Glen Gore on 226 Brick Challenge

32Gi has teamed up with former pro-triathlete Glen Gore, as he gets set to host the inaugural MiWayLife 226 Brick Challenge, in 2018. On this episode of 32Gi Sports Nutrition, we chat to Glen, who gives us the lowdown on this fresh and unique event.

Transcription:

Thanks for joining us once again on 32Gi Sports Nutrition, I’m Mr Active, David Katz. No Mark Wolff today, but I’ve got a fantastic guest with plenty of race organisation and of course elite racing experience under his belt as well; and it is South African triathlete Glen Gore. Glen, for people out there who don’t know or maybe for our international listeners, just give us a brief summary of your career. You were a pretty decent triathlete?

Glen Gore: Yes, thanks a lot Dave. I’ve been doing the sport since 1986, started off as a swimmer and just kind of delved into the sport of triathlon. Learnt my way around the bike and the run and then took up the sport full-time in 1993. It’s been a long history, won numerous titles, raced all over the world, so I like to think I’ve got a decent amount of experience when it comes to the sport of triathlon.

DK: Talking about experience, a lot of people have pet hates, every athlete goes out there, whether they’re professional or amateur and there’s bits and pieces they pick from events. Did that give you a nice grounding to move on with your career a bit, and then get to a point where you’re organising these events for people?

GG: Definitely. Like I said, I’ve raced all around the world, I’ve raced most of the local events, so from an athlete perspective, it’s given me an idea of what the athlete actually wants. That’s the ultimate aim of any race director. You put on the event that the athlete is going to enjoy and seek to fulfil their needs. Fortunately I come from that background and hopefully I can take that with me every day and translate it to some good race organisational skills.

You don’t want to miss this…

DK: Glen, looking at a specific event, I know 32Gi have partnered up with you and it’s the MyWayLife 226 Brick Challenge, you launched it recently up in Gauteng, and there’s already been some good interest in the event. Just give people a bit of an idea what it entails.

GG: Great, yes, we had a launch this past weekend up in Johannesburg, just to bring the event to the people of Johannesburg. Obviously that’s where the big market is, the majority of triathletes in South Africa reside in Gauteng and the surrounds of Pretoria etc.

So I thought I’d bring the event to them and just give them a brief talk on what to expect. Effectively what we have is a new event called the MyWayLife 226 Brick Challenge. It’s going to take place in February at Midmar Dam.

The unique thing about this particular event, it’s spread over three days, so all we’re doing is we’re taking an Iron distance event of 226km and I’m splitting it over three days. You’ll swim on Friday, 3.8km, then you’ll wake up Saturday morning, ride your 180km, and then you’ll wake up Sunday morning and run your 42km.

I’ve also taken into account that there’s a few of those athletes that might not want to take on the full distance, so we’ve got the 113, which is exactly half the distance. So you’ve got the 1.9 on Friday, 90km Saturday, 21km Sunday.

So it’s looking to really be something unique, something a little bit different. I’ve been working on this for a good couple of years now, and to see it finally be launched and off the ground; I’m quite excited to see this event grow and see how it progresses in the near future.

DK: Glen, you touched on something there, triathlon in South Africa has hit an explosion the last few years. In fact all over the world. You’ve got the Challenge events, the Iron Series events, we have our own sort of series here, along those related distances.

3 in 3 before attempting 1

But it’s always nice to introduce something a bit fresh, something a bit different. I think for a lot of people, to break it up over three days is going to be very nice; and maybe it gives people who are not quite ready to do a full 226 distance, a chance to sort of get a feel for the three disciplines individually.

GG: That’s exactly right. There’s two reasons. One is too possibly, for those guys who might be racing Port Elizabeth or some other Iron distance racing in the near future, they can use it as a perfect Brick session. They can basically come down to Midmar in February and train over three days and prepare themselves for perhaps what is their A Race.

The other person I’m trying to cater for is just what you said, that person that’s not too sure if they can complete the full distance in one day in under 17 hours. What I do now is I’m giving them an opportunity to do it over three days and just see how they go. What’s nice about my particular event is I’m bending the rules slightly, if you can call it that. I’m going to allow wetsuits for all competitors, there’s no cut-off time.

It’s going to be racing as a Comrades qualifier. So if you go under five hours, you can actually use that as a Comrades qualifier. So there’s a couple of different aspects I’m bringing to the race. Just to give an athlete something different.

So as I said, it can be used as a training session, it can be used as a race. Some of the elites I know might be coming to see how fast they can actually go over three days, when there’s a little bit of rest in between. There’s a little bit of something for every athlete, from your novice who has never done an Iron distance before, to your elite who has done a few and wants to see how fast they can go.

DK: Glen, it really is exciting, I like the aspect that Comrades Marathon have come on board and allowed it to be a qualifier as well, which is fantastic. We do see that of course with quite a few of the longer triathlon events. Looking at nutrition, you’ve got a good base, having had that professional experience, having dealt with race organisations, and having dealt with 32Gi. They’re going to make sure that people don’t go hungry or thirsty on race day.

Endure and triathlon are a perfect fit

GG: Definitely. I’ve worked with Mark and your brand for a good couple of years. I was there when they were launched back in 2009/10, somewhere around there. So I’ve seen them progress and 32Gi it makes sense to use them as a home-grown product, based in South Africa. They’re global now.

I know they stock and supply many races around the world, but they’ve got a fantastic range. We’ve discussed that what we’re going to do during is using the Endure for during the event, the Endure drink. Then they’ve got a fantastic recovery drink which is going to be crucial for the athletes after each of the legs to basically recovery properly. Make sure they’re getting in that fluid so that they are ready to go the next day.

Then obviously apart from the drinks, you’ve got your energy bars and you’ve got your G-Shots, the gels, all very important to sustain an athlete over long distances. So very glad to have 32Gi on board and we’re hoping to grow this event.

Glen’s ultimate triathlon nutrition tips

DK: In general, looking at diet and nutrition and from your personal experience, for people out there with triathlons who still find maybe they experiment a bit, what are some of your tricks? Are there things that you stay away from? Do you prefer more liquid to solid feed, what are some of the things you could recommend for people?

GG: Look, it obviously depends on the event. If we’re talking the 226, which is quite a long event, you’re obviously going to have to take in a good amount of fluids as well as solids. Midmar that time of year is extremely hot, so that’s something that people have to take into consideration, you don’t want to dehydrate. You want to take in just enough nutrition and drinks etc.

I’ve always believed in a; don’t wait until you’re thirsty or hungry, make sure you keep the energy levels topped up at full. I’ve always based my energy consumption during a race to being that of a vehicle. I put in the petrol, full when I start the race and try to keep that petrol level full at all times.

That obviously means eating and drinking minimal amounts, but all the time. Nutrition is quite a tricky game, everybody has got their little tricks and what might work for some, doesn’t work for the other. So it’s really a trial and error process.

Being 31 years in the game has given me a lot of trial and error, so hopefully I can advise athletes and say, “This is what you should and perhaps should not do,” and generally, hopefully, it works out for them.

DK: I see why there’s such a great collaboration between yourself Glen, and Mark Wolff, because he loves that nutritional car as well. We actually did a great video, I’ll put a link up if you hadn’t seen it, explaining fuel tanks and how they work. That’s a great analogy. Glen, if people want to go already and check out more information about the event, how do they do so and also just give us those dates again?

GG: Great, we’ve obviously got the main website where people can actually view the information and register on, so that’s the 226challenge.co.za, that’s our main website. Obviously from a social media point of view, we’ve got a Facebook and Twitter page, but my main venue is Triathlon SA, which is a publication I have been running for the last seven years.

We’re only digital and online now, so Triathlon Plus SA has a website as well as Facebook pages. So usually if you type in 226 Brick Challenge and you’ll definitely find more than enough information on the event. Just a quick cap on dates; you’ve got the second, third and fourth of February, which is your first week in February, 2018.