SCIENCE IN SPORT

Ironman Nutrition

One of our UK representatives spills the beans on what happened when he took on an Ironman for the first time

On July 4^th we left for Switzerland to compete just over a week later in the Ironman in Zurich. I had been training hard for the last 4-5 months with 15-20hrs/week and by now was well and truly ready for it all. As it would be my first one I was obviously anxious as racing an Ironman is something you won’t do in training and it is therefore very difficult to say how you will respond especially towards to later stages of the race. On top of this I had had my younger brother breathing down my neck from Holland, where he lives. He had raced a full distance race last year in Almere (Holland) and had shown his potential with a 10.00.04 finish. Determined to break the 10hr mark on Switzerland’s much harder course he had put the hard yards in training and was dead keen to beat his older brother on the day.

We stayed at a very nice and quiet chalet just 15km outside of Zurich right in the middle of some fields and forest. Very peaceful and this made we would get a chance to be well rested by the time we would get to the start line. In the week leading up to the race the obvious recce took place of the bike course and it turned out to be a beautiful scenic ride but with a total of 1260m of climbing not the easiest. Further in the week training got less and carbohydrate intake increased to make sure we had a fully charged tank when we started the race. 3 days prior to the race we made sure we downed at least 1 litre of PSP22 at 16-20% every day which gave us an additional 150-180 grams of carbohydrate on top of all our carbohydrate rich foods that we were eating by then anyways.

Sunday morning 3.30am the alarm clock went and after a quick shower to wake up we made sure we had a good breakfast with a bowl of muesli and 6 white sandwiches with jam, honey and chocolate spread. As there was still a while to go until the start we also made another 1 litre bottle of PSP22 at 15% to make sure we constantly kept topping up our carb levels right until the start of the race.

The transition area of an Ironman just before the start has got to be one of the most special places. You can feel the tension of everyone waiting for the start, getting their kit ready, checking over and over again that everything is there and it’s all in the right place. But then at 7am, 5 minutes after the professionals had started it was finally time for the 2222 agegroupers to start their race.

I have done a lot of open water swims and participated in many triathlons over the last 19 years, but this start was something different. As a reasonable swimmer (20-22min 1500m) I am used to get out of the busy crowd within the first 100-200 meters of a race. Here however there was at least 500 meters of bashing, kicking, climbing over people, being climbed over and generally trying to find your spot and finding your way in this massive pack of people. Finally after 57 minutes I managed to get out of the water though and just over 2 minutes, a GO Gel and half a bottle of GO electrolyte later I got on my bike to start the 112 mile ride.

The first 30km of the course was pan flat and despite quite a high hear rate that came down a bit slower after the swim as I wanted, things felt very comfortable and easy. The fact that this stretch went by in only 45 minutes should have given me an indication of what was to come later that day. The climbing started after these first 30km’s and just after 80km we were about to finish off the first lap by going around Heart Break Hill. This short but steep (approx 10% average incline over 1km) climb was completely packed with people and the noise and crowd were absolutely amazing. Despite the incline there was not a single muscle fibre in my body that was hurting and it was a real goosebumps ride. I had to stop myself to not turn around and do this climb again. What an experience, this is what the Tour de France riders must feel like on the big climbs! On top of Heart Break Hill I picked up an 800ml bottle from my wife Conia who stood in the personal food station area. Together with the 4 bottles I already had on the bike from the start and the 8 GO Gels anComing past the transition area the first time in after 2hrs25min on the bike I was told that I was in 84^th position overall, which I was well chuffed with as this included the pack of professionals that had started 5 minutes in front of us. Knowing this first lap had gone (too?) quickly I knew I’d better try to hold back a little on the second lap as everything could still fall apart on the marathon if I’d push things too hard. I wasn’t ready for that reason for my second lap of 2hrs28min and with a total bike time of 4hrs53min I was sure I had gone too fast and that I was about to hit a very hard wall on the run at some point. Then again the only thing I could do at this point is start running and make sure my heart rate wouldn’t go up too much.

So off I went, making sure I was running consistently with a heart rate of between 145 and 150, as this was a heart rate I knew I could maintain for a long period of time from training. Only things was that I’d never ran further than 32km, let alone do it on the back of a storming 180km bike ride. I have to say there was a slight feeling of panic in that first lap as I really thought I’d been pushing too hard and things logically just couldn’t continue at this rate. How wrong I was, the first 10,5km went in 45min with a total time of 1.32 for the half marathon. I had been given a marathon belt with 3 gels every lap again by my wife Conia. I consistently had a GO Gel or Smart1 every 4km (around every 18 minutes) and hoped that this, together with approximately 200-300ml of GO electrolyte every lap, would give me the energy I required to finish this race at a good pace. After 25-26km the pain really started kicking in and my quads were clearly telling me to stop doing whatever I was doing to them. My calves got tighter and tighter as well and threatened to cramp up at any time. Then again my heart rate stayed nice and constant and this made me think that this pain was only a way of trying to make me stop but that I could tell my body to continue as it was still clearly working fine from a heart-lung’s perspective and there was no way of giving in to this pain. With about 4km to go, the leader of the race finally lapped me, but I was still just ahead of the first lady in the race (who had also started 5 minutes ahead of me). Being this close I started thinking about the finish line and as everyone always says how special the finish of an Ironman is, I wanted to make sure the glory was all mine and that it wouldn’t be taken away by finishing right next to the first woman. So with 2km to go I decided I didn’t have to put up with the pain for much longer and knowing I was going to set a time that I never had thought to be possible, I was actually able to pick up the pace and run a fantastically enjoyable last few kilometres believe it or not. And everyone had been right; the finish of an Ironman is something special. As I was lucky enough to finish just minutes before the first woman the finishing straight was absolutely packed with people the noise was once again incredible with big cowbells, rattles, banging on boards, clapping and people cheering.

Probably most special of all was the moment when I looked back at the finishing board and saw the following ‘P.J. Slijkhuis – 9.08.05’!! I simply could not believe that I had been able to set a time like this on my first ever attempt in an Ironman race. I also finished 34^th overall (including the professionals) and 9^th in my agegroup.

My brother Jochem in the mean time had also had a great day and managed to demolish his PB (set on a much easier/flatter course) by 17minutes to a 9.43 finish. A time that I would have been well chuffed with beforehand to be honest.

With my 9^th place in my agegroup I knew I had directly qualified for the World Championships in Hawaii as there were 9 slots to be had in my agegroup. Unfortunately I had to pass this opportunity, but with this performance in the bag who knows if I might be able to have a crack at things again next year. One thing is for sure, I’ll definitely have another go at another Ironman race soon, as this was an amazing experience.