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My very bad, not good, IM Cozumel RR
Coach P's message this afternoon about needing info on this race to help with my season roadmap reminded me that I needed to work on it, especially given the issues I had. Since I needed a break from other work, I'll use this as work avoidance...
Background - poor preparation, see my race plan. Volume definitely suffered due to work schedule, and indoor training left me less than prepared for the elements.
Pre-race - arrived in CUN about 1300 Thursday, shuttled and ferried to CZM, arriving just in time to walk and check-in prior to closure at 1800. Picked up bike on Friday from TBT, attended briefing, swam a little outside of resort (didn't do the formal pre-race swim) to get a feel for the current and chop. Spent Saturday mostly horizontal, except when taking bike to T1 and bag to T2.
Race day:
Awoke 0430. Oatmeal and sport drink, getting in about 600 kcal prior to heading to T1. Loaded bike and took shuttle to swim start. Continued drinking and took in about 200 kcal prior to swim start (shot blocks with caffeine).
Swim - 59:49 - 90/187 AG - holy current, Batman! Swim is TT start, very little contact through swim. Many times swimming by myself. Expected watch to read about 1:08 (which would have been much faster than goal) coming out, but this time flattened me! The fact that sub-hour speed is just enough for mid-pack says something. However, mid-pack is what I'd expected, so overall I'm not surprised.
https://www.strava.com/activities/1292332425
T1 - 6:24 with plan of 6:00 - nothing much to report here. Run to bike was a little longer than I'd expected, and the backtracking required (not a "fair" transition) probably added about 10" to the time overall. Only thing worth noting is that I had difficulty getting into my shoes after crossing the mount line and had to stop before getting to the highway to get my feet in.
Bike - 6:37:28 (aspiration 6:00:00) - 141/187 AG - position fitness was probably what killed me here. Crossed 14 aid stations, taking about 1/2-2/3 bottle of Gatorade (not GE) from each one. Also added in about 1/4 bottle average of water from each, using the rest to bathe myself. Of specific note, I finally was able to pee on the bike! However, I did still stop three times to stretch out my back (using the sugar shack at two of those three stops). BSN was a CF, taking about 2' to find my bag, and since that was just after one of my stops, this added some mid-ride time. Another note, seeing Kienle pass me on the bike reminded me just how fast the pros are compared to us mortals...
https://www.strava.com/activities/1292332486
(before back tightened)
(after back tightened)
T2 - 5:48 - took it very easy. Sat in the change tent to rub my feet prior to putting on socks, as they were hurting fairly significantly at that point. No blisters or anything, but they were burning. I blame the heat, but perhaps should consider "lubricating" my cycling shoes next time I do a hot race.
Run - 7:11:21 (aspiration 6:00:00) - 185/187 AG - where the wheels came off... As I came out of T2, my back completely tightened up. I could barely walk without searing pain, much less run. At that time, I took my emergency naproxen along with a half-bottle of Nuun (which I had from my T2 bag). After about 2 km, I was able to run most of the time, but I was starting to notice that my stomach was progressively more upset. Looking back, I was getting more edematous as well. Took Gatorade at each AS (every 1 km) along with solids (pretzels about every 4th AS, peanuts at 5k [which is more important below]) as I could tolerate. Used water primarily to pour over my head and keep cool. At about 12 miles (19 km), the nausea was sufficient to keep me from running, and knowing I would finish with just walking, I started just walking. At about 37 km, my stomach couldn't take anymore, and I found out just how much the human stomach can hold (including those peanuts from 5k). Kept walking through the finish, but looked like death at the end. Volunteer in recovery noted that my bracelet was digging into my wrist, which was the first time I figured out that I was over sodium'd. Re-emptied my stomach on the walk back to the hotel, and was barely able to eat/drink for the next day.
https://www.strava.com/activities/1292332437
(early on in run)
(death march across finish)
Lessons - I took much too casual of an approach to nutrition for this race, and I likely paid for it in multiple ways. This is the second time I've had problems with plain Gatorade rather than GE, so I need to be more attentive to sodium, including separating hydration from calories and sodium (where have we heard that before?), which I didn't do this time. Writing out a nutrition plan for the bike and pinning it on my stem might be a good idea. Obviously not being well trained for the race (at least where I'd like to have been) made things worse as well.
Thanks, all, for all of your support. Now, it's off to the JOS to keep this from happening again, but at least I finished!
Background - poor preparation, see my race plan. Volume definitely suffered due to work schedule, and indoor training left me less than prepared for the elements.
Pre-race - arrived in CUN about 1300 Thursday, shuttled and ferried to CZM, arriving just in time to walk and check-in prior to closure at 1800. Picked up bike on Friday from TBT, attended briefing, swam a little outside of resort (didn't do the formal pre-race swim) to get a feel for the current and chop. Spent Saturday mostly horizontal, except when taking bike to T1 and bag to T2.
Race day:
Awoke 0430. Oatmeal and sport drink, getting in about 600 kcal prior to heading to T1. Loaded bike and took shuttle to swim start. Continued drinking and took in about 200 kcal prior to swim start (shot blocks with caffeine).
Swim - 59:49 - 90/187 AG - holy current, Batman! Swim is TT start, very little contact through swim. Many times swimming by myself. Expected watch to read about 1:08 (which would have been much faster than goal) coming out, but this time flattened me! The fact that sub-hour speed is just enough for mid-pack says something. However, mid-pack is what I'd expected, so overall I'm not surprised.
https://www.strava.com/activities/1292332425
T1 - 6:24 with plan of 6:00 - nothing much to report here. Run to bike was a little longer than I'd expected, and the backtracking required (not a "fair" transition) probably added about 10" to the time overall. Only thing worth noting is that I had difficulty getting into my shoes after crossing the mount line and had to stop before getting to the highway to get my feet in.
Bike - 6:37:28 (aspiration 6:00:00) - 141/187 AG - position fitness was probably what killed me here. Crossed 14 aid stations, taking about 1/2-2/3 bottle of Gatorade (not GE) from each one. Also added in about 1/4 bottle average of water from each, using the rest to bathe myself. Of specific note, I finally was able to pee on the bike! However, I did still stop three times to stretch out my back (using the sugar shack at two of those three stops). BSN was a CF, taking about 2' to find my bag, and since that was just after one of my stops, this added some mid-ride time. Another note, seeing Kienle pass me on the bike reminded me just how fast the pros are compared to us mortals...
https://www.strava.com/activities/1292332486
(before back tightened)
(after back tightened)
T2 - 5:48 - took it very easy. Sat in the change tent to rub my feet prior to putting on socks, as they were hurting fairly significantly at that point. No blisters or anything, but they were burning. I blame the heat, but perhaps should consider "lubricating" my cycling shoes next time I do a hot race.
Run - 7:11:21 (aspiration 6:00:00) - 185/187 AG - where the wheels came off... As I came out of T2, my back completely tightened up. I could barely walk without searing pain, much less run. At that time, I took my emergency naproxen along with a half-bottle of Nuun (which I had from my T2 bag). After about 2 km, I was able to run most of the time, but I was starting to notice that my stomach was progressively more upset. Looking back, I was getting more edematous as well. Took Gatorade at each AS (every 1 km) along with solids (pretzels about every 4th AS, peanuts at 5k [which is more important below]) as I could tolerate. Used water primarily to pour over my head and keep cool. At about 12 miles (19 km), the nausea was sufficient to keep me from running, and knowing I would finish with just walking, I started just walking. At about 37 km, my stomach couldn't take anymore, and I found out just how much the human stomach can hold (including those peanuts from 5k). Kept walking through the finish, but looked like death at the end. Volunteer in recovery noted that my bracelet was digging into my wrist, which was the first time I figured out that I was over sodium'd. Re-emptied my stomach on the walk back to the hotel, and was barely able to eat/drink for the next day.
https://www.strava.com/activities/1292332437
(early on in run)
(death march across finish)
Lessons - I took much too casual of an approach to nutrition for this race, and I likely paid for it in multiple ways. This is the second time I've had problems with plain Gatorade rather than GE, so I need to be more attentive to sodium, including separating hydration from calories and sodium (where have we heard that before?), which I didn't do this time. Writing out a nutrition plan for the bike and pinning it on my stem might be a good idea. Obviously not being well trained for the race (at least where I'd like to have been) made things worse as well.
Thanks, all, for all of your support. Now, it's off to the JOS to keep this from happening again, but at least I finished!
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Comments
You finished with grit, pat yourself for that one.
As I read your report I could see how your day was starting to unravel with the back pain on the bike. You say it was lack of fitness. I'll leave that up to Coach P to analyze. What concerns me is that you took a powerful NSAID, Naproxen to deal withe the back pain. Its quite likely that was a contributor to your stomach feeling upset.
Your edema looks to me like you had a form of Hyponatremia that was brought on by the Naproxen. You say you were over salted. I wonder about that. The NSAID interferes with a feedback mechanism to the kidneys and urine dilution. It can decrease blood flow to the kidneys and it suppresses Prostaglandins which are important for keeping a lubrication in the gut lining. All of this can impair your ability to absorb fluid and carbs. It would have been helpful to know your serum sodium levels.
Yes, you need to create a fueling plan and practice it over and over in training. It won't include peanuts because they have too much fat to be absorbed efficiently. There are many products on the market that can work for you. Not everyone can tolerate Gatorade. Stick with it!!
You finished and that's a victory in itself. Amazing what our bodies can go through if our minds are strong. I had a similar situation at IMAZ so I can relate to the pain of crossing that finish line.
As you said, it's time to take a look back and figure out what went wrong and improve for next season.
Congratulations.
We will see you in the JOS forums.
Re your burning foot on the bike - that is probably due to your feet swelling and the shoes not big enough. The cleats might also be too far forward of the fall...a few mm back could make the difference.
Best of luck on getting the sub 14 hr IM in 2018 ... definitely within your sights with focus!