From: Jason Gootman, MS, CSCS & Will Kirousis, BS, CSCS
Tri-Hard Endurance Sports Coaching
USA Triathlon and USA Cycling Certified Coaches
Certified Strength & Conditioning Coaches
www.tri-hard.com
Long triathlons (1/2 Ironmans, Ironmans, and similar-distance races) pose some
specific challenges and take a bit of a different mindset from shorter races.
Pacing, nutrition, and mental abilities play an increasing role in the outcome of
your race. As you tackle your first or your next long triathlon, keep these 10 keys
to your best race in mind (five do’s and five Don'ts). Have a great race!
Long-Triathlon Do’s
1. DO have a plan for pacing and stick
to it. In every endurance-sports race,
of any distance, you will get your best
time with even pacing or a negative
split (your time over the second half of
the course is faster than your time over
the first half). The longer a race
becomes, the more important pacing
becomes—because the negative
impact of pacing errors is magnified! In
a sprint-distance triathlon, if you go 10
percent too fast/hard in the swim, it
may cost you a minute or two in the
run. In a ½ Ironman or Ironman, this
same pacing error could result in you
walking quite a bit on the run (losing
lots of time) or even a DNF. Going into
your long race, have a plan for pacing
based on what you’ve been able to do
in your long workouts. Be realistic in
setting your plan and on race day, stick
with it!
| Long-Triathlon Don'ts
1. DON’T let the excitement of the day
or your ego get you swimming, riding,
and running at speeds/paces that you
cannot maintain. The thrill of your
family there watching you, the energy
from hundreds of other racers, the
cowbells—they can all make you feel
like superman or superwoman! That’s
good—use it—but stay within yourself.
Just because you are excited does not
mean you’ll be able to ride 23 miles per
hour (MPH) for a distance that you’ve
never held more than 20 MPH for.
Similarly, even though you just can’t
stand losing to that guy or girl in your
age group, if at a given time in the race
they are pulling away from you and
going at a pace that is not right for you,
let them and your ego go. If you are
fast enough to beat them, you will. You
will catch them later because you will
sustain your pace and they will fade
later. The fastest way form the start
line to the finish line is to go
consistently at speeds/paces that you
are well-trained to go at. Drastic
fluctuations in intensity into intensities
that are too hard for a race this long will
come back to haunt you.
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2. DO race an evenly paced race from
start to finish. Pacing in a triathlon is a
bit tricky when compared to a singlediscipline
race like a running race, so it
takes a bit of experience to really get
the hang of it. Think of the swim like
the first fifth of a marathon. It’s no time
to be racing like a hero. Would you
ever race real fast/hard—faster/harder
than you can sustain—in the first five
miles of a marathon? No way.
Because you know it would come back
to bite you later in the race. The same
thing can happen in a triathlon. Avoid
thinking of it as three separate races.
Your body (and your mind and heart),
perceive a triathlon as one race and a
long triathlon as one long race. In the
transitions, you don’t get a chance to
rest your muscles, take a mental
snooze, or stop giving your all to start
fresh on the next leg. Think of the bike
like the bulk of the race and the run like
the last fifth of a marathon. The last
fifth of a marathon is when it hurts,
when you have to dig deep to keep
racing well. The run in a long triathlon
is no different. Pace yourself well
through the swim and the bike and you
are in place to finish strong and have
your best overall time.
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2. DON’T try to “win the swim” or “win
the bike” at all costs. Everybody likes
to win. It feels great to win! In this
quest to be a winner, it’s easy for the
strong swimmer to go like heck to be
the first triathlete out of the water. Or
for the strong cyclist to “really show
them who can ride” on the bike. The
problem with these approaches is that
they often involve racing at
speeds/paces that have you working at
intensity levels that are much higher
than you can sustain for the 3:45- to
17-hour race that you are racing. For a
3:30 marathoner (8:00/mile), this is like
running a few miles early in the race or
in the middle of the race at 6:30 pace.
Ever seen this strategy work well in a
marathon? It doesn’t work too well in a
triathlon either. It’s often seen as the
first triathlete out of the water gradually
fading over the next several hours or
as the cyclist who really falls apart on
the run. Going too fast/hard at the
beginning or in the middle of a long
race dips into energy stores in a way
that can really hurt you later on. It can
also make it harder on your
gastrointestinal system to digest your
race-nutrition products well, furthering
your problems. A triathlon is one
race—race it that way.
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3. DO have a plan for race nutrition and
stick to it. Start with a good breakfast
2-3 hours before your race. This
should be a regular meal that you
tolerate well or a meal of more easily
digestible foods (foods with less
protein, fat, and/or fiber) if you have a
sensitive stomach. After breakfast, sip
on sports drink until you get in the
water to warm-up (about 20 ounces will
do you good). During the ride and run,
ingest a good sports drink at your
known sweat rate (or at about 30
ounces—the average for a triathlete).
This will be the foundation of your
during-race fueling, providing you with
a steady stream of water, sodium (and
other electrolytes), and carbohydrates,
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3. DON’T take a haphazard approach
to race nutrition. Dehydration,
hyponatremia, bonking—not good!
And all potential consequences of a
haphazard approach to race nutrition in
a long race. Long races present two
major physiological challenges on your
body—heavy sweating which brings
significant water and sodium (and other
electrolytes) losses and prolonged
exercise far outlasting your glycogen
stores (can last for about two hours of
racing). Even a small amount of
dehydration results in decreased work
capacity. Hyponatremia (low blood
sodium) is a serious condition which
will stop you in your tracks and is very
dangerous. Bonking just plain stinks
all in an easily digestible form. Based
on your preferences, add small
amounts of additional carbohydraterich
race-nutrition products like sports
gels and bars at an amount/rate that
works well for you. After the race, drink
a recovery drink and eat a normal meal
as soon as you feel comfortable doing
so. Drink water all day after the race
as you normally do every day.
and can make even a well-trained
athlete cry for his or her Mommy. To
beat these plagues, follow the advice to
the left, practice often in long workouts,
and over time, refine a race-nutrition
plan that works great for you. Then on
race day, stick to it.
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4. DO take in plenty of easily digestible
carbohydrates during the race. There’s
two keys here: “plenty” and “easily
digestible”. You’ll need 240-280
calories worth of carbohydrate per hour
during the race, on the high side and
maybe more on the bike, on the low
side and maybe less on the run. The
key is to provide enough carbohydrate
to supplement your glycogen stores
and keep you going for hours. The
main source of energy in a long
triathlon is stored fat. But in order to
access this fat, you need to have
enough carbohydrates present. Taking
in carbohydrates in an amount around
this 240-280 range will get you enough
carbohydrates to keep you going and
not too much to shut your stomach
down. Liquid (sports drinks) or semiliquid
(sports gels) are generally easier
for your body to digest. Remember
that carbohydrate is carbohydrate. The
carbohydrates in sports drink and
sports gel are great sources of energy,
even though it can be hard to think of
anything short of solids as having any
energy in them. When it comes to a
carbohydrate source for racing, simple
is best.
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4. DON’T try to cram in any and all
race-nutrition products and foods and
take in as much as you possibly can.
We call this the “Plutonium Method of
Fueling”. The premise is that energy in
equals energy out. “The more energy I
put in the more energy I will get out,”
many triathletes think. Sounds logical,
but it does not work like that in your
body. It’s like trying to put some
plutonium in the gas tank of your
Honda Civic! The car is not designed
to be able to convert this fuel into
mechanical energy to drive the engine
and propel the car. And your body is
not designed to ingest huge amounts of
hard-to-digest carbohydrates when
racing. When racing, your body diverts
a large portion of its blood flow from
your trunk to your working muscles,
making it harder to digest food than
when you are say, relaxing at the
kitchen table. Respect this. Focus on
taking in roughly 240-280 calories
worth of carbohydrates per hour and
focus on easily digestible
carbohydrates that you tolerate well.
Have a plan for race day and stick to it.
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5. DO keep your cool if something goes
wrong. You’re cruising along,
everything is going great, and you get a
flat tire. Stay calm. You can get it
changed and get back on the road in
just a few minutes. In a race that is
going to take you several hours, this
few minutes is not a big deal. While it’s
no fun, in a long race it rarely by itself
will take you out of contention for the
PR, age-group win, or qualifying spot
that you are aiming for. Keep your wits
about you, get through the problem,
and move on.
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5. DON’T panic if things aren’t going
your way. Besides a flat tire, you could
run into some gastrointestinal issues,
maybe a cramp, or simply some extrahard
patches of racing. Don’t panic. In
a long race, you will have a few ups
and downs. It’s not the end of your
day. Keep things in perspective, keep
forward progress going even if slowed,
work through the problem, and get
through it calmly and positively.
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To learn more about Jason, Will, and Tri-Hard Endurance Sports Coaching, or to contact them, visit www.tri-hard.com.
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