On 12th June I raced Ironman 70.3 Staffordshire. This was my third time racing Staffs and seventh 70.3 overall. Below is a short breakdown of what gear and nutrition I used on race day. Although, for anyone who has read any of my previous “gear blogs”, you will see that it is the same gear as almost all of them. I guess the only real change from the Ironman 70.3 Mallorca 2022 Gear post is the trisuit and no sunscreen required for Staffs this time around.

Fuelling

Okay, so I am not really breaking with any tried and tested processes here, the same fuelling strategy as I have used on all my other triathlons.

Pre-race I have a 500ml bottle with Maurten 320 drink mix, this is something I will sip through on the bus to Chasewater and whilst in transition, this keeps the carb levels topped up nicely ready for the start.

In my bike transition bag (T1), I also put a SiS Beta Fuel gel, I will take this after the swim again to keep the carb levels high after burning some up on the swim but more to prepare for the bike leg to come.

Once on the bike, I take a SiS Beta Fuel gel every 35mins (roughly). This is actually one change I have made after struggling in the latter stages of the bike leg at Ironman 70.3 Mallorca 2022, in that race, I used the SiS Go Energy Electrolyte gels which have 20g of carbs. For Staffs I have moved to the Beta Fuel as they have 40g carb, doubling my carb intake per serving. The plan is this will better fuel the body to sustain the bike output for longer and have a strong run off the bike. Alongside the SiS gels I have a protein bar to munch on every 20mins. Now this is a change too but an unplanned change, I usually take a flapjack bar but Aldi had sold out of these so I am doing what no respectable athlete should do, trying out something different on race day.

To ensure I stay hydrated on the bike I have two 700ml bottles, each mixed with Maurten 320 Drink mix. I am aiming to get through both of these plus take a bottle of the on-course drink Gatorade Thirst Quencher at the 48 mile aid station, giving me 700ml per hour of fluids. It isn’t forecast to be a hot or sunny day so the sweat rate will not be as high as in Mallorca.

In my run transition bag (T2), I have a Maurten Gel 100 to take prior to setting off on the run leg.

On the run, I will use the on-course nutrition, the Maurten Gel 100. I will take one of these every 30mins so all being well take two during the run, maybe three if I am slightly slower than planned. The reason for using Maurten on the run instead of continuing with SiS Beta Fuel like on the bike is because I have used Maurten for all of my run training this year and am still yet to really put the Beta Fuel to the test over a long-intensity run.

Swim Gear

The gear I will be wearing into the swim hasn’t changed much over the 4 years I have been doing triathlon. I still have the same wetsuit, HUUB Archimedes II GB Edition. This is now showing some signs of wear and tear, a few holes are appearing and just generally time to get a new one. The Zoggs Predator Goggles were replaced last year but a straight swap from the non-tinted Predators. I do like these goggles, probably why I brought the same pair. They have a big lens which is perfect for sighting and seeing other athletes around you. I guess the tint must help with sun glare but I am yet to really see any benefit from that yet. The Ironman 70.3 Bolton swim last year was overcast, and the Mallorca 70.3 swim was early and not facing the sun.

Tech-wise I have the Garmin HRM pro and Garmin Forerunner 935 watch. The chest strap is new, I had an HRM pro last June and that stopped working by May this year, it didn’t even last 12 months. I brought a new one and will see how long this last but for now, it is waterproof and gives a more accurate heart rate reading than the watch does.

I use Bodyglide around the neck to help reduce the risk of chaffing, I also rub it around my low calfs and wrists to help with sliding the wetsuit off.

The big change on the gear front for Staffs is the trisuit. In Mallorca I used an old Zoot tristuit, this was because it was the trisuit I had on in 2019 when I DNF’d Mallorca so this year was about redemption. Since November I have been using Total Tri Training for my triathlon training so in Staffs I will be wearing their trisuit. This is actually the first time I will have worn the trisuit but I have tried it on at least.

T1 Gear

Pretty standard stuff for the bike leg. I have a towel to quickly dry off my feet so that I can put the Gymshark No Show Performance Socks a little easier. I like to put the socks on at this stage to save time in transition 2, It does make the bike shoes more comfortable in my view and I am a believer that if you feel uncomfortable in the shoes on the bike or certainly on the run, it can have a negative impact on the race. So I go for comfort over speed.

Following in the same fashion as the swim gear, most of this is from 2018. The shoes are the 2018 Fizik R3B cycle shoes, the helmet is the Kask Mojito and the race belt – The fitLetic Ultimate II race belt. The sunglasses are Oakley Jawbreaker Cavendish Edition.

I did take this photo with an SiS Go Energy Electrolyte gel but I have since swapped this out for the Beta Fuel gel as mentioned in the Fuelling section.

Bike Tech, I have the Wahoo Element Roam loaded up with the bike route.

T2 Gear

This is always the most simple part of packing for a triathlon for me. All I need are my Nike Vaporfly Next% shoes and Roka Kona sunglasses. I have packed a Nike run cap but as it is not sunny or raining, I will most likely leave this in the bag.