(As taken from race report emailed to my coach afterwards before blog was live)
This race went very well! I was very happy with the way my body behaved and reacted as the day went on. I felt myself getting faster and stronger as the hours went by and actually ran more miles the last 4 hours of the race than the first 4 hours (which was the goal).
At the beginning I took things nice and easy and was in 2nd or 3rd place at the 3 hour mark. I was actually almost down 2 laps about halfway through to the woman who was leading. Over the 4-5+ hour mark I eventually cut that deficit down little by little and increased my pace and HR until I had passed her. Once I passed her about 2 laps later she dropped out. I think those progression runs at the end of the week are really beneficial!
I ended up winning the race by over 10k but still gave it my all to the end (though I probably could have squeaked one more lap out if I really wanted to). Also set a new course record in the process, so that was fun. The unfortunate thing was that a little bit after the race and awards while we were sitting around I began not feeling very well and think I got dehydrated a bit. Had to have a little medical attention and get cooled off and re-hydrated. After about 20 minutes or so I was feeling better and we were back on the road heading home. I didn't feel great the next couple of hours, but not horrible.
I'm going to blame the dehydration on forgetting my favorite (Simple Hydration) water bottles at home in the fridge...luckily my friend had an extra handheld bottle I was able to use some of the time, but not being used to those (and not liking them) I didn't carry it as often as I should have. I thought I was doing okay though. I've gotten dehydrated at a fewer other long distance tri events (half and full Ironman events) but it hasn't happened in a couple of years since a doctor friend told me to keep an eye on the blood veins in my arms (they are very prominent). So, I watch those and as long as I can see them and they have some texture then I'm okay. However, that wasn't the case on Saturday.
My nutrition for the day was as follows (and is attached in a photo showing more detail):
0:45 - gel
1:30 - gel
2:15 - 1/2 bag honey stinger chews and 1/2 banana
3:00 - gel
3:45 - 1/2 bag honey stinger chews and 1/2 banana 4:30 - gel
5:15 - 1/2 bag honey stinger chews and 1/2 banana
6:00 - gel
6:45 - 1/2 bag honey stinger chews and 1/2 banana 7:30 - gel
I mixed in some of the gels with caffeine and some without. Also, I had about 6 scoops of Powerade Perform in 3 bottles of water. I also had probably 4-5 other bottles of water. Maybe 8 total bottles (or a little less) all day. I know, I know...not enough. I did bring 5 bottles with Perform mixed, just didn't get to them all. Also, I stopped drinking about 7:45 into the race because I didn't want to carry the bottle any more. That might have tipped me over the edge. I know that I would have drank more if I had my SH bottles with me or if the volunteers were handing out water on the course (it was a self serve aid station and they didn't have any cups as it was a green race). This shouldn't be an issue at Ghost Train or Emerald Necklace.
Overall I think I consumed about 1600 calories during the race, or about 200/hour. I know you said 250-300. :( With the other two bottles, I would have gotten up to 1880 which would have been a little better.
Also here is my Strava data - https://www.strava.com/activities/364481150