25 year old Ben Goodfellow, more commonly known as "Wilf", takes the title of Age group World Champion at the Ironman 70.3 in St George, Utah.
Born in Cumbria, Local athlete Ben has been a big part of our team since the beginning. Going from strength to strength over the last few years.
Firstly, we want to say a huge congratulations. Ben has worked tirelessly to achieve this and we're proud to play just a small part in that journey as his choice of fuel.
We caught up with Ben during his busy schedule to talk race recap, fueling strategy and top-picks. Find out more below.
"Ironman 70.3 M25-29 Age Group World Champion - What a day!
After 2 disappointing races recently where my fitness wasn't truly expressed. Super happy, proud & relieved to have finished a day that reflects the hard work that has been put in.
Thanks for much for everyone who has helped me along the way."
The race report
The Swim
"I started the swim in a deficit and quickly shifted my focus onto the bike where I knew I could make more ground."
The Bike
"I would definitely say #aeroiseverything applied to my bike split.
My power on the day was actually a fair bit lower when compared to other 70.3 races this year.
Could be from the elevation above sea level (800m) or just the travel & stress. It's very hard to say for sure.
But by forcing on being smooth, small, aero & efficient. I still managed a bike leg to be proud of & that took me from 47th to 4th."
The Run
"A 1:17:43 Half Marathon to close out the race & move from 3rd to 1st.
Off the bike I got my 1st time check of the race from Loren Ward "3rd place, 1:20 down on 1st"
Ok good position but 2 options... Work hard to close the gap now or settle in & hope a controlled effort would pay off in the long term.
For once I didn't listen to the chimp & picked the later. Within minutes I had been passed moving down to 4th but stuck to my plan & it paid off!
Towards the end of lap 1of 2 I got the news I was now leading!
Legs & Energy wise I felt strong to the end but was a battle with some bad stomach issues in the final 1/4. Honesty, I considered a pit stop to be safe, but so glad I didn't. In the end only there was only 22s to Rémi Conte in 2nd & 37s to Matthew Marquardt in 3rd.
What a close finish it was!"
"Off the back of disapproving runs at Ironman Wales (to say the least) & Outlaw X it certainly feels great to put out a split that was more reflective of the hard work me & Team NFT have been putting in. Learning from past mistakes & racing smart.
Was it perfect? No, Either from over carbs or caffeine my stomach in bit by the end. With so many elements, the perfect day in Triathlon is certainly rare.
Still an amazing day but convinced there's more to come!"
"1st in the M25-29 AG at the 70.3 WC still feels very mad. 409 qualified athletes & on that day, I came out on top. Crazy!"
Fuelling
In the morning: a nice big bowl of Porridge for breakfast.
Swim (1.2mi / 1.93km) - Gel 10 mins before the swim start.
Bike (56mi / 90.1km) - 3 x 500ml bottle on the bike with 80g carbs each using KMC ISO MIX. A caffeine gel towards the end of the ride.
Run (13.1mi / 21.1km) - Then 3 gels on the run.
For a 4 hour race this was definitely on the high side but since the two races leading into this I seemed to run out of energy. Decided to take the risk. Stomach was definitely uncomfortable but felt strong all the way to the line.
Ben's Top Picks
"My top 4 products are the PRO MIX Recovery Powder, Raspberry Energy Gel, The Superfood Bar (I always end up eating them as snacks before I need them) and the Citrus Caffeine Gel… "
How do you Fuel your training?
"My most used product is definitely the Chocolate Mint recovery mix. I put a spoon or two in my porridge which I have after every morning workout, then again mid-morning around 10:30am.
Most of my mid-week training is 90 mins or less so I use a lot of my bodies natural glycogen stores from meals to fuel some workouts.
The Longer weekend activities, which focus on race pace, is when I really practice race nutrition, such as gels and drink mixes. I aim for 60-90g of carbs per hour. So that works out as around 3 items (of ~30g) per hour.
For example, 1 ISO MIX and 2 Energy Gels."