"Natural Breaks"
I have earned a nick name some years ago from a friend that called me "tiny tank" suffice it to say1-2 x on the bike doesnt work, in IMAZ last year, i calculated that i probalby lost a half hour to 7 stops at porta johns on the bike and perhaps 5-8 on the bike.
at IMLoo last week, i had no problem going on the bike, though probably went 7-10 times.problem is the run. I had a conversation with Coach R about this at IMAZ last year and he had told me that bike, run, whatever, he could essentially take care of business no problem.
So there i was in mile 4 of the Marathon in IMLoo last week and Coach R would be proud of me as i can apparently now take care of business on the run. The only problem was that i seemed like i needed to do this every mile. at some point, only after a couple of miles i got tired of getting heavily waterlogged shoes every mile or so and started to use the porta johns, this of course, probalby ate up to 16 minutes on the course...
so my question is to people that do have to go often... what do you do? how do you deal with the issue?
Comments
To your actual question, I don't go nearly as much, but I do take care of it on the go and multiple times in each portion of the race. The things that help me are:
- No socks all day
- Bike shoes that drain water well
- Run shoes that drain water well (and don't absorb water) - serriously this makes a huge difference and is why Zoot, Kswiss, Netwon and other tri specific shoes are designed for this.
- I also typically try to spray myself with some water if possible to rinse the area and down my leg/shoe
However, while running I can pee on the go, which I do at aid stations where I can simultaneously pour a bit of water down my legs/front as Matt was saying. Generally there is not a lot of volume if I do it frequently enough.
I'm realizing that I may have a background mindgame going on sometimes where I don't want to drink more b/c I don't want to have to deal with peeing -and feeling the pressure, esp on bike. This obviously creates issues in a race as long as IM and even HIM. I guess the moral is to learn to pee on the bike, though I still think it's easier for guys b/c of the increased ability to "aim" and not totally soak their shorts. Maybe I'm missing something..
I finally think I am at a point where I can say that I can now go on the bike. Took me years of, uh, practice? Really was the result of a couple of races in the pouring rain where it just seemed silly to stop. Still not easy to do but now not impossible. In terms of the run I have no clue how that could be done. If at all I only stopped to Pee once while running at LP. Did not take me more than 30 seconds, jumped in the porta john and was all set.
I agree with Matt's comment that you might be way over hydrated if you have to Pee that many times on the marathon. How long were you out there?
I can pee while swimming and running, but not on the bike. Luckily, I sweat a lot (and probably under drink) so I only hit the porta potty once I am finished the bike. I also use Immodium so there is no need for a porta potty on the run at all. Saves time! :-)
---Ann.
@Matt - over-hydrating may be the answer, particularly on the run. no it hadn't happened in training, but i also think i got some small doses of heat stroke for not hydrating enough in some of training rides, certainly did on at least one hour brick after a 6 hr ride on a very hot day. i have zoot shoes, they did drain out within a few minutes, maybe less than i thought, and no sock
still interested in hearing more people chime in on what they do, as for obvious reasons, i think a lot of people haven't discussed this topic
On the run, I can do it really easily. It's more that I can't stop myself. As soon as I dump water over my head, it just flows. My Zoots help a LOT to keep from having heavy shoes. They make a world of difference when running in rain, too.
For a long time I too was beset with the frequent need to pee during IM. For me, the solution was upping my sodium intake. This killed two birds with one (salty) stone: cramps were a thing of the past and my need to pee dropped dramatically: 2x on the bike compared to 8-10x. Much better!
Hey Guys!
@lauren - i switched shoes about a month before IMLoo and frankly the new ones sucked for me, both were Zoots. Fortunately, i am a VIP member at roadrunner sports and they have a 90 day happiness guarantee, so i am returning them!
after reading the responses in this thread, i am planning on just going on the run for now on, taking more salt on the run ( i only took perform), i think this would have saved me another 8-10 minutes at IMLoo... now the rest will come from work!
Jenn, I don't have any input your strategy but I know I'd like to get video of you stuffing a sponge into your shorts and then retrieving it shortly aftwards
.
To back up Scott: if you're going on the bike, you're drinking your ass off = clear pee and you can get a ton of water at every aid station to rinse yourself off afterwards. And if you're smart, you don't wear socks on the bike and your shoes are vented so the water in your shoes dries very quickly.
Then on the run, let's face it: you're doing good with most races if you can just maintain a constant hydration state and become less dehydrated. Most of us, or a least me, become a little more and more dehydrated as the run goes so there's not much peeing going on, for most of.
But I use the peeing-while-running as a sign that I'm doing as good a job as I can of keeping up with the fluids, that I'm relaxed, and to give myself something to giggle about out there