Texas 71.3 Race Report - the race that almost was
Yes, I typed 71.3 (more on that later).
My training has been great and I felt better than ever coming into the race. My goal was to finish sub-5:00 for the first time at the HIM distance.
I’ll skip all the administrative bullshit about what I did or didn’t do in the days leading up to the race because, frankly, nobody cares. So I’ll start with breakfast because there might have been a quasi-nutrition issue later in the day so I know someone will ask what I ate: 1 Ensure, 1 banana, 1 Poptart, 1 Starbucks Doubleshot, 1 Gatorade, 1 Saltstick capsule. My typical pre-race breakfast.
Swim
Goal was 32:00 and my official time was 33:35. I did get thumped in the head really hard near the first buoy turn which knocked my goggles down around my chin. I couldn’t get them to seal properly after repeated attempts. I eventually had to swim over to a kayak and rectify the situation. I easily spent 90 seconds with the goggle problem. So as far as I’m concerned my swim was spot on to where I thought it would be.
T1
Fine except for fumbling around trying to get my arm coolers on wet arms and over a Garmin watch. And this was just getting them rolled up onto my wrists. I need to smooth that out somehow. Probably added a minute to my T1 time. Official T1 time of 3:53. I wanted 3:00, so once again I would’ve been spot on had I not messed around with the arm coolers.
Bike
After spending too much time rolling the arm coolers up my arms the first mile or two of the bike...
My latest FTP test had me at 301 watts which puts my 85% HIM pace at 255 watts. I decided to go conservative for the first race of the year (plus it was warm and windy) and rode an NP of 242 watts (so about 81%). They somehow screwed up the distance on the bike course so the bike course was actually 57 miles (hence the Texas 71.3). Not sure why they placed the turnaround .5 miles from where it had been every other year but they did. Tim O’Donnell said in jest that they must’ve really wanted Lance to win the race so they made the bike course longer.
Goal was 2:28 and my official time was 2:29:29. Take off the extra mile and I would’ve been about 2:27 flat. I felt great at the bike finish.
I like to take in about 260 cal/hour on the bike for the HIM. I had 500 cals of Infinit and a honey stinger waffle (160 cals) for a total of approximately 660 calories. I may have made an error in regard to electrolytes though. I didn’t take into account the fact the stinger waffles basically have no electrolytes. I think I shorted my electrolyte intake because my Infinit was only for about 1:45 worth of riding. More on that later.
T2
Goal was 3:00, official time was 3:06. I could go faster but I like to slather some BodyGlide on my feet because I’m prone to getting a blister or two running in wet shoes/socks for 13 miles. So 30-40 seconds of extra time as a pre-emptive strike on some discomfort later is fine by me.
Run
I came out of T2 feeling great. Saw that I was 3:10 into my race so all I had to do was run under 1:50 and I finish sub-5. My goal was to run a 1:45 (8:01/mile pace) so all was good… I thought.
My first seven mile splits were:
7:56 – feeling awesome
7:49 – feeling awesome but running a bit too fast so let’s get back to 8:00…
7:59 – feeling awesome
8:29 – what’s that cramp/tightening in the inside of my right quad muscle just above the knee (vastus medialis)
8:07 – problem seemingly goes away
8:11 – starting to bother me again
8:55 – uh, oh. We got a problem
From there it was a steady stream of 9:00’s and 10:00’s as I was running with a limp (if that makes sense) as my leg was killing me. Of course, my left leg started to bother me because I was certainly over compensating. The last loop was torture.
Official run time was 1:56:47 for a finish time of 5:06 – which is still my HIM PR – but about 10 minutes slower than I had hoped.
I had nutrition from a calorie and hydration standpoint pretty well nailed. No stomach issues at all. No sloshing at all. I took in four salt sticks on the run and drank cola or water. Perform tastes kind of shitty so I avoid it.
I went to the med tent after to have a doctor look at my leg and to get some ice on it. They drew some blood and said I was a little dehydrated but nothing too bad but my electrolytes were low.
I didn’t think much of it at the time until I started to read up on the cramping of that muscle and it seems electrolytes (or lack thereof) were the likely culprit. Then it dawned on me that I had an electrolyte shortage on the bike because I removed a scoop or two of Infinit for the honey stinger waffle. Then I only had four salt sticks spread out over the entire run.
I had a massage yesterday and I told the therapist about the cramping in that muscle and his first thoughts were electrolytes (he is also a nutritionist).
I have NOLA 70.3 in a little over two weeks and don’t want a repeat. Am I on the right track thinking it was an electrolyte issue?
I also need to figure out a better way to deal with the arm coolers. I tried them under the wetsuit a couple days earlier and it made putting on the wetsuit very difficult. Then what do you do with a sleeveless or non-wetsuit swim? Hmmm....
Comments
Here is what my Infinit mix looks like:
Servings Per Container (25)
Serving Size: 2 Scoops (67.01 g)
Calories: 251
Calories from Fat: 0
Saturated Fat: 0g - 0%
Sodium: 500mg - 20%
Potassium: 145mg - 4%
Total Carbohydrate: 62 - 20%
Dietary Fiber: 0g - 0%
Sugars: 12
Protein: 1.14 - 2%
Vitamin C: 0 - 0%
Vitamin E: 0 - 0%
Selenium: 0 - 0%
Calcium: 40 - 4%
Magnesium: 30 - 7%
I had basically 2 servings in there. So my electrolytes on the bike amounted to 1000mg (or would that be 1290 - adding sodium and potassium) for a 2 1/2 hours. Either way that seems too low.
Since your pacing the bike sounds perfect, I would definitely look at the electros, maybe switch up the salt sticks for a more comprehensive replacement like endurolytes? My understanding is cramping has a lot more to do with potassium/calcium rather than sodium.
How was the weather? Do you have any lingering IT band or other muscular/ tendon probs? ( I had cronic ITB going and was taped up but this may have contributed to the pain and cramping in my race.
I think typical guidance for sodium replacement is 1000mg per hour. I aim for 4 endurolytes per hour which is about 1000mg of sodium calcium potassium and magnesium, and this is in addition to the drink. Looks like, especially if it was hot/ humid >80d > 70% you were short changing. By the way your results were awesome! Nothing to be disappointed in there. Cant believe you cranked it out to a 5:06 suffering away like that.
Rian,
Salt Sticks actually have a lot more electrolytes than Endurolytes. A LOT. 5x the sodium and 2.5x the potassium. So my advice to you would be to ditch the endurolytes.
http://www.saltstick.com/products/s...titors.htm
It was warm and very humid. I agree on the 1000mg per hour. Looks like I was only doing about 500 per hour at best.
No injuries, leg problems, tightness or anything. I felt like a million bucks until about mile 4 of the run.
And if you are trying to shave off as many minutes as possible and have something like silly arm coolers (remember we didn't have these till like what a year or so ago anyway) then just forget using them and it looks like you will save your 6 minutes right there. Also at NOLA Ride a .83 to .85 like the big boy you are and that'll get you a few more minutes.
On T1....I wore my sun sleeves under my wetsuit on the swim for IMAZ..you may want to try that in NOLA as putting anything on wet skin is difficult, particularly sun sleeves.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Hey, first race of the year so I wanted to err on the side of caution. Also, just about all my bike training was at the old FTP pacing so I hadn't done a 2.5 hour ride at 250+ watts. I plan on getting a little more aggressive on the bike at NOLA. I might bump it up to .82!!!
Salt Sticks also have potassium, magnesium, calcium and D-3 in addition to the sodium. Endurolytes are like gummie bears in comparison.
Like I stated above, the arm coolers under the full wetsuit made it hard to pull the wetsuit over my arms. I'm also thinking about wearing a sleeveless at NOLA and wouldn't want the obvious drag the arm coolers would create. To be honest... I wear the arm coolers more for protection from the sun than for the cooling effect. I guess I'll have to use sunscreen in T1/T2.
BTW, I'm looking to see if anyone has ever swam with arm coolers (non-wetsuit). Someone on ST said it was fine. I may try that...would save some time and hassle if it works.
I had the same cramp happen to me in my left leg 2 times during the OS. Once when I bricked after a hard Saturday bike ride and then another time when I played soccer after a long/hard Saturday bike ride. I attributed it to one of 2 things. The first thing that came to mind was dehydration (now I'm thinking possibly electrolyte depletion based on the discussion here). The other issue I had was my left cycling shoe was too tight. On some of my rides a couple of my toes were actually going numb and thought it possibly had an effect further up the leg. Just my n=1.
first congratulate to you near sub-5, a goal i am after in 1-2years from now.
I am not a physiologist and I feel bad trying to help a vet like you but my N=1 experience is that gramps are for me rather an adaptation issue than a nutrition issue.
Maybe worth to look at that side as well ... http://www.joefrielsblog.com/2010/05/muscle-cramps-and-mythology.html ... good luck.
Kai
That stated, those two Friel articles are poorly written drivel.
Ditch the Garmin. --- Pick it up on the way out of T2 for the run I am sure you have a set up on your bike for your PM. You wont have to start it, hit the split button , stop it, look at it, pull your wetsuit over it , arm coolers etc. Get your swim split at the end of the day . There really is nothing you need from it until your on the run.
Ditch the Arm Coolers ---- specially if your only using for sun screen... Use Scape the stuff is magic.... Apply the night before and again in the am pre-race (both applications very thin) and then forget it. I have used scape in 3 hot IM's and was well protected. No need to apply in transition.
Ditch the glide in T2---- Dont skip it if your prone to blisters . Just apply it to the inside of your socks and shoes where needed pre-race. I do this on the inside socks for a half or full IM and for sprints and OLY just apply directly to shoe in trouble spots. If you set up your socks right it wont slow you down at all.
Your so close to 5hr every second counts. Good luck Tim,
I think the arm coolers might get ditched. If I wear a full wetsuit at NOLA I will just wear them under the wetsuit. Obviously won't if I wear a sleeveless.
I never thought about putting the glide on the socks themselves. I'll practice that a couple of times. Thanks for the tips.
Drag is 80-90% body position. Swim with an early vertical forearm and high elbows, and this 'drag effect' pretty minimal (the forearm isn't moving through the water, as it's anchored while the body moves past, so there can't be any drag). I wouldn't let that stop me from using them.
I guess I should clarify my drag comment a bit. I meant it as a loose fitting piece of clothing. Not that arm coolers are loose per se but not sure how they feel when full of water.