What do triathletes eat? Anything and everything. We are notorious for putting all-you-can-eat places out of business. The Ironman is a 2.4 mile swim and 112 mile bike ride, followed by a full 26.2 mile marathon. All in under 17 hours.

The training is longer than the race. My longest swim was 6,000 meters. My longest bike ride was 117 miles. My longest run was 27 miles. I burned over 41,000 calories in training alone that month. We are always hungry.

Drink a lot of water. I was told to make sure to get a little extra protein in my meals. I started to triple everything.

This is where I started having fun. Midnight snacks became another meal. Meals became events.

I ate anything and everything I wanted. A box of cookies, a pint of ice cream, whole pizzas, even a sushi boat.

8 a.m. Nibble through half a package of lox for breakfast. Sip cold brew coffee.

10 a.m. Snack on cookies. Sip Gatorade.

12 noon Waiting on a lunch guest, I devour a bag of chips and drink a 16 ounce water.

1 p.m. lamb cholent and London broil and kugels. More water.

3-5:30 p.m. nap

6 p.m. Pint of ice cream. Sip Gatorade.

7 p.m. Tub of hummus and crackers. Sip Gatorade.

8 p.m. Snickers ice cream bar. Sip water.

9 p.m. Canister of jalapeno Pringles. Gatorade empty; sip more water.

Somehow I was a half pound lighter than my normal weight on race day…

By David Roher