Appropriately labeled "the fourth event," the proper NUTRITION formula can make the difference between a PR and a long and painful marathon or triathlon. The ironman triathlon, was once referred to as "an eating contest" with the victory going not to the athlete who eats the most, but rather the athlete who eats the best. Thus, the last two decades have revealed many interesting and amusing anecdotes of triathletes' attempts to find the perfect race day nutrition plan.
In the inaugural 1978 Ironman Triathlon in Hawaii, the support crew of race co-founder John Dunbar ran out of water at mile 17 on the run. Supposedly they switched to beer, not exactly an appropriate hydration beverage, but a festive one nonetheless.
In the early years of the Hawaii Ironman athletes focused primarily on carbohydrate consumption, frequently consuming large amounts of local sweet bread. The bread absorbed water like a sponge resulting in the dreaded bloated stomach. Late in the run some athletes would indulge in a concoction called "the Bomb," a combination of Coke, aspirin, and NoDoz.
Triathletes also served as the taste testers for the groundbreaking PowerBar. "PowerBar was the first wave," says Ironman Champion Mark Allen. "It was the first serious food targeted to make you go faster in your race, and I hopped on the bandwagon. I tried it out at the season opener at Gold Coast in Australia. I saw other people do it, so I chopped it up into little pieces and put them on my handlebars, and they looked like warts. You paid 3000 bucks for a bike, then stick 20 warts on it. Perfect, eh? I shoved the little chunks into my mouth and spent the next 65 miles trying to swallow. It worked great when you’re stopped at the 7-Eleven and your heart rate is 70. But in competition when your heart rate is 155 and you need every bit of oxygen and your mouth and nose are blocked by this glob—sorry, PowerBar. That was out."
Ironman Champion Dave Scott set an early trend by eating figs during races. Figs are a good source of carbohydrates and are easy to carry. However, triathletes soon came to realize that it was difficult to consume more than 14 figs at one time.
Several athletes tried the Pritikin diet, an 80-10-10 (80% carbohydrates, 10% protein, and 10% fat) that allowed virtually no fat. Some noted an increase in injuries and illness due to poor immune system function. The value of increased amounts of good fats was soon discovered.
Former pro Mark Montgomery would eat pieces of Betty Crocker chocolate chip cookie dough. He also joined with training partner Paula Newby-Fraser in establishing a new tradition—the high-protein, high-fat loading dinner two days before Ironman Hawaii. "One year we ate the greasiest barbecued ribs we could find, baked potatoes covered with everything. Another year—meat-loaded pizzas and tacos," he remembers.
The search for the right nutrition became a lot of trial and error (as it still is today). Dave Scott recalls training with Mike Pigg, "before we left one morning, Mike got out a salad bowl and mixed three or four cereals into this huge breakfast," recalls Scott—who adds that Pigg felt "incredibly lousy for the first hour or two." About 80 miles into the ride, Scott had "used up all my food trying to hang on to Mike. So we stopped at a convenience store. Mike was starving and went for chocolate milk and some Ding Dongs. I tried to be moderately healthy and bought a loaf of bread and ate 10 slices."
Later Pigg hooked up with coach and exercise physiologist Dr. Phil Maffetone and converted to the 40-30-30 diet plan (40% carbohydrates, 30% protein, and 30% fat). Pro triathlete Jimmy Riccitello relates an episode where Pigg bought a pound-and-a-half of ground turkey and mixed it up with four or five raw eggs and mashed it into a gigantic patty two inches thick. "Mike pops it in a frying pan full of canola oil and put it on the grill for about a minute," recalls Riccitello, "then he flipped it over and grilled it another minute and then he took it off. I said, ‘Man you have to cook it!’ Pigg said, I don’t want to cook all the vitamins and minerals out of it, suck all the life out of it.’ About 1a.m., I hear terrible moans and groans from the bathroom. When I open the door, there is Pigg, and it’s coming out both ends, to put it politely."
In the early years athletes were warned not to take salt tablets because they could cause stomach cramps. However, the quantity of salt loss in the eight-plus hours of an Ironman was remarkable. "There was a big push to urge athletes to drink, drink, drink—it could never be enough," says Maffetone. "The problem was, if athletes drank pure water, that led to hyponatremia (reduced concentrations of sodium in the blood), and if the concentration of carbohydrates was too high, the stomach would become overloaded and shut down digestion."
After years of agonizing meltdowns, Scott Molina vowed to solve his problem prior to the 1988 Ironman Hawaii. A month before the race, he and wife-to-be Erin Baker went to Palm Springs, California, seeking acclimatization during 10 days of five-hour bike rides in 110-degree midday heat. "At Nice in late summer and in Palm Springs, I tested how much salt I could tolerate in my GatorLode and Gatorade mix," he recalls. "I finally got it up to three teaspoons—about eight grams, in one water bottle. It was yucky. I added some salt tablets during the race. It made me nauseous, but I found if I washed it down with water, I could keep it down." That year in Hawaii Molina started to cramp late in the run but held on for a two-minute win over Pigg. This demonstrates the importance of salt replacement.
The challenge of sports nutrition will never be solved as an exact science; metabolism and digestion can vary on a daily basis based on physical conditioning as well as environmental conditions. The body metabolizes in waves, and waxes and wanes in a variety of different chemical balances on a daily, if not hourly, basis. What works this day or this week may not be the same the next day or the next week. Additionally, nutrition is an individual process, what works for one may not necessarily work for someone else. The key is to find what works best, and stick with that "science." This section of this site will provide information on carbohydrates, protein, nutrition, salt, and hydration to help the athlete develop their own science which will enhance their training and race-day performance.
Inside Triathlon, Aug 2002