IRONMAN® Wales

Ross did a sterling job fueling his first IRONMAN®, averaging a carb intake comparable to some of our professional athletes who’ve spent years training their guts to tolerate very high amounts. There’s currently no concrete evidence showing differences between carbohydrate uptake and body mass, but we do see trends suggesting larger individuals can generally tolerate higher carb intakes than their smaller counterparts. It’s likely because the absolute energy required to exercise for long durations are higher, thus demands for more energy intake are also slightly elevated. Ross is 190cm tall (6ft, 3”) and weighs ~84kg (185lbs), so the energy required to move his frame for 11 hours is likely higher than for someone who’s shorter and weighs less. This doesn’t mean his carbohydrate oxidation is any different to other people, as this seems unlinked to body size. But his utilisation of carbs is probably higher, meaning he feels hungry sooner, and thus finds it easier to eat large amounts without feeling full.

During an IRONMAN®, unless you’re racing at the professional level, the intensity throughout the day is relatively low. The two main variables which affect how much Ross would have been sweating are 1) the intensity of exercise and 2) the environmental conditions. Race day temperatures in Wales were relatively cool, and the only sweat rate testing Ross had done was on his turbo trainer at around 70.3® intensity, so his sweat response would’ve been much higher. Doing some race-specific sweat rate tests would help him calibrate how much fluid he’ll likely be losing, and avoid over-drinking during the race.

This area of Ross’s nutrition plan offers the easiest opportunity to harness some more ‘free’ performance benefits if he chose to. A common caffeine strategy is to abstain from any in the early parts of the race, then reach for the caffeinated gels or cola when things start to get really tough towards the end. Others prefer a drop-feed approach, where they take little and often doses to sustain a moderate-to-high blood caffeine level throughout. There’s no one-size-fits-all strategy, but one thing that’s accepted in the literature is the minimum effective dose required to see noticeable performance boosts of ~3 milligrams per kilogram of body weight. By adding one or two Caffeine Gels to his bike nutrition, Ross could easily reach this dose and with it, reap the associated ergogenic benefits to optimally support his performance.