2012 ChesapeakeMan Nutrition Report (9:44:53/5th o'all)

Coming into ChesapeakeMan I had taken a serious review of my nutritional needs for racing long distance.  I felt as though IM St George and Eagleman 70.3m hadn't gone to plan from a nutritional perspective and I wanted to make some adjustments.  These are always made from race to race, based on conditions but I felt that I needed to go back to the drawing board. As such, I spent the summer testing out numerous different approaches and found one that I thought would work on race day. This report is my own personal strategy and is not meant as an guide of what you should do, but a reference to help what you could do when developing your own strategy.  

Here goes......

ChesapeakeMan Ultra Distance Triathlon (Ironman) – Sept 29, 2012 
Race Totals: 9:44:53 
Swim: 1:08:42
Bike: 5:14:12 (21.4 mph) 
Run: 3:17:46 (7:33 per mile) 
5th place overall  

BREAKFAST: Consumed between 4:30am – 4:50am 

• (2) Magnesium capsules
• (1) Vitacost multivitamin
• (2) Fish Oil capsules
• (2) Spiralina capsules
• (2) packets Glutenfreeda oatmeal with water
• (1) ProBar Superfruit Slam
• (2) SaltStick capsules

PRE-SWIM: (1) bottle w/ (2) scoops EFS + (1) SaltStick

SWIM TOTALS: 1:08:42

Bike Nutrition: 

• Starting Bottle: (2) scoops EFS + (4) scoops CarboPro
• 2x EFS Liquid Shot Flasks (Kona Mocha/Vanilla) 
• Approx (0.5) bottles of on-course Gatorade (90 calories) 
• (7) 20oz water at every aid station (probably 2/3 of each)
• (4) SaltStick capsules
• Special needs Bottle: (2) scoops EFS + (4) scoops CarboPro

*~140oz total fluid intake on the bike or approximately 27oz per hour

Bike Nutrition Totals: 

• Calories: 2100 (400 per hour)
• CHO: 524g
• Sugar: 164g
• Sodium: 4560mg (868 per hour)
• Potassium: 1432mg (273 per hour)
• Caffeine: 120mg

*For reference, I raced at ~163LBS [Hourly Caloric Intake (Bike): 2.45 calories /LB per hour]

BIKE TOTALS: 5:14:12 - 21.4 mph

Run Nutrition: 

• 1-2 'cups' of Gatorade & (1) 'cup' of water taken at every aid station
• 4-6oz of coke consumed at (2) aid stations which had coke
• SaltStick Capsules: (24) capsules total, consumed at (2) every two miles.
• (1) Clifbar Shot Blocks
• (2) Hammer gel

Run Nutrition Totals: 

• Calories: 800* (246 per hour)
• CHO: 195g
• Sugar: 133g
• Sodium: 4700mg ( 1445 per hour)
• Potassium: 1312mg (403 per hour)
• Caffeine: 770mg (236 per hour)

*The run was assuming ~2.5oz of Gatorade and 2oz of water consumed at each of (24) aid stations (~108oz total fluid on the run or approximately 33oz per hour)

RUN TOTALS: 3:17:46 - 7:33 per mile 

Report format taken from Brian Shea at Personal Best Nutrition

Looking Ahead.....IM Lake Placid

To be honest I am looking forward to IM Lake Placid just so we can get a break from training in 95 degree heat! The past few weeks have been a total drain on the body in the heat and humidity of the Mid-Atlantic, Lake Placid will feel chilly with temps in the high 70's! Ideal for racing unless it pours like it did for the 2008 race :-(

Training since the meltdown at Eagleman 70.3m has gone well and I have got some solid weeks in. Confidence has returned and with a tune-up race on July 10th hopefully that will instill further confidence prior to the 2 week taper.

In the last few weeks I have started using CarboPro as my primary nutrition on the bike. I have to say I wish I had started using it sooner. Essentially it is a complex carbohydrate powder which contains 115 calories per serving and a total of 28gms of carbs. The good thing for endurance racing is that you mix a ton of this stuff into one bottle and then just supplement with water or other liquids as the race goes on.

Currently I am mixing up bottles with 1000 calories and that gives me 400 calories an hour over a 2.5 hour period. Two of those bottles will get me through an IM bike leg and so far in training it has been working really well. The only additional calories that I take in is a Milky Way at 50miles, which gives me some solid food and also something to look forward to. It is easy on the stomach, I have had no GI issues whatsoever and I've been running well afterwards. So far so good.......oh, and don't forget to use electrolytes with the CarboPro as it doesn't contain any.

Onwards and upwards........looking forward to the mountains of Up-State New York :-)