Race Nutrition - My Hawaii Ironman Plan

I thought that it would be good to share my Ironman nutrition plan that I've stuck to now for the past five Ironman races which have led me ultimately to a Kona PR this past weekend where I knocked out a 9:17:17 on the big island.

First thing I often tell folks is you do not need to overthink your nutrition plan.  In other words, keep it simple!  I break my plan down into three major components; hydration, sodium and calories.  Next step is to find products that work well with your stomach.  I don't really care if you use carbo-pro, Infinit, Powerbar Perform or even just water and gels.  If you're getting in the correct amount of hydration, sodium and calories then the plan is a winner.  There are general rules for determine these values through sweat rate tests and trial and error, but I'll save that for a different post as all I want to do here is outline my Hawaii Plan. 

Pre Race Nutrition:
I begin my pre race nutrition at 4am (3hrs prior the race).  Over the course of the morning I took in two Ensure's, 1/2 a Powerbar, 1 Honey Stinger Gel one bottle of EFS and one bottle of Infinit plus took 2 salt pills.

T1 Nutrition:
As I was running from the swim to my bike, I ate one Honey Stinger Gel.

Bike Nutrition Setup:
My original bike setup contained three bottles.  Two of the bottles contained 2 scoops of Infinit (normal concentrate) and the third bottle contained 6 scoops of Infinit.  I also had a EFS Liquid Shot Gel flask and two 200mg caffeine pills taped to my bike and one container of salt pills containing 15 pills.

Using this setup, in addition to water on the course, I aimed to take in ~30-35oz / hour on the bike plus ~400 calories per hour and ~1400mg of Sodium per hour. 

When I hit mile 60 at Hawi, I had gone through five bottles of Infinit (2 regular / 3 from concentrate) and over half of my Liquid shot.  I can usually tell when I need salt on the bike and typically aim for 2-3 pills per hour but at times take more based on how I feel.  I also popped my first caffeine pill right before the climb up to Hawi.  The only thing I did different this year was add the caffeine and I was also taking one to two mouthfulls of Coke at every aid station.  I would never carry the bottle of coke, but would make sure to get in some every 8-10 miles on the bike starting at around mile 50.

Over the final 52 miles, I drank most of my Special Needs Infinit Bottle (3 bottles from concentrate) and the remainder of my gel flask plus one Honey Stinger Gel.  I would also finish off the rest of my salt pills in the container. 

This combination set me up for a 4:55 bike split, my fastest to date.

Marathon Run Nutrition:

In transition, I grabbed another 15 pill supply of salt, another First Endurance Liquid Shot flask and a 8oz bottle of Powerbar Perform via a Fuelbelt Flask which I would carry 26 of the 26.2 miles.  At each aid station I would take in as much as I could take in.  I'd make sure to get in Powerbar Perform, water and coke at every aid station and I would use my fuelbelt flask to wet the pallet.  I ended up taking in around 4 gels on the run from my flask.  


This combination set me up for a 3:16 run off the bike and my fastest marathon run to date in an Ironman. 

Enjoy!  PS - Kona Race Report will be out tomorrow!!!