ASK THE DON
I’ve suffered with what can only be politely described as ‘stomach trouble’ during a few Ironman events. How do you avoid such unsavoury ‘incidents’?
It happens to the best of us, trust me! All that hard work and sacrifice in training, let alone all the expense, can go down the loo. Once you start to lose fluid and your tummy is all over the place, it’s hard to put the calories and fluid back into your system as they’re just running out of you. Why does it happen? The reasons are numerous. Sometimes it happens because of bad water in the swim, or drinking the local tap water when you should be on bottled, or you have an underlying bug you didn’t know about. But most of the time it can be rectified, though it has to start well before race day…
TRAIN WITH RACE NUTRITION
At least eight weeks out, on most of your longer rides and runs you should be only taking on board race-day nutrition, whether that’s gels, bars, chews, energy drink or a mix of all the above or something else. Unfortunately, that means it’s not recommended to always stop and have a coffee and a slice of Victoria sponge. Yes, I know it’s a ritual and I’m not ruling it out for every long ride, but you must remember that you’re not just training your arms and legs for the race – you also need to train your tummy. It’s been shown in studies that, like your triathlon muscles, you can train your stomach to cope with consuming calories on the fly. Just try out a few different products or strategies.
But I’m getting ahead of myself. Before then, dial in your hydration. Do a basic sweat test – weigh yourself naked before and after a session to see how much fluid you lose. You should replace this with 1.5 times of fluid to account for fluid lost weeing – or try a few different electrolyte drinks, then add in your calories.
STICK TO WHAT WORKS
Those 48hrs before a race start are vital. Don’t go messing around with new foods.
This is particularly important when you’re racing in another country whose cuisine might be completely different than ours. Stick to what you know works and what you like to get the calories in. I’d also advise cutting out some fibre in the last three to four days pre-race, but again try it before a big, hard training weekend. Race-day breakfast is key as you need to have something you enjoy eating but also that will give you some last-minute calories.
DON’T DEVIATE FROM YOUR PLAN
Most tummy issues are due to what you put in your body 48hrs pre-race and, of course, your race-day nutrition – not just what you take on board during the race but also when and how you take it on. Don’t go eating all the chews you have in the first 60-90mins or nail a bar and a half if you’re hungry. You need a plan and you need to stick to it. When racing 70.3 and longer, nutrition is the fourth discipline – I totally believe that and have been on the wrong end of it. But racing has no time for complacency, especially when fuelling your engine for a 70.3 or Ironman.
For me, it’s just gels for both bike and run; an electrolyte mix in my bottles; two cold bottles at special needs 90km into an Ironman; and then a few spare gels just in case I’ve dropped some en route. Once you’ve chosen what works for you, begin adding it into more sessions – for instance, maybe on a hard run. Even though you might not need the fuel for that session, it’s good to see how you handle the product.
TWO-WAY APPROACH
There are two ways I approach race-day nutrition – either have 90% of all calories needed for the race on you or in special needs (don’t miss special needs, no matter how good you’re feeling – big mistake 40km later!) or find out what race-day nutrition will be handed out along the course, buy it and try it out in training.
FRONT-LOAD YOUR FUEL
I’m also a big believer of front-loading my nutrition in a race as you’re fresher and, for me, the body absorbs more calories than later on in the bike and run. But as always, don’t forget your hydration; work out how much you’ll need and stick to the plan. You should pee on the bike and run at least once each – well, I do anyway. It’s a skill to do it while moving at pace or you could stop in a portable loo!
Whatever you take from this, just remember – piss poor planning can lead to piss poor results!
Need advice from The Don? Send an email to askthedon@220triathlon.com