Here’s the story of how I met Dave Scott, 6x Ironman winner and legend of the sport, and recruited him to help me build my fuel plan for my first 70.3.

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Welcome To Boulder

It was July 2021 and Chels and I had just settled into our 5 week Air BnB in Boulder leading up to Boulder 70.3.

Five days into our stay, we were on the phone with our realtor and our house Philly was going on the market. More on that another time.

Our first weekend was highlighted by 2 local bike shops merging into one and hosting non-stop events as part of their Grand Opening.

Saturday started with a group ride of the Bolder 70.3 bike course and followed with a rotating panel of guest speakers all afternoon.

My first ever group ride! I’m the 5th blue jersey from the left, black shorts

Dave Scott was speaking at 3:30.

Chels and I had been watching his swim videos on YouTube all week and marveled at the idea of hearing him speak IN PERSON AT THE LOCAL BIKE SHOP.

We were not in Philly anymore…

Fueling With A Bear Of Honey

Dave spoke on nutrition (among other things) and shared a story of a guy who ran into trouble fueling with too much honey.

Guess what I rode with as my only fuel on the group ride earlier that day?

A literal bear of honey! There are no coincidences…

My hand was the first one up when he opened the floor for questions.

I love the balance of nerves and confidence that comes with seizing an opportunity amongst a crowd.

Looking back, this was a pivotal moment in triathlon solidifying it’s place in my life.

I was interested, eager to learn, putting myself out there and receiving help from someone who blazed the trail before me.

I felt like I found my thing.

Do Your Own Research

I peppered him with questions and sprinkled in some background from my Carnivore vs. Plant Based diet challenge for context on my nutrition knowledge and protocol.

He answered my questions, but as is always the case with nutrition, answers lead to more questions.

We chatted 1 on 1 for a few minutes after his talk ended and he suggested I shoot him an email if I had another question.

Another question (singular) was not going to be enough. I saw on his website that he offered consults and shot my shot.

Next thing I knew, he was coaching me through Master’s swim and I had a consult on the books later that week.

Me and Dave Scott after the hardest swim of my life, at the time. I said I swam 1:30s… didn’t realize it was a meter pool! I was gassed, but I held on.

Dave Scott’s Fuel Tips

He has a 4 minute video explaining these. Here’s the summary:

Wait 20-30 minutes before you begin fueling on the bike
Consume smaller, more frequent doses of fuel (every 10-12 minutes)
When in doubt, less is better (and will help avoid GI distress on the run)
Mark bottles to monitor how much you’ve consumed (and avoid over consuming)
Water loss is natural, don’t replace calorie for calorie or fluid oz for fluid oz