TIPS FOR A SUCCESSFUL HALF OR FULL IRON DISTANCE TRIATHLON

BY: STEVE BORN

Days leading up to the race

Don’t train too much, or too close to race day

Avoid the temptation to do extra training in the final days before your race. You cannot improve your fitness in that short time, but you can harm your performance if you train with any meaningful duration or intensity.

As coach Jeff Cuddeback says:
“The week of any event of this duration should be all about resting up and topping off your energy stores. Training is done to keep the engine lubed and tuned up, nothing more. If you think you're going to further your fitness through training the week of your key race, you're sadly mistaken. If you are the type to train right up to the event, you will almost certainly underperform.”

The best performances in long events happen when you arrive at the start line well-rested, not “razor sharp”. You may feel a little flat at the start and might even struggle in the first few minutes. That’s normal. Your body will not forget your training, and it will reward you for giving it time to absorb the work you’ve already done.

Keep your diet consistent

Don’t change your diet dramatically. Stick closely to what has worked for you in training.

Fluids

Don’t drink excessive water in the days before the race to try to “get ahead” of your fluid needs. A useful guideline is about 0.5 to 0.6 ounces of water per pound of body weight per day (for example, a 180 lb athlete should drink around 2,660–3,195 ml of water daily, which is about 2.7–3.2 litres).

However, if you haven’t been drinking this amount consistently, do not suddenly start right before the race. Taking on too much fluid too quickly can overwhelm your body and may increase the risk of hyponatraemia.

Calories

Don’t overeat in the days before the race in the hope of carbo-loading. The main window for carbohydrate loading (maximising muscle glycogen storage) has essentially already passed.

In simple terms, “carbo loading” is what you did in the 0–60 minutes after each workout in the weeks leading up to the race. That’s when the glycogen synthase enzyme (which controls glycogen storage) is most active, and that is how you topped up glycogen stores properly.

Any extra food you force down in the days before the race will either pass through your digestive system or be stored as body fat. Neither helps race performance.

Sodium

Don’t increase sodium (salt) intake in the days before the race to try to “top off body stores”. The average American already consumes around 6000–8000 mg per day (often more), which is well above the recommended upper limit of 2300–2400 mg/day. There is no need to raise it further.

(Hint: moving towards a low-sodium diet can help both health and athletic performance.)

High sodium intake before a race can be a recipe for disaster because it increases the chance of disrupting hormonal systems that control sodium regulation, recycling, and conservation. In the days before the race, pay particular attention to sodium in food, especially if eating out. Restaurant food is often heavily salted and can dramatically increase your already high intake.

The night before the race

Eat clean, eat until satisfied, then go to bed

You cannot improve muscle glycogen storage the night before the race. At that time, the glycogen synthase enzyme (the one controlling glycogen storage) is inactive — which is why post-workout refuelling matters so much.

Eat a meal based on:

• complex carbohydrates
• some high-quality protein
• low-to-no saturated fat

Keep the meal low in sodium. Drink enough water, but don’t overdo it.

Skip alcohol, fatty foods, and dessert. Save those “rewards” for after the race.

 

The morning of the race

No calories three hours before the race

When the race begins, your first fuel source is muscle glycogen. That’s why post-workout refuelling is so important. Eating at the wrong time before the race can negatively affect how your body uses its limited glycogen stores, which can reduce performance.

Don’t lose sleep just to eat

Rather than waking early to eat 1–2 hours before the race, a better option is to take 1 serving of Hammer Gel 5–10 minutes before the start. This tops up liver glycogen (the main goal of a pre-race meal) and provides calories to support the early part of the swim, without negatively affecting how muscle glycogen is used.

30–45 minutes before the race

“Pre-emptive strike” dose of Endurolytes

Taking Endurolytes before the race provides electrolyte mineral support for the swim portion, when fuelling (calories, fluids, electrolytes) is not possible.

5–10 minutes before the race

1 serving of Hammer Gel

Optional if you have eaten a pre-race meal. A smart strategy if you haven’t.

At T1

“Pre-emptive strike” Endurolytes + a drink from your multi-hour fuel bottle, washed down with water

Spending a few seconds in transition to take electrolytes and a little fuel pays off on the bike. It allows you to focus on settling into a smooth pedalling rhythm during the important early part of the cycling leg.

To make this quicker, have Endurolytes ready in a small container such as a Hammer Nutrition capsule dispenser.

Bike fuelling

Replenish, don’t replace

Your body is not designed to accept anywhere near what it is losing in calories, fluids, and electrolytes. It has built-in hormonal “survival” mechanisms that bridge the gap between losses and what you can take in.

So don’t try to replace everything. Replenish using “body cooperative” amounts, adjusting for age, weight, stress, fitness, acclimatisation, and weather:

• Fluids: about 590–740 ml per hour
• Sodium chloride (salt): 3–6 Endurolytes capsules or 1.5–3 Endurolytes Fizz tablets per hour
• Calories: 120–150 calories per hour

Endurolytes or Endurolytes Fizz every 30–60 minutes

Use these to meet electrolyte needs more effectively than salt tablets. Adjust dosing based on weather, terrain, and the signs your body gives you (irregular pedal cadence, muscle twitches).

Note: If you use Endurolytes Fizz in your water instead of carrying capsules, that’s fine. However, it is recommended that you still carry extra Endurolytes Fizz tablets or Endurolytes capsules in case what you premixed is not enough. Better to have it than need it.

Water intake

Drink about 590–740 ml of water per hour, plus or minus about 90–120 ml depending on the weather and your body size. Calories come from multi-hour bottles of Perpetuem or Sustained Energy. Electrolytes come from Endurolytes. Fluids should come from water only (no sugar-filled sports drinks).

Solid food is not essential

Solid food is harder to digest than liquid. It needs more time, water, and electrolytes. If you must eat solid food:

• Choose foods with little or no refined sugar and saturated fats.
• Don’t assume you can eat anything because you’re burning calories. What you put in affects what you get out.
• Make solid food the exception, not the rule.

Hot weather fuel preparation and use

If it will be warm-to-hot, prepare your fuel bottle(s) the night before and freeze them if possible.

• Half iron distance: rack the bottle on your bike in the morning and you’re set.
• Iron distance: put both bottles on the bike, or leave one at Special Needs. If that isn’t possible and/or it will be very hot, make one 3-hour bottle and leave the other at Special Needs as powder only. Another option is one 4-hour bottle for the first four hours and a 2-hour bottle (powder only) to mix at Special Needs.

Yes, you will need to stop, add cold water, and mix the bottle. But it is time well spent because you will have fresh fuel for the final part of the bike.

Bottom line: Unless you can keep a premixed bottle cold at Special Needs, mixing a fresh bottle is the best option. The small amount of time it takes is far better than arriving and finding a premixed bottle ruined by heat.

Sensitive stomach before the run?

Reduce calorie intake by about one third, and/or switch to Hammer Gel only during the final hour on the bike.

Multi-hour bottles: why they help

Multi-hour bottles offer several key advantages:

• You only take small amounts each hour, so you don’t need to drink lots of flavoured liquid all the time.
• You can drink plain water from another source for hydration and to cleanse the palate. The multi-hour bottle contains some liquid, but over 3+ hours it’s minimal, so you can treat it as a “calories only” bottle.
• You save time because you don’t have to stop and mix more fuel on the course.
• Keeping calories separate from fluids helps you track both more accurately. This is particularly useful in heat, where calorie processing can drop while fluid and electrolyte needs rise. Keeping calories, fluids, and electrolytes separate makes it easier to adjust any one of them when needed.

How to make a multi-hour bottle of fuel

For simplicity:

• In a half iron distance race, plan for a 3-hour bike leg.
• In a full iron distance race, plan for a 6-hour bike leg.

Half iron: 1 x 3-hour bottle of Perpetuem or Sustained Energy covers calorie needs.
Full iron: 2 x 3-hour bottles, or 1 x 4-hour bottle plus 1 x 2-hour bottle.

Before T2

“Pre-emptive strike” Endurolytes

Before switching from cycling muscles to running muscles, take a dose of Endurolytes if your last dose was 20+ minutes before T2. If you took Endurolytes 10–15 minutes before T2, you can skip the transition dose and start again on the run.

Run fuelling

Calories: Hammer Gel + Perpetuem Solids

This is a simple, easy-to-carry way to meet calorie needs. Hammer Gel is calorie-dense and easy to digest, using complex carbohydrates. Perpetuem Solids are easy-to-chew tablets that also provide complex carbohydrates and include some heat-stable protein to help protect against muscle breakdown. Together, Hammer Gel and Perpetuem Solids work extremely well.

Taking Endurance Amino capsules (which contain significant BCAAs) may also help reduce muscle tissue breakdown.

Endurolytes every 30–60 minutes

Continue Endurolytes during the run. Adjust dosing based on weather, terrain, and your body’s signals (irregular running gait, muscle twitches). Using Endurolytes Fizz instead of capsules is acceptable. Just allow tablets to dissolve fully and ensure you are drinking the right amount of fluid each hour using water and/or a water + Endurolytes Fizz mix.

Fluids: water only

Drink about 590–740 ml of water per hour, plus or minus about 90–120 ml depending on weather and body size. Calories come from Hammer Gel, electrolytes come from Endurolytes, and fluids should come from water only (no sugar-filled sports drinks).