This is one of the best reasons to love Ironman, burning all of those calories because we really burn the calories.
I often hear athletes talk about doing triathlon just so they can eat and I really believe it.
Let me give you a couple of examples of the calories that I burn in workouts:
1. 2.5 hour easy bike ride I will burn over 1000 calories.
2. 1 hour swim workout, over 600 calories.
3. 13 mile run, over 2000 calories.
Now of course these numbers vary based on difficulty of the course I am on, the temperature, etc but the key point is that the workouts really get your internal furnace cranking! But here is the key - the calories you burn during your workout are just a fraction of what you will burn the rest of the day.
Research has shown us that this is where you burn the most. Because of the workouts, your metabolism increases throughout the day and compared to a sedentary person, at rest you will burn many more. This leads to weight loss and a host of other important training effects.
So get after it and enjoy the burn, I know it will help every aspect of your life!