Manatee Mentors 2016 - Manatee à trois (Page 54)

My local tri store carries it which makes the EFS-LS a viable option.  I mean, I don't know if I'd have had it shipped to me just to try it.  I add half of a small bottle (one serving) in my water and have a shot blok every 20 minutes.  At the beginning of the season, I buy a few of the 5 oz bottles and then get the refill cannister after that.  In races, I toss the small bottles when I'm done with them.

This reminded me, I have done a bit of experimenting with straight honey in a little bottle. I love honey, so I may not have done the most scientific tracking of results.

Agree with all of this. If something has worked in training the entire time, it's probably not that "known" element that's causing the issues. 
Personally I'm an Infinite gal and have used it training for 4 IMs. It's so simple and effective, especially when concentrated.

Originally posted by amd723

Originally posted by JBacarellaToday was 30 F when I went to work and I rode on the trainer...I miss Summer.

Yikes! It was around 70* by me this morning

47 and raining here. Had a nice run out in it.

When running longer, I've tried solids, but had to either stop or risk biting my tongue off (literally). Gels only when running far.

Reminds me that weather had some influence too. Some things could become a hot gooey mess in the summer. Others can freeze solid in the winter (I can run just below zero). Had to watch where I stored things and what I brought with. Body heat could keep things soft enough, but would have to mostly unzip the jacket to get it close enough for that effect. Kind of a nuisance at that point, more so because the zippers wouldn't go with the heavy gloves on too. Switched some things around then.

OK, I’m kind of thinking out loud here but I need to work through some thoughts about my 2017 schedule.  My plan was to do a marathon, a few duathlons and then IMNC in the fall.  Well, IMNC may or may not happen?  I dunno. If IMNC is not a Go, then I was thinking either Rev3 Cedar Point or IMFL. 

My concern with Cedar Point is that it’s awfully small.  My concern with IMFL is that it would make for a long season with little break before running season.  My concern with both is the swim since my IM swims have been in Banks Channel, the Russian River and the Tennessee River (notice a theme?).  Both PCB and Cleveland are 10 hour drives from Raleigh.  This is all pending Kevin’s vacation schedule since one reason for IMNC was that it’s only two hours from Raleigh so less vacation time is needed. 

To make matters more interesting, I have an early entry to Florida.  Before getting that, I was thinking, “Why not make it a USAT year?”  I planning USAT long course du nationals (which happens to be local to e), USAT standard du nationals, why not do USAT ultra nationals in Cedar Point? 

Wait, just last week you *liked* the cold!

I know a lot of people use Uncrustables.  That makes sense to me.  In supported rides, I always go for the PB&J.

The issue for me is not how things go down for me on the bike but when I start to run after 112 (116?) miles of bike nutrition.  When I switched to mostly liquids on the bike, I felt a lot better on the run.

I've had pretzels in past IMs but I had to spit them out in Chattanooga.  The weather may have influenced that.  I think that I mentioned that I used cola + water on the run.  Just.So.Hot.

The USAT year could be fun, but still sounds like it's highly dependent on the IM. Nats at Cedar Point is the Rev3 race which seems to be your major decision point. The duathlons could be a nice change. Just so people know, Long Course duathlon tends to be near an Oly for what we're used to. This one is 5mi/33mi/5mi, so not terribly far off.

How did you come down to these two races? Your concerns sound the same for both, so wondering what else went into it or why some other IMs may not be on the schedule as there are a number of them out East (I don't know quite how far things are either).

I am looking for a fall event.  I would do Chattanooga again but I'm not interested in doing it two years in a row.  Kevin doesn't want to go to Louisville and that's not at the top of my list so I eliminated that one.  Maryland seems iffy from a getting the whole 140.6 (plus maybe not sherpa friendly) so I crossed that off the list.  That leaves IMNC (my top choice), IMFL, and Rev3 Cedar Point.  

Cedar Point is in September, IMNC could possibly be in October, and IMFL is in early November.

Regarding the duathlons, the long course one is ten or fifteen minutes from my house so it's a local du that happens to be USAT nationals. The standard du is in Bend and Kevin wants to go back there for mountain biking so it's more of a racecation situation.

Think it's more looking at it a bit differently. Probably more staying out of your own way. Take care of eating well outside of the workout or event and you won't be so dependent during. I think many tend to overrate how important it is during. Not saying to eat any old thing as I've certainly had some big issues myself, but more to look at it as complimenting a little instead of being a vital resource. Find something agreeable that should help a little, but don't rely on it to make or break your day as far as keeping your energy up. Hence, staying out your own way.

Before going too far with that, something to keep in mind is just how long events go on for too. Even the marathon was only about 3 hrs, which is only a few times feeding at most, as compared to one that will take 12 hrs or more for most here. The training can vary too. When training more, I could quite regularly have a ride go 2-2.5 hrs and then go run for 45-60 minutes. Even a higher volume runner may still "only" do close to the 60 minutes most of the time. Some of that needing something could be just crossing a meal time, or in my case, that's a long time to go without even a snack. That's before getting into the 4+ hr rides an IM would have. I don't think what was said was meant to go entirely out or to really skimp on some of these, more putting in the idea that it may not be necessary to have as much as some do. Whenever this comes up on the main boards, some people really like to set up a smorgasbord with a huge array of food set out or packed in. It's probably not helping near as much as they think. That's heading towards magic pill thinking.

For Florida, peak training would start in mid-August or so and go through mid-October.  I imagine that would mean a few weeknight trainer rides to get the time in.  Yes, even with B2B, I would feel a bit of stress squeezing in weeknight workouts before sunset and that's a few weeks earlier.  My main concern, though, was allowing time for a post season recovery before moving into run focus. 

Regarding Cedar Point, I've done small HIMs (Gator Half) and that was fine so I'm not sure what the concern is.  Maybe just that it won't feel much like a celebration?  Not that I hang around the finish line and par-tay.  Maybe it's more if an issue in my head than in reality, huh?  Thanks for helping me think this through.

Really, WTC just needs to schedule IMNC for October 21 ;-)

Janyne, my only input is that I enjoyed everything about Rev3 Venice when I volunteered a few years ago. I worked some prework with the bike vol coordinator and she did a lot of work to make sure things were good. Point being that they seemed to care about the participants, if that sort of thing matters to you. Hands may have better input, since she raced it, but I think they strike a good balance between size and function. And I think that Cedar Point is kind of their flagship event, along with Quassy, which should mean a larger participant base.

IMFL is in Pensacola, right? I've heard a few years of sketchy water conditions during the swimming portion. Heck, Rev3 had to cancel the swim one year by us in November, due to safety concerns. While it should be out of hurricane season, it seems like the weather this time of year can be finicky in the Gulf of Mexico.

Thanks Chris!

I spoke with someone who has done both and she loved both Cedar Point and IMFL.  Her recommendation was to do both.  ;-)