IM Louisville - Race Report - DNF
All,
Wanted to follow on to @Jonathan Brown 's race report with a short one of my own. I'm really interested in thoughts from the team on what happened... I'm trying to figure it out myself. I'm also interested in @Coach Patrick s thoughts. Read on for a brief rundown of what occured. I DNF'd at Louisville yesterday too. First race I've DNF'd. Did the same race for the last two years with decent results and no major issues. I trained pretty solid this year and felt ready for the race. I had a plan and executed it... until I got "punched in the mouth".
The swim really was crazy... not much more to say about that. My 15 min slam down the river for a mile in the insane current went ok... not much else to say.
I executed my bike according to plan. It was going TERRIFIC until about mile 80 or 85. I followed the same power, and nutrition I've used over and over in training. I executed according to standard EN protocols like I have many times before... nothing new... nothing different... felt very good (just very cold). I kept my power exactly at the planned (and tested) level (about 215 watts with heart rate in mid to upper 140s) through roughly mile 80-85 and then it happened... power and heart rate dropped fairly quickly... was having trouble even holding 160-170 watts and heart rate dropped to very low 120's... just felt terrible. Here are a few other things I noticed during the bike.... I peed over and over and over and over... liquids were going straight through me... NEVER had that one happen before... normally I pee 1-2 times and thats it. I probably peed 8-10 times or more on the bike (sorry to share this but I think it could have been relevant to what happened). At one point I started feeling nauseous and slowed up a little on the food (which was different than training). Then... fairly suddenly... I went from feeling pretty good to very bad. Did I just bonk??? I was soaked and very cold the whole ride... was that a factor? I'd love to hear any thoughts from the group... I want to understand what happened and learn from it. I was able to bring the bike in to finish the ride with a time of 5:45 (limped in for last 20 miles) which was actually pretty good for yesterdays conditions (21 in my 45-49 age group)... but I knew I was toast and didn't go out on the run. I don't think it was a case of over cooking on the bike... I followed the same protocol used over and over in training. Here is a quick summary of what happened...
0) Weather was terrible... rain and cold whole time. Bike computer says 45 degrees F. Rained the whole time... I was drenched and VERY cold.
1) Biked approx 80-85 miles following standard EN protocol and power with very solid results
2) Peed way way more than I ever have before.... 8-10 times or more on bike (normally 1-2 times)... very unusual
3) Nutrition as planned and tested until I started feeling a little sick (guessing at mile 60-70) then slowed up on food and drink a little. Never felt sick before this race. This was unusual.
4) At about mile 80 heart rate and power both dropped sharply and wouldn't come back up... and I felt terrible.
5) I finished the bike with a time of 5 hours 45 minutes which was still pretty decent in the conditions but I was cooked and didn't go out on the run. I knew for the last 20 miles of the bike that I wasn't going to run... just tried to limp the bike home to T2.
I'd love to hear anyone's thoughts on what happened and whether you have had an experience like this before. Was the weather and cold a major factor that affected my bodily functions, peeing, and nutrition???
Comments
Tough day for sure @Robert Patrick. Given the conditions on the day and your execution, the only thing that stands out to me is over hydration or hyponatremia. This could have caused the downward spiral throughout the day. Recover well and don't be hard on yourself. This a process that evolves over time!
Two thoughts, based on my own experiences. First is to second what @Jeff Kane says above. I've found during training (I live in the Pac NW, and have often trained into Oct and Nov for IM AZ) that when it is cooler than usual, I need FAR less fluid than normal, otherwise I start peeing every 30-45 minutes. So my thought is, if you keep forcing fluids in and your body knows it doesn't need them to stay hydrated, that can disrupt the body's it starts trying to deal with it. Depending on what's in the fluids you're taking in, you may lose too much water or salt, or dilute it all in your body. Hard to know the specifics with a lot of monitoring of intake/output/urinary and blood electrolytes, which of course you are not going to get while out there on your bike.
Second observation is my own experience with a cold race - Lake Tahoe - when it was 34F at the start of the bike, I worked too hard early on without knowing it, unconsciously trying to warm up I think. That led to me just sitting down at an aid station at mile 11 on the run, not wanting to go any farther. Again, the machinations the body is going through trying to stay warm, even if your watts are OK, might end up excessively depleting non-obvious sources of energy, like certain hormones, and brain functions.
@Robert Patrick it wasn’t an easy race by any stretch. Conditions were terrible: starting with a very dirty water in the swim, followed by rain, and cold temperatures all day. The DNF rate for this race was through the roof.
You probably saw many people during the bike at the police tents and on the side of the road shivering and completely hypothermic. Unless you were dressed for this weather it was ver hard to avoid disaster. You didn’t mentioned in your report what kind of clothing you had available so I don’t know if you can blame it on this. Once you drop below a certain temperature, there is no turning back.
@Robert Patrick I would update your info with your nutrition plan and what you wore on the bike. The WSM may be help more with more info.
I was very layered up clothing wise and only drank fluids ( 20 oz less than planned) an had to pee 3 times vs 2, my usual IM potty stops. I was cold, but basically able to finish after a VERY long t2 time to do a wardrobe change and get warm.
So sorry you had the issues on the bike, but as everyone who raced Sunday knows, that was a shit show of weather and the best laid plans for many had to be reworked during the race. Glad you made it to T2 safe and sound, recover hard and maybe see you next year at IMKY?
A lot smarter people up there gave you responses already. The one thing that sticks out in my mind of your report is how cold you were. That is both a statement and a question. If you were borderline hypothermic, it's likely your system was acting differently in addition to what Trish added in. I also think about this and wonder if I'd be peeing on the bike if it was so cold.
Sorry to hear it went this way for you, I love this race. looking forward to answers if you ever figure it out.
The urge to pee is pretty straightforward. When our bodies start to become hypothermic (cold wet and wind from the bike) , we experience something called cold-induced diuresis. Our bodies move redirect blood flow to our core to preserve essential functions (were your hands and feet freezing?). For some reason that I don't fully understand, this increases arterial pressure has a diuretic effect and causes us to pee a lot. A similar effect happens while swimming (immersion diuresis)... the water is cooler than our body temperature and there is a diuretic effect.
The way you were feeling sounds (to me) exactly how I feel when my electrolytes are out of whack. When salt is low, the fluids we are drinking are not absorbed and we start getting that nasty, bloated stomach feeling, getting nauseous, etc.
I would guess that because you were urinating so frequently, that you were literally pissing away your electrolytes before they could help you absorb your nutrition. The drop in HR and drop in power are classic bonk signs. Even though you were eating and drinking on plan, you were super cold and the actions your body was taking to try to protect you from the cold started a chain reaction that caused you to bonk.
@Coach Patrick introduced me to Gatorlytes a few years ago and I carry them on bike / in run belt. Whenever I get in a situation where my stomach feels yuk or I can't stop peeing, I dump a Gatorlyte in something to drink and, more often than not, it improves the situation.
Be easy on yourself. I'm really sorry that this happened to you. It was the perfect storm. The super long wait before the swim, a swim too short to warm you up much, temps in the 40s, rain and a 20+mph wind from the bike speeds all lead to a situation you (and most other people) had never experienced. Maybe consider rolling your training into another event later this year so that you have something positive to look back on and keep yourself fired up during the outseason!
All (@Rich Stanbaugh @scott dinhofer @Trish Marshall @Jorge Duque @Al Truscott @Jeff Kane ) thanks SO much for the thorough input. I really do appreciate each of you taking the time to comment. I learned a few things for sure. I am adding a bit of information below regarding my nutrition and clothing on the bike (as requested in the posts above)....
Nutrition: I was taking in about 1 bottle of Gatorade Endurance each 45 min. I was eating every 30 minutes...alternating 1/3 cliff bar with cliff shot gel packets.
Clothing: I did add some layers. Wore EN tri suit on the bottom... added light sweat shirt and EN Bike jersey on top. Had arm warmers, knee warmers, gloves, no socks, did wear toe warmers over shoes... all sounds nice but it was completely saturated with water... drenched. Nothing was water proof (mistake). So, it may have helped with the wind but I was still frozen and soaked.
I couldn't feel my feet very well... they were numb. I couldn't feel my hands very well either... they were hard to open and close... so much so I kept dropping nutrition at the aid stations... usually took 2-3 tries for me to hold something. This seems to match up with what @Rich Stanbaugh describes above... body directing blood to core.
Thanks again to everyone for the great input... really shows the value of this team. Any additional feedback is welcomed. Congrats to those who finished.... very very tough race.
Tough day all around, Robert.
Better to DNF and survive to fight another day than damage yourself further.
@Robert Patrick - wind chill measures the combined effect of the temperature and the cooling effect of the wind on your body. It isn't a real temperature, eg a 30º wind chill won't freeze water, but it represents how quickly your body would lose heat if it was 30º with no wind.
The chart below shows what your body was feeling and trying to overcome from the temperature and the riding speed... so when your bike computer was saying 45º and you were riding 20mph, your body was losing heat as if it was 25º with no wind. The fact that you were soaking wet would cause you to feel even colder.
@Robert Patrick " I really do appreciate each of you taking the time to comment."
^^THAT^^ is the hugest undefineable value of EN... it's not just having a coach, it's having experienced smart people (some wicked smart!) helping you out!
@Robert Patrick nothing to add to the above thoughtful comments on what may have gone wrong etc.... while it may not lesson your immediate DNF pain , rest assured you are not alone.... I have 5 DNF's , 3 IM's, 1 HM, and my very first DNF was an OLY in high 40's with rain just like you, I made it to 17 miles on the bike and called it a day, then waited for my better tougher smarter half Heather to finish the race while I uncontrollably shivered in a heated tent.
Great Stuff @Rich Stanbaugh always learning here!
@Robert Patrick Cold diuresis. Great explanation by @Rich Stanbaugh Despite it all you had a great bike.
I was at the snowing Lake Tahoe race that @Al Truscott was at. All we could do was bundle up and keep moving. The difference was we weren't soaked with rain. That would have been my deal breaker. You did great!