Race Fuelling

Race Fuelling for Ironman Australia Port Macquarie

By Arnout Hemel

I found that the Maurten CAF 100 gels (25g carbs, 100mg CAF)) are just pure rocket fuel. They give me an enormous boost, especially on the bike.  The SIS betafuel is also quite tasty and gives me 40g carbs at a time, so I used those as well. 

I chose the following setup:

Pre-race:

- 3 days of carb loading, with mainly rice and some pasta. Night prior to race some sushi, but not too much

- brekkie: 1 white bun with nutella 

- 1 bottle of Maurten 320 mix disolved in water

Swim:

- SIS beta fuel 40g carbs 10 min before the race

Bike:

- torpedo-bottle in front: just water with electrolytes (1 SIS electrolyte tab)

- 660ml bottle in cage: 3 Maurten 320 mix dissolved in water (240g carbs) (almost like you are drinking gels)

- 500ml aero bottle: 2 SIS beta fuel mix dissolved in water (160g carbs) (even sweeter than the Maurten  (puke) )

- bento-box: 1 gel every hour, starting after 30 minutes (SIS betafuel 40g, Maurten 100, Maurten CAF 100, Maurten 100, Maurten CAF 100, Maurten 100)

Run:

- Water & 2 gulps of electrolyte at every aid station

- Gel every 8km (Maurten 100, Maurten CAF 100, Maurten, Maurten CAF 100)

I also packed some salt pills, but unfortunately they got wet, and apart from 1 that I could still swallow, I missed out on those. Next time I will mix the salt in the electrolyte and carb-bottles. Easier to take it in that way. 

Total:

Total calorie intake before/during the race: ~3,000 (=750g carbs). During the bike I took about 90g carbs per hour, but during the run only 20g carbs per hour, which might have been too little to sustain. 

Total calories burned during the race (according to Garmin/Oura): 8,000-9,000, but likely to be over-estimated.