If you’ve ever raced a half or full Ironman, you’ve probably needed to pee during your race, probably even before the swim.
While all organized races will have toilets before the swim and on the bike and run courses, it’s much easier to just do it while you swim, bike, or run.
It’s pretty gross though, especially if you don’t rinse yourself off or if it gets on other athletes around you.
And in some races, it can get you disqualified, so check the rules.
The official Ironman rules state, “Indecent exposure/public nudity is prohibited at all times during an Event,” and state that this will result in disqualification.
This means that you can’t just go on the side of the road, unless it’s a designated toilet.
It can be a difficult skill to master, especially when your legs are moving. I have to coast on my bike before I can make it happen, so that requires a bit of a downhill.
Then, I’ll rinse myself and my bike off with water.
On the run, it’s trickier and grosser. At least on the bike most of it flies away.
In my last two races, I just used the toilets on the run. It cost me some time, but was the right thing to do.
Ideally, you won’t over-drink, and won’t need to pee.
But I’d rather have to pee than be dehydrated.
I interviewed Mark Allen and Triathlon Taren, and they both talked about peeing on the bike – these were pretty funny discussions.
There’s an article on this topic on Active.com here, where they seem to agree that peeing on the bike is sort of normal.
I even have written about it as a hack, as seen here:
