One reason for a bad race

Look let’s be honest. Call it what you want, but it SUCKS when you have had a BAD RACE. Nobody plans for or hopes for that outcome.

I wanted to share some of my thoughts on one of the main reasons it happens and how to avoid it.

The most heard story in an Ironman debacle story is a nutrition one, or lack thereof. Here is what I think most people screw up. They are simply too regimented or narrow minded in their thinking when it comes to race day nutrition.

I don’t want to get into what you should or shouldn’t eat for race nutrition right here, that’s an entirely different subject. However, whatever you do decide to use, use it properly. What I mean by that is most of the time in training people have their very best days. They think “Wow, if I can feel like that on race day, I will have an awesome race!” The thing is, in training they aren’t so deliberate or strict in most cases with their nutrition if they are honest.

Without making this too long, I think in training when you are thirsty, you tend to drink, and when you are hungry you tend to eat. Simple enough. In a race however they have stop watches and mile markers that they force nutrition down no matter how they feel – DON’T!

The human body is pretty sophisticated. It does a good job for the most part letting us know what it needs and when. We just have to listen to it. In the race though we know at baseline we need to get 200-300 calories an hour in on the bike give or take, but that’s not hard to do. You need to be regimented in when you do need food, you need to know what agrees with you, and when you need to drink, what that is you can drink and so on. That’s critical and I don’t disagree with practicing and having a plan for that. But I think you should have a general idea what you want to eat and when, but then listen to what’s going on inside you and decide when you need it exactly.

Here is another tip – GUESS LIGHT. It’s so easy to add calories. It’s very uncomfortable to take them away.

I am much better at speaking then typing so will cover this in more detail in our podcast tomorrow.