7 days until Ironman Louisville....final countdown/nutrition update (from 8/21/11-old blog)

Only 7 days until the big day and I am pretty nervous.  I have been dealing with a flare up of tendinitis in my knees and left hip.  I have been on a regimen of voltaren and have been into my PT for a "tune up".  I am hoping things settle down during this next rest week.

This post is going to be focused on my nutrition plan for race day.  My nutrition plan will truly be the 4th leg of the race and could arguably be the most important.  I have done the work on my engine and now I just need to make sure I keep the engines fueled on race day.  The primary goal is to be sure that I don't bonk or turn my stomach against me and cause any type of GI revolt.  I have practiced riding/running with everything I will be consuming and don't anticipate any problems.

My plan is to target about 380 calories per hour during the bike and approximately 200 calories per hour on the run.  During the day I will be eating a mix of 160 calorie honey stinger waffles, 90 calorie servings of apple cinnamon and espresso flavored hammer gel, and a calorie dense mixture of Ironman Perform/carbopro.

I plan to consume a hammer gel immediately prior to the swim.  Obviously due to the nature of swimming there will be no calories consumed during the swim itself.  I will likely pop a salt tab prior to the swim as well.

I will be on a very specific nutrition schedule on the bike and plan to consume calories at 15 minute intervals.  The plan on the bike is to eat a honey stinger waffle at the :15 minute mark of each hour.  I will eat a 90 calorie shot of hammer gel at the :30 minute mark.  I will likely go with the espresso flavored since it has caffeine in it.  At the :45 minute mark I plan to consume 1/3 bottle of my perform/carbopro mixture equaling about 130 calories.  At the hour marker I plan to just consume water and allow my stomach to settle prior to resuming the cycle at the 15 minute marker.  In special needs I will have a second bottle of perform/carbopro that should take me through the second 2.5 hours of the bike.  I will also have a second gel flask in case I need a bit extra.  Although I have considered just putting the gel flask in my T1 bag and carry it in my jersey pocket in case something goes awry at the special needs handoff.  I will also be taking 1-2 salt tabs per hour and consuming the appropriate amount of water based upon the weather conditions.  This equals my target of 380 calories per hour which is just over 2 calories per pound of body weight per hour.  In training I have actually gotten away with consuming much less than this, but I want to overestimate on the early part of the bike to be sure I am properly fueled.  My goal is to hit this target on the first 3 hours of the bike as I expect that my intake will reduce as I fatigue and get hot.

On the run I will be carrying a two bottle fuel belt with 300 calorie bottles of carbopro.  I intend to drink 1.2 bottle at the :30 minute marker of each hour.  I have practiced this in training and was able to do so without any GI problems.  I will also be taking 1-2 salt caps per hour based upon the heat and humidity.  I will use the water on the run course and plan to start drinking coke aka "rocket fuel" from the get go.  The additional calories in the coke should get me through the run.  Each aid station will be a rhythm of drinking one cup water, one cup coke, and dumping one cup of water on the head....repeat.  I may back off the coke and hit it every other aid station if it causes me any GI distress.

I think this is a pretty solid plan that is tried and tested.  I practiced the higher caloric intake on my last century and did not have any problems.  Obviously I have to be ready to make changes on the fly if my stomach starts to go south.  I am looking forward to putting this plan into action and having a successful day out on course.

I know that this week is going to fly by.  Only two days of work and then we make the drive to Louisville on Wednesday morning.  This is going to be an epic week.  More posts to follow soon....