. That being said I ALWAYS do what I did before my long training days, with a few more carbs two days out. Assuming Ironman CDA (this sunday, 7:00AM PST start):
Friday: carbo loading (ish), pasta dinner, no refined sugars, veggies. Lot’s of water and a little salt. Water keeps the system going!
Sat: big breakfast (cereal, bagel, banana, OJ), small snacks throughout the day, subway for lunch, and whatever I would normally eat for dinner pre-training day (did pizza before Kona, enchalada’s before CDA…) no sugars all day, lots and lots and lots of water.
Sunday: BIG AM breakfast (cereal, bagel, banana, powerbar, oj, coffee (to get things “moving”) at least 3 hours before the race…so 4 AM or earlier). Then I drink a water/cytomax mix while waiting around before the race start…keep the calories coming in as they will be going out all day!
That is what I have done in the past, never bonked at IM, but never broke 10 hours either…
The key is to back things up( and hopefully not your system!! ) to two days out. If the race is Sunday, the big eating days should be Thursday and Friday. Last large meal should be Lunch on Saturday. Night-before dinner should be light. Through thsi time, eat foods that you know will agree with you with a focus, obviously on carbohydrates. Stay well hydrated. Race morning breakfast is a personal thing and some can eat and some can’t due to nerves. However, it is important to get some calories in on race morning, however you can.
I eat normal or a bit lighter until the day before the race. On the day before I will eat a bunch…bread, pretzels, water, gatorade, etc…high GI stuff. But I won’t have a huge dinner. 3-3.5 hours before race start I’ll have 2 clif bars, 3 bananas, and 16oz of oj for breakfast. Then nothing but water until race start.
Dinner the night before should involve at least one beer…a high quality micro-brew is best…
Spot
Dinner the night before should involve at least one beer…
Indeed. Hydration. Some liquid calories from carbohydrate. Muscle relaxent and sleep inducer. Perfect!
In my highly scientific experiment, my results so far:
IM Wisconsin 2005: No beer the night before…DNF!
IM Wisconsin 2006: 2 beers at dinner…13:25!!
Rockman HIM 2007: Pre-race beer at Chips house…32 minute PR!
Its obviously the beer…
Spot
OK, I like the golden elixir as much as anybody but I had been told to avoid it for the last 48 hours because it is a diuretic. So you are telling me a single beer should be fine the night before….just to take the edge off? Avoid the soda, have a beer sound like great advice to me!!!
Live a little, have a beer or two, it will be fine. If it makes you feel better you can drink an extra glass of water with it. What is the point of recreational athletics if you cannot have a beer with your friends the night before?
Again, you got to go with what’s worked for you during training but for me the 2 staples for all my past IM’s have been a nice Sushi dinner Friday night and 4:00am breakfast raceday morning of Oatmeal, little protein powder, smashed banana, soynut or almond butter mixed up without milk, and 2 big cups of coffee.
Sushi is great with sodium from Soy sauce, very clean protein source from raw fish and low fiber carbs from white rice. None of that tempura, mayo, spicy monster roll crap though.
Lots of Reese’s Pieces!
Seriously. I always just ate tons of food for the two days preceeding IM and also tried to stay really well hydrated. Huge pasta dinners Friday and Saturday. Lots of salt on everything. I know that lots of people advise against eating too much the night before but I’ve had the best success with doing that both before races and before big training days. I do try to minimize fiber intake for the two days before IM. White bread, pasta, rice. Candy. Gatorade. No salad, fruit, fresh veggies, whole grains 
IM morning, I am incapable of eating I would eat lots if I could so instead, I down two Ensure Plus Calories and drink some coffee. Then, I take a bottle of Gatorade with me to sip before the start.
Big Porta Pottie visit before putting on the wetsuit and so far, I’ve never had to go again during the race. I suspect that going from my normally really high fier diet to almost none before the race is a big help.
I second what Miranda said above about the fiber. I have a ridiculous amount of fiber in my diet. For my first several IMs I didn’t really change my diet leading into the race and consequently had some issues on race day. Finally in Florida last season I cut out fiber (as much as possible) for about two days before the race and had no issues. I switched all my delicious fruits/veggies for pretzels, rice cakes, etc, and all my whole grains for white pasta, minute rice, etc. It’s kind of lame, but it’s worked twice for me now (IMFL, IMAZ). Now I just have to get the in-race nutrition nailed and I’ll be golden!
-C
Could you please fill us in on your brand of choice?
Beer is good. But that’s always, just not before an IM.
I eat pretty much whatever I like, like normal. Pre-race dinner fave is penne a la vodka w/ grilled chicken, and a beer or 2. (I did this, oh and a glass of wine too, before IMLP, and got a Kona slot. YMMV.)
My pre-race am meal of choice for the last several season is the magic elixir of the “Geritol wave” - Ensure.
2 before HIM, 4 before IM, consumed 3hrs before race start. Have never had GI issues on course from this.
Easily digested yummy chocolate goodness!
Ensure + 5 HIMs, 2 IMs, 2 EpicMans, 1 American Zofingen = zero on-course dumps.
Anything decent…Sierra Nevada, Sam Adams, Pete’s Wicked, etc. Generally something like a pale ale…
Spot
I’ve heard a lot of talk about Ensure, but isn’t that stuff basically crap (no pun intended). Isn’t it something like 80% high fructose corn syrup? That’s no good.
-C
It may be 110% crap, but it tastes good, goes down easy (gotta love anything that ‘goes down easy’), doesn’t spoil, can’t get f’d up during travel, and most importantly, causes exactly zero GI issues (for me - YMMV).
Lotta carbs (I honestly don’t care what kind, I’ll be burning ‘em all off and then some - calories are calories to me), moderate protein, little bit o’ fat, and lotsa chocolaty goodness just can’t be bad.
The key is the 3hrs before race start mealtime. Plenty o’ time to clear the decks.
As with everything, YMMV.
For all the big pimpin’ I do for them, I really aughta get sponsored.
Murphy, “gotta love anything that ‘goes down easy’”. Like your swimming?
I can see the ad campaign now. “Proud sponsor of Murphy’s Law. He loves it because it goes down easy.” Maybe Al Trawtwig could do the voice-over?
-C
I do the same exact thing I do every other day. During the race, I am like clockwork with my food intake though. For me, this seems more important than anything else. If I mess that up, it’s going to be a LONG day.
All of this stuff seems to be unique to the individual. My suggestion
would be to look at what you’re doing leading up to and on your long
training days and follow what works best for you. Obviously you can
play around with it but don’t do it near race day.