Race day has arrived. You’ve gotten put in all of the exhausting yards, hours, and miles and now could be your time to shine. Whereas many triathlons might not have a big deal with the vitamin aspect of racing, Ironman racing requires you to method vitamin because the 4th sport of the race.
How must you gasoline previous to the race begin? When must you eat on the bike or run? How a lot must you be consuming? All of those questions could be overwhelming at first, however with correct vitamin planning and testing in coaching, nailing race day vitamin can turn into secondhand.
Pre-Race Fueling
Whereas your calendar is about for race day, the fueling clock begins nicely earlier than the gun goes off. Guaranteeing that your whole coaching periods are being replenished is essential to nailing the preparation part of a race construct. It’s also necessary to notice that working towards your fueling methods is essential. For a number of massive key periods, observe utilizing the identical vitamin that you’ll on race day. Having ample time to iron out the main points will assure that you’ll go away no stone unturned with regards to your fueling selections. It is possible for you to to seek out out what gasoline works nicely together with your intestine, what doesn’t, and what it is advisable eat to be able to hold your vitality ranges topped off.
When race day approaches, it’s necessary to start out the day with utterly full glycogen shops. Usually, this may be achieved with rising carbohydrate consumption for at the least 2-3 days main into the occasion. Understand that for each extra gram of carbohydrate that your physique shops, there shall be practically 3 extra grams of water. Which means including a pair kilos of water weight main into race day is totally regular, and beginning off nicely hydrated is extra necessary than race day weight. One mistake that many endurance athletes make of their hydration technique is to eat an excessive amount of plain water and never sufficient sodium. Sodium is likely one of the key gamers in permitting the fluids that you just ingest to really enter the cells. With out sufficient sodium, you possibly can really create extra imbalances in electrolyte ranges in your blood and muscle tissues inflicting extra issues. To counteract this, it’s a good suggestion to drink sports activities drinks, or electrolyte mixes with larger sodium focus, and even simply improve your sodium consumption like ingesting a V8 and a liter of water.
Race Day
Race day will name for a really early get up alarm for all athletes. You will have to be ready to eat a number of hundred energy early within the morning to make sure that you’re correctly fueled to start the occasion. This can be exhausting for some athletes, so you’ll want to observe previous to the occasion!
With the early begin of an Ironman, you’re going to wish to deal with consuming a straightforward on the abdomen breakfast that’s low in fiber and simply digested. Meaning sticking with easy carbohydrates like a bagel and even rice, and presumably some fruit and just a bit little bit of simple to digest protein like egg or nut butter. Ideally, you must end your breakfast at the least 2 hours earlier than your race begin time.
After breakfast (which ought to embrace your regular espresso/caffeine routine) follow consuming one other half liter or so of water till simply earlier than the beginning. Inside 5-10 minutes earlier than the race begin, you can contemplating ingesting 1/2 to full physique of sports activities drink or a sports activities gel plus water for a closing carbohydrate increase (simply keep away from taking on this gasoline from the half-hour earlier than begin to 1 hour earlier than begin – you’ll be most definitely to get hypoglycemic with the 30-60 minute window, earlier than begin gasoline consumption timing).
Bike Vitamin
Because of the size and period of the bike leg throughout an Ironman, most of your race vitamin will happen right here. This portion (particularly the early phases within the bike leg) are on the “entrance half” of the race so your intestine is ready to take in the vitamins a lot simpler than when your physique begins to close down blood move utterly to the intestine within the closing phases of the race. **Your physique shall be sending all blood move to your working skeletal muscle tissues, which suggests restricted move shall be despatched to the intestine and leads to Gastrointestinal points!
In the case of the bike, there are some things you have to to contemplate to your personal particular person wants. What kind of local weather are you racing in? Sizzling and humid? Altitude? Cool local weather? What sort of energy are you pushing? Why does this matter? Your particular person sweat price and the particular situations (warmth & humidity) will have an effect on fluid wants, you’ll must have a hydration plan primarily based in your private wants.
Your fluid consumption plan must keep in mind the hourly quantity of fluid you want (instance, some athletes want about 1 liter/hour to match their sweat price – others want half that quantity and a few want practically double that – the one method to actually know is to carry out pre-post physique weight checks when driving in related situations and depth as you’ve got on race day).
Guarantee acceptable electrolyte content material – particularly/most critically sodium (800 mg/liter of fluid is an efficient “beginning” quantity – although some want nearer to 400-500 mg/liter of fluid, and others want 1000-1,500mg/liter).
Lastly, have a goal vitality (calorie, most significantly carbohydrate) consumption per hour. Most people throughout an Ironman will want between 40 grams (160 kcal) and 120 grams (480 kcal) of carbohydrate per hour on the bike to partially substitute what’s being burned on the bike. The extra energy that you just produce and the upper relative depth that you just journey, the higher your wants shall be. For instance, some smaller athletes succeed by taking in about 200 kcal of carbohydrate per hour throughout a 6-hour bike leg and run nicely afterwards. Different larger, elite male riders holding nearer to 300W who soak up practically 600 kcal/carbohydrate per hour (150g/hour) from a mixture of totally different carbohydrate sorts and might have profitable races. Bear in mind, each athlete is totally different and what works for one, might not work for one more!
Run Gasoline
In the course of the run, the overall gasoline consumption is often decrease than on the bike. That being mentioned, sustaining hydration and electrolyte stability is necessary (once more – the significance of sodium), and going with extra fluid vitality consumption is widespread. Consuming a caffeine liquid, comparable to a coke on the run is nice – however usually wouldn’t advocate beginning to drink coke till you’re at the least half approach by means of the run. All these drinks are ideally consumed extra within the final 10K to 10 miles.
Frequent Fueling Errors
Three massive issues that are inclined to happen with Ironman athletes are as follows:
- Ready too lengthy to start out a hydration plan leading to early dehydration. The impact of that is diminished capability to course of fluids and gasoline for the remainder of the day.
- Having too little sodium in your fluids ingested leading to bloating at a minimal, and doubtlessly harmful hyponatremia (low blood sodium). Hyponatremia may end up in coma and even dying
- Extreme gasoline consumption relative to the physique’s wants. That is particularly necessary if an excessive amount of is taken in all of sudden, if the meals taken in comprise an excessive amount of protein or fats which take far more time and divert blood move away out of your working muscle tissues to digest.
The opposite confounding situation is early over-pacing on the bike (going too exhausting), after which additionally failing to each hydrate and gasoline throughout that early over-pacing. This results in dramatic reductions in efficiency as a result of mixed fatigue, dehydration, and low gasoline consumption relative to wish.
Competing and finishing an Ironman is a large enterprise requiring your physique to be firing on all cylinders come race day. Whereas many athletes solely deal with the bodily coaching, many can neglect the significance of coaching their vitamin. Make sure you plan your vitamin, check your vitamin, and be assured in what you’ve accomplished. As all the time, keep in mind that what works for one athlete might not work for one more, and that your finest plan is what will get you to the end line.