Kinetic Half Postmortem: Dissection Needed Please!
I had a major fail yesterday at the Kinetic Half. I’m going to throw everything at you and then give you my thoughts as to what went wrong – and then I’d love your ideas.
Race Week Schedule:
Saturday: 2.5 hour bike, 3 mile run. It was way hotter than predicted and I got a late start, so by the time I was finished I was a bit dehydrated. That afternoon I was so exhausted I wanted to cry.
Sunday: 6 a.m. flight to San Diego. Arrived in CA in the afternoon, rented a Cervelo with a friend and rode an easy 2 hours on the Pacific Coast Highway. 7 hours of sleep.
Monday: Full day of meetings, 10:30 p.m. red eye flight back to East Coast. Got about 2-3 solid hours of sleep on the plane.
Tuesday: Got home around noon, ran 5 miles, took a 2 hour nap. 7-8 hours of sleep.
Wednesday: Woke up extremely tired and around lunch I felt so fatigued I was almost shaking. Couldn’t fall asleep for a nap though. 6 p.m. flight to Birmingham. 7-8 hours of sleep.
Thursday: 6 hours of sleep.
Friday: 6 a.m. flight back to East Coast. Got home, threw race stuff in the car, drove to race site, checked into hotel, etc. 7 hours of sleep.
Bike adjustment: Replaced worn cleats on shoes and adjusted the cleat angle to move my toes inward a little. I’ve been feeling slightly splayed on the bike and noticing a calf tweak on hard efforts – turning the toes inward felt like it gave me a little more flexibility in the float and put my feet in a more neutral position. Also, after replacing my Adamo with a VFlow Max, the front of my kneecap has been sore after long rides so I bumped my seat up about half a centimeter.
Pre-race nutrition: About 350 calories (oatmeal & walnuts) 2 hours before race. Banana and half a PowerBar about 45 minutes before race. Sipped water in the hour before the race. I’ve done this nutrition routine a million times. The only difference is that I usually have a half a cup or so of coffee but didn’t today.
Swim: Went off fine, nothing remarkable to report.
Bike: Nutrition on the bike was 500 calories of Hammer Gel, 20 oz of water, 20 oz of regular strength Infinit, a pack of Sport Beans. I didn’t plan to eat all of the Gel and the Sports Beans were there as a mental pick-me-up just in case.
I started the bike feeling like I shouldn’t have had the PowerBar because I was a little full. But in training I usually ride right after a 400-500 calorie breakfast and don’t start with nutrition until an hour into the bike anyway. Nutrition for the first hour was water alternated with Infinit.
After about ten minutes I felt like my inner thighs were fatigued and I was slightly uncomfortable on the saddle. The course is two loops. The temperature was pretty cool – not hot, not cold. It was very windy but not to the extent that I was bothered by it.
About halfway to three-quarters of the way through the first lap my inner thighs started to really feel fatigued and I began to realize that they were cramping. It came in waves and if I shifted forward or back on the saddle the cramping would immediately disappear for awhile. Harder efforts seemed to bring on some mild cramping.
I finished the first loop with a decent pace and was right on track with where I thought I should be. In the last half of the first loop I really upped my water consumption knowing there was a bottle exchange coming up. I also took 100 cal of Gel toward the end of the loop.
A quarter of the way though the second loop I knew I was done for. The cramping was constant and shifting around ceased to bring relief. It was my inner thighs, lower abs, and lower back. The aero position was torture – sitting upright brought about 50% relief from the cramps. Easy spinning was tolerable but hard efforts were torturous. I really started sucking down the Infinit and did another shot of Gel. At this point I’m looking at my odometer reading 35 miles and thinking that I would rather die than suffer through 20 more miles of this….
…but suffer I did. Oh, it was awful! The bike had turned in the Machine of Death! Every now and then the cramps would ease up for a minute or two but they’d come back worse than ever and there were moments when I literally could not pedal. Stopping to coast and stretch was worse than just pedaling through the pain because restarting pedaling after a stretch was so completely painful. I started to wonder if this is what labor feels like and then I thought of my coworker’s favorite crap reality show, “I Didn’t Know I Was Pregnant”. It was the one moment of levity when I busted into a smile imagining giving birth in the middle of the transition area…
Coming into T2 I was pretty sure that I would not run. By now my head was completely out of the game, I didn’t see the point of continuing giving that I was no longer racing, and I thought perhaps this was the universe’s way of saving me from running on a not-completely-healthy ankle (which had been giving me a lot of anxiety leading up to this race). Still, I thought maybe I should stick it out. I got my answer in T2 when I tested out a few steps running – hell no! I couldn’t even walk at this point. There was no choice to make – I was done. In fact, I was walking so stiffly that the EMTs came running. After walking around for a bit and doing the butterfly stretch to my inner thighs I felt ten times better. Today my inner thighs are pretty sore.
So to recap the bike nutrition over the three hours:
300 calories of Gel
30-40 oz of water
15 oz of Infinit
So what happened? Aside from GI stuff (which this definitely was NOT), I’ve NEVER cramped before. Never.
My thoughts:
Chronic dehydration: All of the travel and meeting and hot weather workouts meant I wasn’t drinking on my usual schedule. I inadvertently dug myself into a hole in the week or so leading up to the race. I never felt hot or sweaty on the bike but when I finished the bike I was covered in salt.
Sleep deprivation: Could this have contributed to it? The night of sleep before the race felt like one of the best nights of sleep I’d gotten in two weeks.
New saddle: I’ve got about 200-300 miles on the VFlow Max and haven’t had much discomfort. Per the instructions, the saddle is very far forward in order to get you into the “sweet spot” but the cockpit feels pretty rock solid. I don’t think this was a contributing factor but I’m open to your thoughts. Even if I’m in a new position with the new saddle, wouldn’t problems have manifested earlier
Adjustments to the bike: Yes, risky considering I didn’t have a chance to test them out. But I made sure to keep every adjustment on the tiny scale and frankly, I’m a frequent tweaker. I do it often enough that (I think) I have a sense of which adjustment brings which relief. I’ve never had a disastrous result like this race after a minor change.
Your turn: What do you think?
Thanks guys!
- Suzanne
Comments
Nothing glaringly wrong jumps out at me. Here are some rambling thoughts: If I cramp in a race I respond with hydration and salt tablets. Just because you can eat before a ride in training doesn't mean that will necesssarily be OK before a race. Sometimes the body just responds differently in competition - butterflies, stress??? It's good to have a nutrition plan and stick to it, especially on the bike. 200 calories an hour even if you feel full and one bottle of water, etc. This is what race rehearsals are for. In a HIM I will take water for the first 30 minutes on the bike then settle into my nutrition plan.
It does seem like your calorie intake was a little low on the bike but probably not by a lot.
How many calories of Infinit did you take in the first hour? How much water? Did you take any electrolyte tablets?
How long were you in the water?
I always have caffiene before a race.
I don't think skipping half a cup would have caused a problem.
I think you've answered your own question - all of the above.
The most important, IMO, is the bike fit. 5 mm - 1/4" may not seem like much, but, for me at least, it can mean the difference between comfort and cramps. I routinely alter the seat height depending in the thickness of the chamois I'm wearing; I've got 2 thick ones and three thin ones. If I inadvertantly go riding with the seat at the wrong height, I know within 5 minutes by either cramps in my inner thighs, or soreness in my upper hamstring. I always carry an allen wrench in my Bento Box, even in races, so I can adjust immediately if I feel the need. Also, altering the cleats may have been an issue as well. Sounds like you need an in-depth bike fit.
Sleep deprivation. Studies show sleep the night before an athletic event is unimportant; it's the sleep the several nights before that which are critical. And flying all over creation at all hours of the day and night probably didn't help, either.
Finally, I don't think this was a nutrition or hydration issue. I think bike fit and disrupted biorythmns are the critical factors in your cramping and subjective poor performance.
Suzuki, I'm sorry you had a rough day... but in the grand scheme of things, I wouldn't call today a fail, I would call it a great RR learning experience for IMLP.
I would defer to Al and Nemo... but the things that jump out at me are the new saddle, your shifting position of it and the cleats... the issues you describe don't strike me as nutrition related (you have mentioned the infinit sitting badly, but your thighs were problematice, not the gut)... and your last few months have been nuts with traveling for work and personal stress - so the sleep, etc could definitely be factors.
Keep your chin up and your head in the game. Not a fail at all, but a learning experience... and I give you credit for finishing the ride and trying the run knowing you weren't having an on day - that's a sign of your mental toughness which is half the battle in endurance events.
Love ya, chickie! Hope we can catch up soon... before your IM prep gets to be too much...
Oh man, that's rough! I would start with re-reading your report. Let's see, travel, no sleep, dehydration--that right there probably locked up a non-PR day at the very least. As for the rest--it's the tweaking and the repositioning. I am sure that's what did you in with your inner thighs and subsequent cramping. Those "minor" adjustments--if they're not right--flare up big and bad on a 50+ mile ride. I am so sorry that had to happen to you right on race day.
I too would have added some S-caps to my day. Those are extremely effective in keeping cramping and tummy issues at bay.
Hang in there, kiddo. You've got the goods, and you know how to rock 'n roll. This was a day to learn from and write off.
The big thing that stands out to me is the change in bike position before the race. The cleat angle and seat height change likely contributed to your inner quad cramping the most---especially the cleat angle change---it will change how your knee, leg tracks during the pedal cycle.
The next thing is your exhausting schedule pre-race. Not enough sleep at all.
Lastly, 55-65 oz of fluid over 3 hours (so 20ish oz per hour) is not enough. Also, how much sodium per hour for the ride?
Sorry to hear about your bad day. I think the fit and the changes may have been an issue but all that Travel and sleep problems on top of that were probably the thing that mentally took you out.
I think you may be also discounting the wind. I raced to day and it wasnt nearly as windy as yesterday and I know I got blown around some and I'm a 183lbs currently.
But think about what you learned.....Get more sleep, Try to lessen your travel the week before a "big" race and keep the last minute adjustments to a min.
Are you running power? or HR? if so do you notice anything glaring like a higher then normal resting HR?
Recover and bounce back!!
I'm guessing lack of sodium. These spring races where we've been training in relatively cool temps and then racing in warm and windy and dry can be tough. It is a real struggle to stay hydrated.
That bike course is deceptively hard. I've never managed to get the time I've wanted on it. The heavy, irregular pavement and constant little rollers will tax you. Yesterday the wind was a factor especially as the day went on and with the sun and dry air it is easy to get dehydrated because you're not really feeling like you're sweating. Not typical muggy Va. And that swim was not easy with the wind and chop. I came out of the water about 3 gallons heavier.
It was nice meeting you there. Great to see another ENer in the flesh. Nice job toughing it out as you did.
cm
Oh, Suzanne, what a not fun day at the races.
I had a race rehearsal with the cramping thighs -- the only time that has ever happened to me. Bike position wasn't the issue there (because I was fairly dialed in by that point), but dehyration was. That is the race rehearsal where I learned to carry around the bags of drugs - S-caps, chewable pepto bismol tablets, and the often controversial ibuprofen, with a policy of shutting down gi/pain/dehydration super-quickly.
1. Maybe the pink Adamo wants you back? ;-)
2. How did you bike feel? Was it uncomfortable in other ways? Maybe good to set a point of no return day for bike tweaking? (Except I'm totally going to start carrying around the saddle allen wrench, like Al does.)
With this not being an A race - and with my ankle niggles - I was really focused on surviving the run. The bike was a non-issue for me, which was why I was willing to tweak as normal as if it were just a regular training ride.
Kit, how many oz per hour am I aiming for? I thought 20 oz was ok... I don't know about sodium - this has never really been an issue for me but I know I need to start factoring it in to the longer distance training. I didn't have any E-caps on the bike but I knew they would have them on the run course so I planned to load up then - obviously not anticipating the bike as an issue.
Of the two tweaks I made, I'm thinking the cleat position might be the culprit. I've ridden at this saddle height before, I've just been perfecting it since putting on the Cobb. It doesn't make sense that all of a sudden this would cause such a problem when it was fine 150 miles ago. I've been working with Todd at TTBike Fit all spring and need to go back to him now that I've switched out and ridden some new components per his recommendation (including the new saddle), so I'll film myself from the front and ask him if my knee alignment is buggered.
Beth, clearly this is the pink Adamo's revenge for ditching her. I'm picturing my 2nd bedroom like Toy Story, except all of my bike gear animates and walks around when I'm away. I bet the pink Adamo rules the roost, intimidating all the other components. She is truly evil and must be stopped!
¦200-250cal/hr, and we highly recommend liquid.
¦500-1000mg sodium per hour.
¦1.5-2 bottles (36-48 oz) of fluid per hour.
There's a download called Nutrition Guidance for IM and HIM on that page: http://endurancenation.us.dnnmax.com/Resources/Wiki/tabid/108/Default.aspx?topic=Race+Execution+(Ironman)
My favorite sodium tablets are S!caps because each caplet contains alot (331mg) of sodium. Endurolytes have 40mg of sodium per tablet. I just don't like taking a ton of pills while on the bike.
Suzanne,
A lot has already been said, but I'll just add that most of my worst training and/or racing performances have been after travel weeks like what you just described. It is impossible to appreciate how much that takes out of your body. Especially if any of those travel days had long, late dinners with a few glasses of beer or wine.
Cramps are just the body's way of protecting you from doing actual damage. In this case, I'd guess that you just didn't have a race-level effort in you due to accumulated fatigue, and when you tried to go at a race-level effort, your body said "nope, I don't think so, not today".
Get some sleep, and get ready to come back hard at LP. Oh, and try to clear up your travel schedule for late July, huh?
Mike
I would bet it was the messing with the bike fit that was your biggest problem. I have always done poorly when trying to make my own adjustments to things like cleats "by feel". All of the above was also likely a contributor as well. However, I will note that in reading about your week leading up to the race I was thinking that you got a ton of sleep. As for travel, it certainly wears you out even when you are "used to it". No idea why but it just does and crossing time zones seems to amplify the effect.
Figure out the bike fit issues and then totally forget about this race.