Ironman Triathlon Tips » Racing

Pre Race Mental Prep

IronmanTips — Tue, 18 May 2010 04:30:00 +0000

The last week of before a big race can be one of the hardest for a triathlete to bare. You’ve done all the work, your training volume is way down and you may feel lethargic and antsy all at the same time. This is a perfect time to sit down and spend some time writing mental training notes for your big day. Sometimes we are super prepared on every other front, but we forget to have a concrete set of form cues and positive affirmations ingrained in our brains for easy access on race day. Writing things down in a journal before each race can help calm you down and give you concrete focus points. It is also great to go back and look over what you’ve written post race to see where you may have missed something or where you really succeeded mentally/strategically now that your performance is in the books.

Here are some suggestions for things to write about:
- put down realistic goal times for each discipline e.x.: I will swim 1:05, I have trained well in the pool, my form is improving all the time, remember that last time trial, this is totally within my reach
- write key words for each discipline that help you remember essential form cues or things that make you smile to get thru hard times. e.x. for swimming: “long an strong”, “catch”, “fishy”, riding: “pull up”, “patience”, “I rule”; running: “light”, “quick”, “chest up”, “Kenyans move over” etc… whatever works for you and makes you remember important things.
- don’t write passively, use powerful positive language: I will succeed, I will focus on my form and this will enable me to maintain my speed, my body is infinitely more powerful than I know I just need to be in the moment and free myself to excel, if I feel bad I may just need more electrolytes – do a body scan, I will get through hard times…
- write a newspaper headline about yourself “upcoming age-group athlete sets new bike course record”, “Mother of two conquers her demons”, “Irongeezer takes the day”…

Make some notes that fill you with confidence and keep you feeling grounded and mentally prepared. Re-read them every day during race-week, and prepare yourself to go out there and rock out!

Gluten Free

IronmanTips — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 01:56:19 +0000

Over the past winter and spring we’ve been playing around with a gluten free diet: going completely gluten free for a few weeks then consuming gluten to see if it really makes a difference. The answer: Yes, but more so in some cases than in others. Turns out that Heather is quite sensitive to gluten and instantly notices basic discomfort from increased bloating, gastric distress, and diarrhea. Those symptoms indicate a lack of nutrient absorption as well and she feels more energetic on a gluten free diet. Trevor, however, isn’t that sensitive to gluten but likes to avoid it race week to limit any potential affects that it may have on his digestion.

If you have any un-explained GI issues, or even just find that you have to take bathroom breaks rather frequently during or right after long runs, it can be useful to try going gluten free. Try two weeks without gluten (you’ll be surprised how frequently it crops up), and then re-introduce pastas and breads (basically anything at all to do with wheat) in the third week. Make some notes in a food log about how you feel and see if there are any changes in your digestion when you consume gluten again. If it doesn’t bother you, then great, but if it does, you can take steps to eliminate a dietary stress to your system. Training and racing is hard on your body – the food you eat shouldn’t be!

Other food items to consider knocking off the shopping list for race week:
Dairy: Consider swapping for Almond milk if you need that bowl of cereal or glass of milk – a bit higher in sugar content, but it’s a great vegetarian source of calcium, protein, carbohydrates.
Peanut Butter: I think we’d all be surprised by the number of people in the world that have a very mild allergy to peanuts. You may not feel it, or even think you have it, but we like to scratch it off the list for a week or so before our ‘A’ race just in case there’s some underlying energy affect. Almond butter, sunflower seed butter, or cashew butter are great alternates.
High fiber items: We’ve never really bothered to alter this much on race week, but do be aware of taking in more than you’re used to. Avocados are very high in fiber, blackberries, raspberries and prunes as well. And of course the high fiber cereals and muffins you may like to snack on.

A happy stomach is a happy athlete.

Cabohydrates and Endurance Sport

IronmanTips — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 03:59:39 +0000

This winter has been the winter of a complete nutrition revamp for us (Heather and Trevor Wurtele – coauthors of all posts on the IMTT site). Some race issues that were slowly becoming a trend (in a bad way) had to be changed.

This post is not about all the factors that affect your race nutrition, just the nutrition itself. Specifically, the concentration and dilution of your carbohydrate intake. Okay, we’ll mention a couple issues first. Adequate training being the number one concern – if you haven’t done the work you will fall apart before the finish line, regardless of what you eat. Issue number 2: Pacing. Simply put, know your limits. 50% of the ‘nutrition’ issues in a race are actually pacing issues. You’ve gone too hard on the bike in order to keep up with stronger cyclists, then blow up half way through the run. There’s a reason why more men fall apart at the end of race than do women…and it’s not because woman are tougher, it’s because most are better at controlling their ego on the bike.

With respect to ACTUAL nutrition issues, here’s what we’ve found after talking to many ‘people in the know’. First off, be wary of anything containing complex Fat or Protein (as opposed to nice, easy to digest, amino acids and cabohydrates) making their way into your stomach during the race. Calories from those sources are very hard to breakdown efficiently and can cause some intestinal shut down once the intensity (on the run) picks up. If your race intensity is low enough, you can most likely digest fat/protein properly without adverse affects to your performance. So, if you plan on walking the entire marathon or half marathon, go for it! The other item to consider (as if there were only two!) is how you dilute the carbohydrates you take in. Most drink mixes out there give you a suggested serving like 1 scoop per 12 Oz. TURNS OUT, there’s a reason for that!!! Wow. On our First Endurance EFS drink for example, they say exactly that (1 scoop per 12 Oz), and because they’ve done their research they know that this the optimal dilution for our bodies to process those carbohydrates without leaching water from our cells – therefore keeping you hydrated and fueled properly over an endurance event.

If we look at that EFS drink label a bit further: 1 scoop has 24 grams of carbohydrate. Convert the Oz. to ml (not sure why the United States must use both the metric and imperial system on their labels, seems kinda ridiculous) which gives you 355 ml.

Don’t lose focus yet, it’s worth knowing this stuff, trust us.

24 grams of carbohydrate divided by 355 ml gives you just under 7% solution. That’s an optimal dilution for keeping yourself fueled without compromising hydration. (Hydration is another post altogether. Here we’re dealing with carbohydrate dilution – how to best absorb your calories). Another piece of the puzzle is that the human body can actually only absorb about 60 grams of carbohydrate per hour, but you can bump that number up close to 80-90 grams of carbohydrate per hour if you use a product with multiple types of carbohydrate (sugars – sucrose, dextrose) which have different receptors in your cells.

One more multiplication to keep in mind – carbohydrates have 4 calories per gram (fat has 9, protein has 4), so your upper hourly limit to carbohydrate intake, assuming optimum absorption, is ~360 calories (4 x 90). If you take in that many calories, you need to take in about 1.25 liters of water in order to achieve that happy number for your stomach ~7% dilution. 7% isn’t a hard fast rule, but a good approximate. If you are good at drinking water during races, you could lean towards 8% and assume that the water will dilute the carbohydrates you consume. For a shorter, higher intensity race you could even go closer to 9 or 10%.

So, what if you need more than ~360 calories per hour? You can certainly take in more than 90 g of CHO per hour, but they’ll sit around waiting to be digested. In the last hour of the bike, leaning towards an extra 25 grams of CHO may be fine, because you’ll almost certainly be consuming far less during the run. You could also throw in small amounts of fat/protein from a bar (quarter bar per hour, as an example). Another 50 calories per hour (5.5 grams of fat) is most likely not going to cause any stomach issues unless you’re redlining your heart rate for too long. Play around in training, but really think about it. Look at labels and do some math, don’t just wing it and threaten your race, like we did in the past!

How to spectate an Ironman

IronmanTips — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 23:27:50 +0000

This tip is for all your family members, and admittedly we may need some help with this one so feel free to comment if you’ve got a tried and true method for spectating.

Items required for spectating:
Lawn chair, blanket, pillow – something to sit on or lie down on
Laptop, iPhone, netbook, other smart phone – something to get online with
Food and water
Money for buying beer, food, coffee, water
Camera
Map of the course
Start list with numbers

A book to read
Binoculars
Noise making device – bell or something to smash together
Flag and sign to cheer on your crew!!
Sunscreen
Stop watch
Skateboard, rollerblades, bike – something to navigate the run course effectively and watch from multiple locations.

Aside from watching your friend or family member come across the finish line, you definitely have to watch the swim start. Don’t even think of sleeping in, 2000 people throwing themselves into the water at the sound of the gun is something that will spark your adrenaline and get you going no matter how tired you are. Getting a good vantage point is hard, though, so stake your spot early and have some binoculars handy.

You also have to watch either the swim exit or the start of the bike. It’s next to impossible to watch both except perhaps at the most spectator friendly Ironman venues. Find shortcuts and RUN! Use noise making device here, great for camera time as well.

Now pull out that lawn chair or blanket and find yourself a spot on the course to watch the next available viewing point. Most Ironman events are getting good at having the athletes come in and out of town for at least the first 30-40km of the bike – but there are events out there where your athlete will be completely gone for at least 5 hours. This is where your WiFi or 3G enabled device comes in handy. Check out this website: http://www.trakkersgps.com/, with that little piece of equipment you can track your athlete online and find out exactly how they’re doing. Pretty cool stuff.

Grabbing a nap or going for your own little swim is a good idea while they’re on the bike. It’ll keep you refreshed and ready to go once they come back into town.

Now they’re getting close to the run, hopefully you’re still cheering. If not, you need more beer, coffee, and food – choose your weapon. Mount your trusty steed (skateboard, bike, rollerblades, segway) and get out on the run course armed with your camera and motivational words to keep your athlete going. Find out what they want to hear before the race starts. Perhaps they’ve been working on a particular aspect of their run form – remind them to do it well. Perhaps they forget to drink enough – remind them. Maybe they want splits. Maybe they just want you to keep quiet – that’s ok too!!

Now get yourself to the finish line and cheer them across. The day is almost over. If you’ve done it right, you will be emotionally drained and exhausted, but hopefully not starving and completely dehydrated. Then it is on to waiting outside the med tent, helping pick up equipment, puke patrol, and hopefully a good party the next day!

Bring the trainer

IronmanTips — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 03:44:41 +0000

One of the most efficient and safest ways to get your race week riding done is to do so on the trainer. Especially those last couple rides before the big day that are simply to keep the blood flowing.
For one thing, you can get a quality ride in with no stopping or worrying about flatting your race tires. You’ll also have access to all the tools you may need to make any minor adjustments to your shifting and number placement.
Understandably they can be hard to pack with you. But if you have room in the car or can borrow one at the race site, you’ll find it to be a great option for spinning the legs on your race set-up.

Stay out of the Mags

IronmanTips — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 15:15:15 +0000

We always look forward to the latest edition of our favorite sports magazine. Whether it be Triathlete, VeloNews, or the monthly edition of Guns and Knives. But, with 3 weeks to go until an important race…stay away. Nothing good is going to come of the latest and greatest advice on how to ride fast, swim faster, and outrun your competition. Have confidence in the work you’ve done and avoid the last minute trap of doubting your training by reading how others do it.

Forums are another MAJOR problem for pre-race doubts. If you’d like to confuse yourself and start doubting the work you’ve done, then head on over to a triathlon forum. Otherwise, find some other reading material for the last few weeks til race day. This will help keep your head screwed on straight and your motivation ready to go for the big show.

Ironman Recovery

IronmanTips — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 00:00:20 +0000

So the big day is done, you’re feeling sore but satisfied with the way things turned out. Your next step is to get your body recovered and ready to train again. If you’re done for the year, well I guess you could just work your way into the off season and enjoy your free time. But, if you’re looking to race again within a couple months you’d best get going on that recovery. A few things to keep in mind are your need for good calories, your need for fluid, and your need for rest. The good calories are easy, get your fat and salt craving out of the way if you must, but get back on the wholesome food bandwagon as soon as you can. Your body is most likely severly damaged and the only way to bring it around is with good quality nutrients.

You also can’t forget about hydration. Drink crazy amounts of fluid (non-alcholoic and non-caffeinated preferably) in an effort to flush your system of all the toxin build up and breakdown you’ve suffered from race day.

Third step, and probably the most difficult, is to keep your body moving. Go swimming or hit up a 20 minute ride on the trainer the day following the race. Try and get on an elyptical or spinning bike at the gym – anything to get the blood moving through your muscles. Avoid running till at least the end of the week, but definitely get out for a walk or hike. The sooner you can get yourself going again, the quicker you’ll recover and be back training with high motivation. And when you can, keep the feet up with plenty of self massage.

Come week three post race, you may fall into the dulldrums and have an extremely hard time getting yourself out the door for training. Get around this by training with friends, doing a local fun run or bike race. Perhaps even another shorter distance triathlon to get your head going again. Nothing like a solid effort to jump start the energy systems.

Think your way through it

IronmanTips — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 16:29:04 +0000

An Ironman is a long day, that is for sure. Even the best are out there for at least 8hrs. Most seem to come in around 10-14, then the survival group, out there exercising for 15+ hours. It’s next to impossible to account for everything that’s going to happen on race day when you’re dealing with that amount of time. Even 8 hours is a ridiculously long training day. Here are some things to ponder.

Hunger at mile 90 of the bike, what should I do? Getting hungry at mile 90 of the bike is not a good sign, it generally means you’ve undershot your calorie intake and have some catching up to do. How are you going to do that before getting off your bike and running a marathon? Answer: slow down so your heart rate lowers and you can digest properly, take in a bunch of food and gradually get the pace back up. Ideally you would catch that problem before mile 90 as it can often be hard to eat at that point of a race.

What happens if you can’t eat solid food anymore? You need calories, so what is your plan going to be on race day? Can you drink Coke for the remaining distance? Are gels your weapon of choice? Can you force a banana down? Have your answer ready as best you can so you know how to deal with the problem.

I’m feeling weak and and can’t get myself going even though I know I’ve had enough calories? Are you hydrated enough to keep the digestion going? Have you had enough electrolytes for your body?

There are endless problems that could arise and everyone is going to have their own to deal with. But there is most always a solution, you just have to THINK about the problem and how to solve it. Your day is not over if you’re hurting 5 hours in, be smart, think about the problem and figure out a remedy.

Walk Hard!

IronmanTips — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 23:37:20 +0000

Those of you who follow Chuckie V’s blog know that he advocates walking as part of your training – time on your feet equals time in the training log. You’ll help strengthen your feet, and if you think about proper form you can also engage your glutes and back muscles much like a run stride.
Our number ONE reason for incorporating walking as part of our training is for those three days pre-race that you always end up spending on your feet. No matter how much you plan it out, have everything ready, and set aside time for naps and relaxation – you’ll most always end up walking and standing on your feet 10 times longer than you had anticipated. There’s the registration line up, the walk to and from your parking spot or hotel that you thought was only a mile away, the mandatory athlete meeting, bike check in, groceries, finding a restaurant, picking up a piece of gear your forgot or finding your favorite gel. All that on top of the time you spend checking out the course and going through your pre-race routines. It’s tiring!
So, add some walk time to your training. Don’t substitute a run or ride with walking unless injury is at hand, but use it as some extra credit training. I bet that 15 minute drive to work through town is only a 25 minute walk at a brisk pace. Once or twice a week in addition to your normal routine is all it would take.

Last couple days before an Ironman

IronmanTips — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 19:26:57 +0000

There are different approaches to the last couple days of a taper before a full Ironman event (in most cases, a 70.3 event requires a slightly different approach than a full Ironman). You’ve probably read about some athletes putting in a fairly hardy dose of training on race week. Even within the last couple days before the race. This doesn’t work for everybody, but you always hear about the people that do it because it’s outside the norm (Belinda Granger -to name a name off the top of my head). Then they go and win Ironman events and you start thinking that that is what you should be doing too. Not the case. Keep in mind, the people doing this have been training incredibly hard for a long time (we all have – but relatively speaking not as hard as a full time athlete). A 3 hour ride two days out from the race may seem like peanuts to them. Unless you’re training full time and can test that type of situation I would steer away from it. We’ve found that our best races always happened after we thought we had NOT done enough during race week. Assuming the race was on Sunday, we started getting really antsy on Saturday or even Friday. For most athletes starting an Ironman this is a good thing. It means you’re rested, your body wants to go exert itself, you’re ready. Even the feeling of being somewhat sleepy is not altogether a bad thing for an Ironman (you’re welcome to disagree). It’s a long day and using the first 20 kms to shake out some sleepiness can lead to a very strong finish.

So, assuming your Ironman is on a Sunday:

Friday is your day to do nothing except organize. Maybe a light walk or 20 minute spin to check your race wheels and gear. Get everything ready so you don’t have to be the person running around picking up CO2′s and energy bars the day before the race. Spend as much time as you can off your feet, and eat your biggest meals today. Healthy food, not calorie laden junk…unless healthy food makes you sick because you’re used to eating calorie laden junk. That’s another tip for later.

Saturday: Get everything done early. Take your bike to transition, do a couple VERY light workouts. Most recommend doing a little bit of everything with accelerations to get the blood flowing. Working up a light sweat is great, but doing some 2 minute max effort repeats that you’ve rarely done in training is not going to help. Think ‘Ironman race pace’ for a couple minutes in each sport. Not ‘Ironman Perceived Exersion’, make it Ironman race pace – ie. Easy when you’re rested. Don’t stress yourself out, that’s the biggest thing. If you’re panicking running around trying to co-ordinate how you’re going to swim for 10minutes, bike for 20, then run a bit, just go find a couch and visualize your race. You’ll be better off.