Race Night

Over my years of Ironman racing I’ve come to realize that attention to detail can have serious impact on how your Ironman race turns out.

Diet is no exception. There are lots of mistakes you can make in the final week, and during the race, that can lead to disaster.

Personally, I could never understand how people could train hard all year and stay with a proper training diet for months and then come to the race and stay in a hotel and eat restaurant food everyday. Especially in the final 2 or 3 days leading up to the race.

I’m all for supporting the restaurant industry of the host city, but usually restrict visiting restaurants to 5 or 6 days before the race and of course anytime after.

Every race I’ve ever done, including Hawaii, I made sure I had a motel with a kitchenette. My first day there I would go shopping for the week and cook all my own meals without straying from the diet I’d been on for the past 6 months.

I just can’t put into words how important this is. Its absolutely vital that when that gun goes off for the swim-start that you do not have a queasy stomach from screwing up your diet in the last few days.

Know “exactly” what your menu plan is before you even leave home. Know “exactly” what you plan to eat the day before the race and the morning of. Also know what “time” you plan to eat these meals. Personally, I always finished my last meal on race eve by 4 p.m. I always finished my race morning breakfast “3 hours” before the race start. This worked perfectly for me over and over again and I never had any sort of digestive problems when I stuck with this program.

Also, be careful at the carbo pre-race dinner. Choose your food carefully. In the later years of my career, I just stuck with salads and rolls and bottled drinks or else I didn’t go to the dinner at all.

Early in my career I had the misfortune of not paying attention and having pasta with a different looking sauce at a pre-race dinner. I didn’t realize that it was a “clam sauce” and I am allergic to shellfish. Needless to say, I became very ill and my race was ruined after training for an entire year.

So in case you feel I’m being a bit paranoid, I learned my lesson early and believe me, it never happened again. Don’t let it happen to you.

That final week, be aware of what you’re consuming.

That also applies to the race course itself. When you get to those aid stations(especially on the run)you will find cookies, oranges, power bars, power gels, grapes, chicken soup, cantaloupe and any number of things depending on the location of the race.

When you start running out of energy and feel you just can’t go on, the natural instinct is to try everything at the aid stations in search of the right combination that will make you feel better and give you some much needed energy. This is a recipe for disaster. usually the opposite happens and you just end up feeling ill, and in the worst possible scenario, can’t keep going and drop out.

My suggestion is to stick as close as possible to what you trained with. Go with what got you there. If you took power bars and gels on your bike and run training days, then stick with them.

It’s a misconception anyway that you have to keep eating all the way through the entire race. I believe the most important time to eat is at the start of the bike leg with the idea of keeping a steady balance of fuel for the entire 112 miles.

If you’ve done that, eating during the marathon isn’t really that important.

In my best ever Ironman marathon, I kept a steady pace without walking for the entire 26 miles and “never ate a thing.” All I took was 5-6 ounces of water at every aid station. That was it. My marathon time was 3:34 and I never remember feeling better out on the run course.

Ultimately, thinking through your diet leading up to the race can prevent any last minute problems, and ensure you feel great when that gun goes off.

By: Ray Fauteux

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