Special Needs
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
With three weeks to go, I was searching the internet and found some great tips from coach Mike Ricci of D3Multisport about what to have in your race day special needs bags along with some frequently asked questions and answers. Thought that I would pass them along...
I hope everyone is getting excited as we count down the days to your Ironman. Here is a quick note on Special Needs for Ironman and also Nutrition. I think most of you have these dialed in but just take a look to see if you have any questions.
Special Needs at Ironman
For an Ironman race you are given a Run Special Needs bag and Bike Special Needs bag. You drop both of these bags off the morning of the race in the appropriate bin (make sure your number is on your bag!).
Bike Special Needs
Some athletes carry all their nutrition for the race with them – for me that’s around 1800 calories BUT you should put an extra bottle of nutrition in your Special Needs bag in case you drop a bottle during the race Another important item to in there is an extra gel flask and sometimes something to keep you going such as: gummy bears or a frozen snickers bar. That tends to keep the motivation high on the 2nd half of the bike. Also, put an extra tire and CO2 in there as well so if you have a slow leak on the bike or have already flatted you will have back up. If the weather is predicted to be wet, may put a rain jacket or vest in that bag as well.
Run Special Needs
In your run Special Needs bag put an extra bottle of your favorite drink, something sweet to suck on like gummy bears, maybe a change of socks, Vaseline, salt tablets and a long sleeve shirt or jacket if you are going to be out on the course after sunset.
FAQ:
Do I bring the first half of my race nutrition with me and leave the second half in my special needs bag. Or do I pack it all and carry it with me the whole time?
My suggestion it to carry everything you want for the race and then put an extra bottle of nutrition in your Special Needs Bag. I have split my nutrition before and it has worked well so either option is ok, but I prefer to bring it all with me on the bike. I know to put things in the bag that I might want; ie peanut butter sandwich, etc. But how do you strategize and pack what you know you'll need?I tend to put everything I want in there – no doubt about leaving anything out.
FAQ:
My plan was to have the first 3.5 hours of CarboPro with me on the bike and pick up the second half of the powder in a bottle at special needs. Do they have water at the special needs areas to then mix my powder?
There is water at the aid stations which is ‘usually’ next to a Special Needs Station, but I would not count on that. If you end carrying 2 bottles full of powder for 10 miles and you are thirsty, that might throw the overall plan off. What you could do is get water at the aid station, fill your bottle with it and carry the powder in a plastic bag that you could empty into your bottle that has water in it.
FAQ:
I was going to carry all my Shot Bloks and Nuuns for the whole ride with me from the beginning. I'm not sure how to prepare for this.
What do you do? I would use a Bento Box for this: http://www.tri-sports.com/tnitrzbentobox.html
I hope everyone is getting excited as we count down the days to your Ironman. Here is a quick note on Special Needs for Ironman and also Nutrition. I think most of you have these dialed in but just take a look to see if you have any questions.
Special Needs at Ironman
For an Ironman race you are given a Run Special Needs bag and Bike Special Needs bag. You drop both of these bags off the morning of the race in the appropriate bin (make sure your number is on your bag!).
Bike Special Needs
Some athletes carry all their nutrition for the race with them – for me that’s around 1800 calories BUT you should put an extra bottle of nutrition in your Special Needs bag in case you drop a bottle during the race Another important item to in there is an extra gel flask and sometimes something to keep you going such as: gummy bears or a frozen snickers bar. That tends to keep the motivation high on the 2nd half of the bike. Also, put an extra tire and CO2 in there as well so if you have a slow leak on the bike or have already flatted you will have back up. If the weather is predicted to be wet, may put a rain jacket or vest in that bag as well.
Run Special Needs
In your run Special Needs bag put an extra bottle of your favorite drink, something sweet to suck on like gummy bears, maybe a change of socks, Vaseline, salt tablets and a long sleeve shirt or jacket if you are going to be out on the course after sunset.
FAQ:
Do I bring the first half of my race nutrition with me and leave the second half in my special needs bag. Or do I pack it all and carry it with me the whole time?
My suggestion it to carry everything you want for the race and then put an extra bottle of nutrition in your Special Needs Bag. I have split my nutrition before and it has worked well so either option is ok, but I prefer to bring it all with me on the bike. I know to put things in the bag that I might want; ie peanut butter sandwich, etc. But how do you strategize and pack what you know you'll need?I tend to put everything I want in there – no doubt about leaving anything out.
FAQ:
My plan was to have the first 3.5 hours of CarboPro with me on the bike and pick up the second half of the powder in a bottle at special needs. Do they have water at the special needs areas to then mix my powder?
There is water at the aid stations which is ‘usually’ next to a Special Needs Station, but I would not count on that. If you end carrying 2 bottles full of powder for 10 miles and you are thirsty, that might throw the overall plan off. What you could do is get water at the aid station, fill your bottle with it and carry the powder in a plastic bag that you could empty into your bottle that has water in it.
FAQ:
I was going to carry all my Shot Bloks and Nuuns for the whole ride with me from the beginning. I'm not sure how to prepare for this.
What do you do? I would use a Bento Box for this: http://www.tri-sports.com/tnitrzbentobox.html
