first IM
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RV posted 26 weeks ago.
You should have your nutrition/hydration plan worked out through your training - especially fine tune it on your race rehearsals.
The special needs bags are available for pickup at the halfway points on both the run and bike.
At IMWI they have spotters calling out your number as you approach on the bike - then you pull up to a spot that is in a range for your bib number and another volunteer will hand you your bag. Pull out what you need - give it back and you're off. (Same for the run)
Things to put in the SNB - extra tube/CO2 - nutrition etc. For the run perhaps extra socks, blister guard, nutrition etc.
Whatever you think you might need. Sometimes a jacket in the Run SNB if you expect to be on course late and temps drop.
The general rule is that you do not get your SNB back after the race - but normally it is not too difficult to track it down.
RV
It takes a long time to get good. - Scott Molina
Slow is smooth; smooth is fast. - Rich Strauss
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triNick posted 26 weeks ago.
Looks like you are new here, if so welcome aboard.
First of all, you need to train with your nutrition, especially on your brick workouts. That way you know what will work for you. You need to stay hydrated for sure and get your nutrition.
Every race setup is pretty similar. You will have special needs bags on the bike and run where you can put stuff in. They are usually around the half way mark. You will have access to them and get what you need. I use water bottles with CarboPro on the bike, so I store 2 in the bag so I can have enough fuel to continue without caring the excess weight. At the special needs area I get my bag, get the 2 bottles and go. I usually store additional emergency stuff in there just in case I need it like a tube, co2 cartridge, other food, medicine and so on. Usually you only get access to the bags once.
On the run, the same thing, usually at the half way mark. I stored a long sleeve shirt in my for my race in FL just in case it was going to get cold. I had medicine and body glide just in case I had blisters. I also had some nutrition in there but mainly used the stuff available at the aid stations.
The key thing is, you need to read / ask or pay attention at the pre-race meeting so you will know where there bags will be and how the delivery will work. Some races you have to get your own so races have people handing them out.
Be careful at some IM races you don't get the contents of the bags back at the end of the race so don't put too much in there.
Good luck!
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TriSooner posted 26 weeks ago.
What RV and TriNick wrote is 100% correct. But just to offer a counter perspective, I have done two IM's and am doing my third in six weeks and I have never used a special needs bag and I don't plan on starting. They are totally optional. It is completely reasonable to ride the full 112 with the food you brought with you and with the drink they hand up. Same thing on the run. While you do NOT have to be 100% self-sufficient on the bike/run, you also don't have to rely exclusively on special needs bags either. To me they seem a bit of a whip: you have to stop to get anything out of them; it is a total disaster area all around them with people rumaging through their bags and chunking them (and the contents) all over the road; and you can't count on getting anything back. On a serious note, if you do use them, I believe you have to drop them off the day before (?). So whatever food you put in there cannot be perishable. At IM Wisconsin (a warmer race) it smelled so bad riding by all the rotting food, melted bars, and spoiled protiend-heavy drinks.
RV has good advice I didn't think of: I usualy thought of SNB as food-oriented, but I may blow $10 and put a tube and CO2 in there.
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brittda posted 26 weeks ago.
At the very least I would throw an extra tube and CO2 cartridge in there. You never know if you will need it and better to be safe than sorry. You wouldnt want to ruin a race over not having them. IM Canada was VERY organized and you can get in and out pretty quickly for the bags, the volunteers were on top of them. You called out our number early on and they used a bullhorn to tell the volunteers your # so it was ready as you approached. Did not even need to get off the bike.
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RV posted 26 weeks ago.
Ya, it is optional: my first year at IMWI I used on the bike and last year I skipped it. Will probably use it this year for my second feed bottle.
Big thing to be careful about is that there are lots of collisions at the SN area - as bikes whizzing by at all sorts of speeds. I saw several collisions and one was pretty nasty.
If skip it - go way left.
And if use it - be sure to watch the flow of traffic when starting and stopping.
RV
It takes a long time to get good. - Scott Molina
Slow is smooth; smooth is fast. - Rich Strauss
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kylie posted 26 weeks ago.
A couple notes on special needs bags: check the race rules. At some races, they are FOOD ONLY. They do NOT want extra tubes, CO2, clothes, etc to be in them. And I signed up so I play by their rules and follow that at those races.
I also don't use them, but I have before. I just found that I prefer not to rely on my bag. At every race a couple of them get misplaced, or given out wrong, which could leave you in a bit of a mess if you are relying on it. So if you do use one, have a back up plan just in case.
Hi guys,
I'm doing my first IM in September (UK), I would like to have some tips about the nutrition/hydration during the race especially during the bike. I mean, I can have bags at the refreshment points and after each lap I can pick up what I need. how does this work?
Thx,
:)