Since I live near Boulder and knew several athletes racing Ironman Boulder, I spent some time on the run course this past Sunday to show support … and observe. I am not one to “kick someone when they’re down”, so don’t get me wrong with the intent of this blog post. But with what I saw (and have seen at several other long course triathlon races) and what I see on social media posts, nutrition and hydration continue to be a sore spot for many triathletes.
Some questions to ask yourself:
- did you suffer energy lulls… even lightheadedness, dizziness, foggy brain?
- did you experience gastrointestinal distress? (cramping, bloating, gas, or worse… vomiting or diarrhea)
- did you feel a sloshy stomach or have swollen fingers and ankles when you were running?
- did your nutrition plan go awry?
- did you consume too many or too little calories? (do you want to know?)
If you have just completed your first Ironman, congratulations!
But if this was your first Ironman and you answered ‘yes’ to any of the above questions, I encourage you to work with a sport dietitian the next time around to work on these issues that probably made your race not as great as it could have been.
And if this was your first Ironman (or even your fifth Ironman race) and you DNF’d due to any nutrition-related issue as mentioned above, then I strongly encourage you to invest in nutrition guidance from a qualified sport dietitian so that you can rock your next Ironman with nutrition being the least of your worries.
I am proud to be a part of the eNRG Performance team of sport dietitians who live and breathe endurance sports. We help athletes locally and all across the world with our nutrition coaching services, metabolic efficiency, lactate threshold and sweat sodium concentration testing services that enable athletes to improve and excel in the sports they love to do. For the price of a good pair of shoes, but for guidance that will last you far longer than those shoes, check us out and put nutrition on the top of your priority list for your next Ironman adventure!
-Dina