Use the totals to plan a rehearsal
This planner converts bike and run duration plus hourly assumptions into carbohydrate, sodium and fluid totals. It cannot determine what your gut, sweat rate, medical history or race conditions make appropriate. Treat every output as a hypothesis to rehearse.
Start with the products and amounts already tolerated during long rides and bricks. Record the actual label values; a "gel" is not a standard unit, and drink concentration changes when bottle size or powder scoops change.
Worked example: separate bike and run totals
For the planner's example of a 2:45 bike at 80 g/hour and a 1:50 run at 60 g/hour, bike carbohydrate is 2.75 × 80 = 220 g and run carbohydrate is (110 ÷ 60) × 60 = 110 g. The combined total is 330 g; it excludes pre-race food and anything taken during the swim or transitions.
At the example's fluid inputs of 700 mL/hour on the bike and 500 mL/hour on the run, the totals are 1,925 mL and approximately 917 mL. Sodium at 700 and 500 mg/hour similarly totals 1,925 mg and approximately 917 mg. These are arithmetic outputs from selected inputs, not recommended doses. Count sodium and carbohydrate already present in drinks before adding separate products.
Build a bike-to-run worksheet
Keep bike and run assumptions separate. An intake tolerated while cycling may be difficult at running intensity, and a late bike surge can change the run response even when the arithmetic is unchanged.
Rehearse one change at a time
Use a long ride plus short brick workout:
- copy the planned timing into a watch or bottle checklist;
- use the same position, products and concentration expected on race day;
- record missed intake, thirst, hunger, bloating, nausea and bathroom stops;
- keep effort controlled enough to evaluate the plan;
- change only one major variable before repeating.
Sports-nutrition position statements provide population ranges, not a personal prescription. Environmental heat, sweat rate, body size, intensity, product tolerance and medical conditions all change the decision.
Check event logistics
Confirm the current athlete guide: bottle rules, on-course products, aid-station locations, special-needs access and litter zones. Do not assume that last year's sponsor or layout still applies. Build a fallback for one dropped bottle or missed station without doubling the next intake.
Use the IRONMAN 70.3 training hub to place rehearsals in the build. Race week is for confirming a tested plan, not introducing a new concentration.
Stop rules
Repeated vomiting, confusion, fainting, severe breathing difficulty, chest pain or inability to keep fluid down requires event medical support. More fluid is not automatically safer; exercise-associated hyponatremia is a serious risk. This planner is educational and not medical advice.