Monthly Archives : March 2017

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Triathlon Race Day Nutrition

March 24, 2017

Home, Nutrition

Race performance is not only about the fitness you have gained through training but it is also about nutrition on the day. Nutrition plays a significant role—get it wrong and all the fitness in the world won’t result in a good race.

Nutrition seems to be a major stumbling block for many athletes come race day, yet is rarely a problem in training. Considering how much we train and how many of our sessions are race specific, it is crazy that nutritional problems are so common in races.

One of the major reasons is that athletes don’t have a plan or, the worst-case scenario, athletes read about some new super product in race week and decide to try it out on race day. There are so many claims and studies out there showing why certain products are better and how they will significantly enhance your performance that we all fall for it and make major changes leading into races.

We need to always take statements about the effectiveness of certain products with a pinch of salt. Looking back over the years, we can see some of the world’s leading nutritional experts claiming one product is the greatest and the result of 20 years of research, before they are working for a new company the following year and are promoting something completely different.

The same goes with following the examples of pro athletes; remember the athletes are sponsored and so are going to promote their sponsors as the greatest and most effective products available to enhance performance. It would be interesting to actually see what they are drinking and eating on race day compared to what they promote!

First steps to making nutrition a non-issue

If all is working well in training, then stick with it and DO NOT CHANGE. Stop reading about nutrition products and articles claiming to know how to get more sugar into your body—the end result of this experimenting is going to be you blowing your race and you’ll be throwing up by the side of the road.

If you always seem to get stomach problems on race day, it’s time to look for a new strategy. One of the big factors in stomach problems seems to be fructose content of sports nutrition products. While studies have shown that a combination of fructose and sucrose in drinks leads to greater quantities of carb absorption and improved results, remember that lab results do not always transfer to race day.

The sole fact that so many athletes are seen throwing up and in stomach distress during races shows quite clearly that manufacturers are not getting this right and there is a lot of bad information out there. We are all different and we all react differently to different products and foods—I believe this comes from genetics, general nutrition through life, and also race intensity.

If you always seem to suffer on race day then firstly consider looking for sports products that contain no fructose and see how you get on. It could be that all your problems are simply coming from the way your body reacts to fructose. Signs to look for include:

* bloating
* nausea
* hunger

There are now numerous products without fructose coming to market and athletes are getting on much better with them in races, so try them out and see how they work for you.

SOLID OR LIQUID

This is a big topic and one that I see as totally individual; some athletes can race well on liquid calories alone and others will blow up no matter how many liquid calories they consume. This is something you need to be practicing in training so that you will know how you are going to respond on race day. Personally I prefer to move from solid food to liquid food as the race progresses.

PROTEIN

Protein content in drinks can make a big difference for some athletes. If you are an athlete who always seems to blow up in longer rides or has a large muscle mass, then having protein in your drinks might make a big difference. Experiment with levels up to a 50/50 split and see how you feel—you may not be getting the recommended sugar content but you may feel way better and performance will increase!

Meal replacement drinks

This is one product that I feel is underused in triathlon. Meal replacement drinks have been developed for people suffering nutritional deficiencies, dieters, and also for use in medical circumstances when solid food cannot be taken. A lot of research has gone into these products and the end result can be very useful for triathletes!

Ensure plus is one such drink; it is widely available in the USA and around the world, and I have used it extensively with my athletes. This is a calorie-dense drink but the amount of liquid is small so it’s easy to take on board—works great as a breakfast drink on race day when athletes tend to be too nervous to eat.

Also I have found that having this as the primary drink for the first hour in races makes a big difference to athletes’ performances. Looking at the nutritional information, the calories from sugar are way below that in normal sports drinks and what we would expect to see, but the simple fact is it works and works well!

We tend to forget that races can start out cold and while liquid is not important, calories are. A drink like Ensure will have you topped up with calories while not bloating your system with excess liquid. Later in the race as things heat up and your body has lost more liquid then a traditional sports drink may be more useful.

REAL FOOD

All the sports-specific food on the market is overwhelming and we tend to think it must be the best for us on race day but in reality real natural food can be the best! There seems to be a movement towards creating your own bars and race-day nutrition that is running down from nutrition used by pro teams in major bike races such as the Tour de France.

Examples of this are your own oat cakes or rice cakes, homemade brownies etc. This is especially going to be appealing for athletes who have certain food allergies or are sensitive to preservatives in pre-packaged products.

PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT

It’s an old saying but one that rings true in triathlon! Make sure you make a plan, spend some time to write down your plan and then practice it over some sessions to see how your body reacts—fine tune as you go and by the time you come to race day you will be set and have no nagging doubts in the back of your mind!

Alun ‘Woody’ Woodward, Certified ironguides Coach

ironguides is the leading Lifestyle Facilitation company for athletes of all abilities. We provide coaching and training services, plans and programs, as well training education, health and fitness products to help you learn and live a healthy lifestyle. Come get fit with one of our monthly training subscriptions, event-specific training plans, coaching services, or a triathlon training camp in an exotic location! ironguides also provides Corporate Health services including Corporate Triathlons, Healthy Living retreats and speaking engagements. At ironguides, your best is our business!

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Training for an Ironman? This race simulation workout is crucial on your preparation

March 17, 2017

Home, ironman

If you are training for an ironman, it’s very likely you are following a training plan that calls for a weekly long swim, long bike and long run, these are on separate days and the idea behind breaking the work down, you can train fresher, with better technique, faster, and recovery quicker from each of these, the day after a long bike or long run for example, you can easily do a high intensity swim workout and keep on adding fitness with no long recovery needed within your week.

However, beginner athletes, with zero to little experience in the ironman distance may benefit from a race simulation during their prep. The benefits are:

Confidence: The suggested distance is as long as your body can handle without requiring a long period of recovery. Anything longer than that and you may as well do the whole ironman distance in training. You can’t really simulate the back end of the ironman marathon while training, you are better by stopping just before that, recovering fast, then getting back to consistent training.

Specific Endurance Training: While you can acquire endurance by training each discipline separately and that has its benefits too, a long training day is as specific as it gets for your endurance, once you bounce back from the stress of this race simulation, you will find your fitness at a new level

Pacing strategy: You will be able to simulate, at least under a less stressful environment (no pre-race adrenalin), how well you can pace at this strange. You will see guidelines and goals for each segment of the simulation. On race day, pacing, along with nutrition, are the two biggest components that will impact your race, since there isn’t anything you can do about your fitness on that day. Failing to get the pacing right in training is a guaranteed recipe for disaster on race day.

Equipment testing: How many times have you done a long swim in your wetsuit? If you live in a warmer weather place, chances are you didn’t even have a wetsuit before signing up for your ironman overseas and the chafing some of these suits give is something you want to be aware of and be ready for on race day (with a lot of Vaseline). Make sure you also test all the equipment you plan to use on race day, wheels, helmet, shoes, anything that you keep on a race bag and only use when racing, should be tested on your race simulation day

Nutrition: The goal here is to test for any issues related to either your stomach not tolerating well your nutrition, or you just get sick of the gels and flavoring you first thought you would handle over the race. Keep in mind that race day will see additional stress on your stomach so your nutrition strategy has to be perfect in training, if you have small issues, these are likely to be much bigger come race day

Other weaknesses: Putting the body through enough stress can also show you a few weak links that a normal training day won’t. It can be a comfort issue on the bike for example, tight neck or back that without the swimming prior you don’t feel but in this simulation it will allow you to tweak details such as bike fit, core strength, flexibility, that would have slowed you down on race day.

Scheduling it within your training plan

Pick a weekend, 6 to 8 weeks out, that works for you. This will allow you plenty of time to fully recover then start the final and most specific training plan, including the lessons you learned on your race simulation and adjust your training to address any weakness shown at the simulation day.

Best day to do this is on a Saturday, as if the weather doesn’t cooperate you can push one day and this will also allow you to enjoy Sunday as a sleep in and rest day.

Requirements:

To be able to get this training done and recover from it relatively quick (within 1 week) you must have completed within 6 weeks of the session:

*4 long rides of at least 4 hours each
*4 long runs of at least 2 hours each
*4 swims of at least 1 hour each

If you can’t meet the above requirements, this race simulation will do more harm than good, you will be better off by just doing a normal weekend of long sessions and also work on your training consistency

Another requirement is to have done an official half distance race within the previous 12 months of race day. If you haven’t, book an event instead (these can be 4-10 weeks out), the pre-race adrenalin, traveling, dealing with the real world experience can’t be simulate on training. Race simulation works well for experienced racers who are stepping up to the full distance, but you need that half distance race in your legs before your full distance.

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The set up

Ideally, do this at a place you have access to a convenience store (your aid station for the day) or take a cooler with your fuel and leave inside your car. A course that you can do several laps is also required to track your pacing.

As swimming pool access can be far away from cycling venues, it is ok to drive after the swim to a more appropriate place to drive, just try to keep the transitions relatively short

SWIM: Duration = 1 hour

Pre-establish a swim distance before the session that will take you around 1 hour to cover, then break the swim in at least 2 equal parts with a short break in between, your goal is to swim the second half faster than the first

If wetsuit is allowed on race day, use it today, unless is an exceptionally hot day pool (over 27C) – additionally, if you are swimming in a wetsuit and you live in a hot weather country, break the distance down in even shorter repeats, take at least 2 bottles with you (1 of iced water to pour on our head, the other of sports drinks to sip through the workout)

TRANSITION 1: Duration =up to 30min

Here is the exception to the rule of “use everything planned on race day on your simulation day” – at transition 1, you want to have a small snack that includes both carbohydrate and protein (fat is optional) – this will help to reduce your recovery window. Logistically, a short drive from the pool to a bike and run venue is fine.

BIKE: Duration = 5 hours

Similar to the swim, you can pre-establish a distance on the course you will be doing and target to increase the pace in 3 different segments, for example up to 1h40, then you need to increase the pace a little until the 3h20 mark and the final 1h40 should be the fastest of them all. Stop every 100min or so to refill your water bottles

If possible, do the bike on a course that simulates race day, hills, technical descends, flats, find something that will get you mentally and physically ready for the big day.

TRANSITION 2: Duration =up to 20min

Transition two should be a lot quicker than the first one as it won’t require changing venues and you should also run on the same gear you plan to on race day, for many athletes that is a trisuit or two piece. Just put your bike in your car (or store somewhere) and head out for the run.

You also want to have a snack here, something easy to digest with plenty of water. Remember, your goal is to finish today’s session with your tank “half full”, this will make recovery a lot faster, slow down if you have to, to be able to process all the calories and liquids you are taking in today

RUN: Duration= 1 hour
While the swim and bike are quite close to race distance, a one hour run may be only a fourth or a fifth of the time you will be running on race day, why is that? Running requires a much longer recovery time compared to swimming and cycling due to the impact of running – that is the same reason why you should never do a marathon on your preparation. The goal here is to run enough to learn pacing, practice your nutrition, test your equipment, but stop before you dig too deep.

Do this preferably on a lap that won’t take you longer than around 30min to complete, this will allow you to track your splits, as the aim is to do the second lap faster than the first, and also provide you access to your nutrition and cooler half way into the run.

Take one quick break at the 30min mark to refuel, then bring it home the final 30min faster than the first. By the end of it you want to be feeling strong and feeling that you could have kept on going, if you don’t feel that way, this is a red flag that your pacing goals wasn’t appropriate for your current fitness level.

RECOVERY:

Have a snack, straight after the workout, then go home and another meal within 2 hours of finishing the session. Researches have shown better replenishing rates within 30 and 2 hours of exercising, this will allow you to get back to training faster and will also help your immune system to bounce back, avoiding any potential sickness in the week following the race simulation

Here is a suggested recovery guideline for the simulation on Saturday:

SUNDAY: 30-40min swimming, as 20-30min of easy 50m repeats with paddles/buoy + 10min easy kicking (25 or 50m) with board. Doing something today as an active recovery is far superior to a total day off, easy swim or easy spin on the trainer will get your blood pumping a little faster, help the muscles to heal and clean any lactic acid remaining in the muscles

MONDAY: Easy 30-40min spin on the bike trainer or gym bike

TUESDAY: DAY OFF – with 2 active rests days behind you, a total day off will boost your recovery even further

WEDNESDAY: 40min easy run

THURSDAY to SUNDAY: Get back on your training plan on both a reduced intensity by one notch and volume (cut it short by 25-33%)

Following week, back into the full plan

FINAL 5-7 WEEKS:

Once you are back in training, resist the temptation to do another race simulation day, remember that doing shorter and more frequent long workouts gets you fitter than big, race simulation days. Just adjust your training based on your performance on the race simulation day and stick to it until the final two weeks when you should star tapering

In this final block you should also avoid any type of racing as this will break training consistency once again. Keep on adding fitness without pushing it too hard

Enjoy your training,

Coach Vinnie Santana

Train with ironguides!

Personalized Online Coaching: Starting at USD190/month

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Performance in Ironman – small changes to success

March 14, 2017

Home, ironman, Training

When we stop seeing the challenge of Ironman as finishing and start looking at how fast we can get to the line the dynamic of our thinking and training changes.

The biggest challenge when we start thinking like this is accepting that failure or a long walk to the finish line is a BIG and real possibility. The training commitment and expense of the racing itself can make this too much of a risk for most of us especially when it is likely we can only commit to one Ironman race in a given year.

To have gotten to the stage where we are looking at times and performance we have likely been successful and performed well in previous races and have followed a plan to get there, the biggest mistake I see made is assume to get faster we need to be pushing much harder in training or doing much more training – both recipes for disaster!

First step in taking on this challenge is looking at previous training and races, have you steadily improved performance over a number of years with a similar training volume and intensity? If you can answer yes to this then you are still getting stimulus and adaption to this training load and there is no reason to increase as it would follow that the improvements will continue to come.

In this circumstance we want to look at our races and see if there are any small areas of weakness we may need to improve on, by this I mean if there are certain things that we always struggle with in races. For example we may tighten up or start cramping towards the end of the swim or we may find it hard to cope with small changes in gradient or accelerations during the bike section.

Once we highlight these points we can look to integrate fixes into our existing program – small changes in interval set up for example can elevate these issues in future race’s yet the stimulus from sessions is not too different and not risking a total change in stimulus. Let’s look at how we could fix the 2 issues highlighted above.

Tightening up or cramping towards the end of the swim

The Ironman swim is a long swim and places a big demand on the body that is very hard to replicate in a pool, we will all struggle to hold good technique for a full 3800m, small things we would not think about can lead to big determinations on technique when swimming open water. We all feel fatigue in shoulders and lats when swimming and assume the increase of this fatigue as the race goes on is simply due to fatigue in hugest muscles but our core strength or lack of it can be the real reason for increasing fatigue. Even though we are supported by the water to an extent we still need to have a strong core in order to hold an optimum position for an effective pull, as our core fatigues we lose this position and usually to a significant extent and this leads to more drag and the swimming muscles have to work much harder for the same speed hence the feeling of increased fatigue. As most of us can’t regularly swim open water we never get to see this fatigue come into play as the small rests we get as we turn in a pool are enough to prevent this fatigue kicking in.

The most common areas of cramping when swimming long distaste are gluteus muscles and hip flexors – the hips play a huge role in swimming and body position and if they are not strong problems will arise when racing. A small core routine incorporated into your weekly training can lead to a significant change in performance.

When I say set up a core routine to strengthen hips I am not talking about heading to the gym and spending an hour working out – a hip strengthening routine can be done at home or at the pool before or after a swim session or as a complement to your bike and run training, I find using the exercises as your warm up to be the most effective use of time.

HIP ROUTINE
HIP EXTENSION
PLANK
LUNGES
MOUNTAIN CLIMBERS

Go through the following exercises twice working for 30 seconds and resting for 15 seconds. See videos for how to do exercises.

Start adding this in now twice a week and you will feel the difference on the race day as you fatigue less at the end of your swim and also head out fresher and stronger into the bike!

Bike accelerations or gradient changes

In Ironman while drafting is not allowed riding legally paced groups is inevitable and even if we want to ride to our own effort or power we have to be aware of the group dynamic in order to avoid penalties and optimise our performance. One thing that always happens in such circumstances is the pace will suddenly increase or decrease and also the need to increase power for small inclines will be needed in order to maintain position and avoid penalties if riding in a large group. These small accelerations and spikes can really hurt your performance if you are not used to them as they can rapidly burn through fuel and if you can’t recover quickly and get back to normal heart rate your endurance will suffer.

If this is something you suffer from then we can change the dynamic of one of your interval bike sessions to incorporate a similar stress and allow the body to get used to going above comfort zone and then coming down again many times, the more we do this the more your body will get used to the stress and come back to normal faster.

Having looked at power meter data from athletes racing these small spikes in power tend to be between 20 and 60 seconds in duration so we want our sessions to be similar, an example of a session to simulate this is:

Warm up for 10-30mins easy

Perform the following routine 1-3 times through

1min very hard / 1min moderate x3

10min race effort

3min easy recovery and then repeat desired number if times.

The first times you attempt a session like this you will find it very tough and breathing will be stressed more than anything but you will find over a number of weeks breathing becomes more steady and recovers rapidly after the hard efforts.

This session would replace your normal race intensity session in your weekly plan, for example this could be the classic 2x20min hard session that is used by many athletes.

So if you have decided to see just how fast you can go and really race your next Ironman resist the temptation to increase volume and intensity rather look at the small changes needed to address your weakness when racing. When race day comes it is all about executing your fitness and taking the risk of blowing up!

Enjoy your training

Coach Alun “Woody” Woodward

Train with ironguides!

Personalized Online Coaching: Starting at USD190/month

Monthly Training plans (for all levels, or focused on one discipline): Only USD39/months

Event based training plans:

Sprint Distance (USD45 for 8-week plan)

Olympic Distance (USD65 for 12 week plan)

Half Ironman (R$95 for 16-week plan)

Running Plans (10k, 21k and 42k – starting at USD40)

Women’s coaching: psychology & physiology

March 8, 2017

Home

On the International Women’s day (8^th March) ironguides Head Coach Vinnie Santana has compiled his observations and experiences as a coach and professional triathlete on the main psychological and physiological aspects of triathlon training for women. He has trained or worked closely with female athletes of all levels, from helping women finish their first triathlon to attending a training camp with four-time Ironman World Champion Chrissie Wellington and 2012 Olympic Champion Nicola Spirig.

It’s clear that the number of women athletes in our sport has risen significantly in recent years. In some countries women-only races and race series are appearing. And the industry has picked up on this trend with an increasing number of items specifically designed for women from shoes to wetsuits to bikes.

The depth of the elite women’s field also has deepened in the past few years. We have watched as Chrissie Wellington has raised the bar again and again in winning the Ironman World Championships in four of the last five years (she missed one Kona due to illness). Chrissie also has lowered the world record for Iron-women several times, most recently to 8:18, which she did at Challenge Roth in July 2011. As a result, most of Chrissie’s rivals also have stepped up their games, in training and racing. There has been a slew of Sub Nine hour Ironman finishes by women, inspired by what Chrissie has achieved.

When it comes to performance, women may use less glycogen and tap more fat for fuel than men in longer, lower-intensity types of exercise, such as long-distance triathlon, which possibly gives female athletes a relative advantage to their male counterparts. Chrissie has previously indicated that she believes that it’s only a matter of time before women beat men in Ironman and who can argue with her; Chrissie, the reigning world champion, has placed in the Top 10 overall in most of her Ironman races, and she has crossed the finish line ahead of many high-profile world-class male triathletes.

When it comes to coaching, the two sexes require different approaches. Despite the health benefits of being an endurance athlete, psychology and physiology are very different between women and men. Women have menstrual periods, and they are in general more vulnerable to stress fractures.

This article is a compilation of my observations and experiences as a coach and professional triathlete on the main psychological and physiological aspects of triathlon training for women. I’ve been fortunate enough to train or work closely with female athletes of all levels, from helping women finish their first triathlon to attending a training camp with Chrissie.

Psychology

When it comes to goals, men and women are different. Men tend to be more concentrated on the result, while women are more focused on the process. This has an impact on the way a coach should motivate his male and female athletes. Women benefit from an approach that is aimed at building confidence, making them feel good about themselves and helping them believe they can achieve their goals, while men perform very well when they are challenged. Of course, there are exceptions to this rule and that’s the value in having a perceptive coach.

These key differences also explain why the personal relationship between some athletes and coaches—the relationship they have outside the sport—has a big impact on their performance. We have seen many successful athletes who are coached by their husbands, fathers or boyfriends including Olympic champion Emma Snowsill and seven-time Ironman champion Natascha Badmann.

Of course, these relationships aren’t limited to triathlon. The Williams’ sisters—Venus and Serena—have long been coached by their father. The closer the relationship between athlete and coach, the easier it can be to gauge whether constructive criticism or encouragement is the best option for the coach on any given day.

Being able to “read” one’s athletes, in particular the female athlete, is a skill that takes time to develop.

One former ironguides athlete had a three-colour swim-cap system for her swim coach: green meant “all’s good, critique away”, yellow signalled “warning: could go either way”, while red alerted the coach to “watch out, not open to feedback!”

Physiology

Once the coach has established a solid understanding of the athlete’s level of motivation, it is time to reach for improved physiological performance.

Let’s start with body type. There is a fundamental difference in how much training an individual athlete can handle, regardless of gender.

Heavier or muscular athletes tax their bodies more when training and tend to need longer recovery periods after intense workouts, especially with running. In contrast, a skinny—leaner—athlete often can train at a very high intensity and yet require less recovery time. This reflects one’s level of testosterone, which can vary widely from athlete to athlete and is not necessarily a requirement for success for women in triathlon.

Understanding both body type and testosterone levels are important to understanding the differences between training loads for men and women.

Many age-group women are training for hobby and lifestyle, and a coach needs to be aware that training can impact their periods. Again, the impact varies significantly by individual. Some women can, at a very high training load, get skinny and still have their periods, while others find the smallest change in body fat can interfere with the timing of their period or suppress it altogether.

Some female athletes may use the pill in order to keep their estrogen and progesterone at the levels they should be. However this also has a downside, especially because of hormonal swings. It’s important to check with your doctor if you have any concerns and to keep your coach in the loop too.

A woman’s diet may also be different to a man’s. Some observers believe a higher intake of red meat helps to prevent anemia and, while doing heavy training, calcium intake is also believed to help sustain bone density which, if not looked after, could lead to the stress fractures I noted earlier. Asking a doctor for advice is advisable if you have any concerns, while keeping in mind that fatigue can also be a normal side effect of adjusting to training or to a higher training load.

For these reasons, it is important to understand the true goal of each female athlete, as the details do have an impact on performance, health and lifestyle.

Enjoy your training.

Vinnie Santana, ironguides Head Coach
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Train with ironguides!

Personalized Online Coaching: Starting at USD190/month

Monthly Training plans (for all levels, or focused on one discipline): Only USD39/months

Event based training plans:

Sprint Distance (USD45 for 8-week plan)

Olympic Distance (USD65 for 12 week plan)

Half Ironman (R$95 for 16-week plan)

Running Plans (10k, 21k and 42k – starting at USD40)

Alun ‘Woody’ Woodward, Certified ironguides Coach – UK/Hungary
http://www.ironguides.net

* * * Your best is our business.™ * * *

Triathlon Race Day – When Things Go Wrong

March 1, 2017

Home

We would all like to have everything go perfectly leading into a race but there are times when this simply does not happen and we need to have coping strategies in place.

Not all problems that arise mean you have to give up your race. I saw a great example of this from former World Champion Spencer Smith when racing an ITU points race and qualifying event in Funchal, Madeira. During the bike section Spencer had a major mechanical issue with the rear brake coming clean out of his bike frame, rather than give up the race Spencer jumped off his bike and quickly found a way to secure the brake to the frame to stop is jumping around and causing a major hazard and then got on with the race just taking a little more care on descents and corners due to having only one working brake. Not only did Spencer finish the race but he had one hell of a story to tell after and just further enhanced his reputation of never stopping the fighting!!

There are 3 main issues that can come up before or during a race and these can be pain due to injury, mechanical issue or nutritional issues.

While some injuries simply mean we cannot race, some smaller issues can be overcome using over the counter pain killers. An example of this can be a strained back which is very common for all of us and usually results from something unrelated to our sport. Simply moving wrong getting out of bed or picking something off the floor can lead to a sore back due to muscle spasms. I would always recommend you see your doctor to determine whether any permanent damage could be done by racing on pain killers before following this advice.

With pain killers we have 2 main over the counter pain killers paracetamol and ibuprofen. When we are looking at these two drugs we need to know when to take them and what they do.

Paracetamol kills the pain response BUT only if it is taken before the pain starts, so if we are racing and wait until the pain comes on it is too late and nothing is going to help. Once the brain starts signaling pain, the process has started to try to get you to stop moving and it can’t really be switched off. So if you have a pain that you know is not going to cause permanent damage by ignoring, you need to be looking to take paracetamol before the pain starts.

During a day you can take 3 times 1g of Paracetamol so if you are racing Ironman you might want to take one dose with your breakfast, another starting the bike ride and then one more before just before the end of the bike.

A lot of pain is caused by inflammation and ibuprofen is designed to take away this inflammation and can be very effective. I would tend to limit the use of iboprofen though when racing as it is very hard on the stomach and that is the last thing we need on race day. If ibuprofen is needed, I would take with breakfast and then leave until after the race.

Other stronger pain killers are available from your doctor but please make sure you explain to your doctor what you are doing as the demands of ironman will effect what you should take, for example Voltaren, a commonly used pain killer is processed by the kidneys and this could be very damaging during an ironmen race when the kidneys are already under a lot of stress. A safer choice for endurance sport would be Codeine which is processed by the liver.

Remember always get your doctor’s advice before taking any pain medication.

Nutritional issue on race day can be numerous but one big one is losing your own special nutrition. I am sure you have been racing and seen nutritional products all over the road, when we hit a bump in the road it is easy for our products to fall off the bike or also we can simply drop them when trying to eat and drink. While we should have our own products that work well for us we need to be aware of what is on the course and how much we need to take in to satisfy the energy demands of the race. Most races have aid stations with various products to give us a choice so we can take solid bars if we don’t tolerate gels and vica versa. Always have a backup plan in place so you can simply move to it if the worst happens and then you don’t panic and can still have a great race.

A lot of races also have a special needs area where you can place a bag containing spare nutrition or emergency foods. I would always recommend you utilize these on race day as you never know what might happen and after all your hard work preparing for your event it is better to be safe than sorry.

Mechanical issues are a huge factor for many people on race day and one of the leading causes of athletes not finishing their races. Make sure you have basic supplies with you on the race course so you can fix minor issues yourself. A basic allen key set is essential as you don’t want your race ending due to a loose bolt that would only take a few seconds to tighten. Also carrying a spare tube and pump to fix a flat are essential, I would always prefer a manual pump over a CO2 canister as these do notoriously fail on race day. On the bike I like to have the following and secure them to your bike using a strong tape such as duct tape.

allen key set
manual pump / dual Co2 pump
spare inner tube
tire lever

So a little forward planning and preparing for possible problems on race day can make any issue that comes up a lot less stressful to cope with and still lead to a successful completion of your race. Plus when things do go wrong and you overcome them it leads to a much more entertaining post race story to share with your fellow athletes and friends!!

Enjoy your training

Coach Alun “Woody” Woodward

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