Pros/Cons of living off the course?

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2015-01-18 10:49 AM

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Subject: Pros/Cons of living off the course?
I have done a couple of half IMs and am now prepping for IMTX. I am considering living off the course just due to the convenience of it. Mainly the bike portion I am considering this for. I have ordered and am using Gatorade Endurance in training and it is fine so far. Just want to hear from those more experienced than me the pros and cons of this. I was self sufficient other than water in my previous HIM races.


2015-01-18 7:50 PM
in reply to: KatieLimb

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Subject: RE: Pros/Cons of living off the course?
I too am racing TX. Obvious pro of living off course is there is less worries about preparing your nutritional needs and packing enough, etc. I'm sure there are many others. I guess the con would be if your hungry or thirsty and have to wait until the next aid station. This more than likely won't happen on run, but on bike it may. I'm assuming you would bring a bottle or two and a couple of things on your bike to start. Make sure your efficient in bike bottle exchanges as the aid stations can get busy, slippery and sometimes a tad dangerous if not careful.

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2015-01-19 9:05 AM
in reply to: KatieLimb

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Subject: RE: Pros/Cons of living off the course?

How about a little of both?  

I've packed some solid nutrition for the bike mostly because I want stuff besides gatorade, GU, and powerbars.  Beyond that, I rely on sports drink from the course (during the ride) and all of the food/drink at the aid stations on the run.  

Race-provided nutrition:  

PRO's:  You're carrying less weight.  You can adapt to course conditions better.  Your logistics are a little more simple.  You're less likely to experience a "catastrophe" such as dropping a bottle with your entire bike nutrition.  (Or...forgetting your nutrition when you leave the hotel).  You get a chance to stretch/pee (no, I don't pee on the bike).  

CON's:  Aid stations can be chaotic.  Race provided nutrition may not be most suited to your GI preferences.  

Keep in mind that even if you're carrying 6 hours of bike nutrition, you'll probably need water which means interacting with volunteers and the chaos of the aid station to get WATER instead of sports drink...You really don't avoid that unless you can carry nutrition plus water (and for Texas, that could be 5-6 bottles) the whole time.  

If you miss a bottle handoff, pull over and get your bottle, even if it means circling back to get to the aid station.  You'll lose far more than the 15 seconds backtracking if you ride 10-15 miles or more dehydrated or undernourished because you pressed on rather than top up.  

In my case, I usually have 2 or 3 stops on the bike which include the potty time.  I'd have these even if I carried 1800 calories.  

 

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