RR#2 for IMCdA - Fluid intake questions
RR#2 for IMCdA done yesterday. I had planned not to run, since I'm stil babying my knee. Therefore I planned to do 112 miles with 4800 feet of climbing, a very similar course profile to CdA. ETA was about 6:30 - 6:50. Actual ride time 7:09. This was by far the hardest bike ride I've ever done (including rides almost twice as long) due to several factors - cold rainy weather, extremely bad sleep for 3 nights prior (unplanned) and a poor course choice on my part (the roads were in far worse condition than the last time I rode this course 3 years ago). Lots of logging going on in this area, the ride used to go through forests, now it's through clearcuts and the big trucks have just chewed up the roads. Some places I could only go 13 - 15 mph just due to pavement quality. Avg. speed for ride was 15.9. Ugh!
My big focus was on hills and pacing, and on nutrition/fluids, The hills part went well. I focused on keeping even pressure on pedals. The first climb is a 5-mile, 1000 foot hill that I go over frequently, so I've got lots of benchmark data on it. It felt like I was climbing reaalllly slowly - very relaxed. I was pleasantly surprised at the top to find I was only 3:45 slower than my usual climb for this hill. So by taking it easy, I didn't give up too much time. I thought about how if I roasted my legs on the hills at IMCdA, I could easily give up 3:45 every mile or two on the run. So this was great data to have in my pocket. The worst climb was coming back over this hill at the end. The back side is only 2.5 miles so it's much steeper. I did not manage to keep HR down as low on that one, dipping into Z2 and an occasional low Z3. First three 1000 ft. climbs were Z1 - low Z2.
I think nutrition went fairly well. I did my usual pre-race breakfast of banana rice custard (eggs, rice, bananas, coconut milk). One Bonk Breaker bar an hour before I started, plus sipping on Infinit.
On the bike, I filled my 40 oz. Speedfil on the frame with a 6 hour mixture of Infinit. I have a Torhans 30 on the bars that I filled with water. I brought 2 Bonk Breaker bars and 2 gels. In retrospect, I needed about 2 more gels, preferrably with caffeine. As it is, when I stopped to refill water, I bought a Dr. Pepper and drank half of it (10 oz) for the caffeine. Some of that might've been lack of sleep, but I think it would be good to plan to have some on hand.
Total intake: 40 oz of 6-hour Infinit mix + 45 oz. water. 10 oz. Dr. Pepper. 2 bars, 2 gels. Stomach felt fine. I didn't do a run afterwards, but last time with RR#1 I used same nutrition (minus Dr. Pepper) and had no problems running for an hour.
My biggest question is about fluid intake. I peed like a racehorse (sorry if TMI) 6 times during the ride. Granted, it was a cold and rainy day, plus I don't sweat much at all. So my problem is this: how do I take in enough fluid to keep the osmality of my nutrition in the right range without drowning myself in fluids?? Obviously whatever I take in, I'm not going to sweat much of it out, which leaves me to pee a lot. At IMFL, I had 6 porta-potty stops, which added 9+ minutes to my bike split. Obviously not optimal. Not sure if I should reduce fluid intake, specifically water, since I have this much extra fluid in me? Or is the water necessary for digestion and I just have to deal with it?
Comments
Rest up that knee for sure...
"Total intake: 40 oz of 6-hour Infinit mix + 45 oz. water. 10 oz. Dr. Pepper"
Am I reading this right, you were on the bike for 7:09 and only had 95oz of fluid and you think this is to much...That's 13.5oz/hour roughly...That doesn't seem like enough, but i'm suprised you peed so much. I'm at at 30-40 ounces an hour for my longish ride...Did you by any chance weigh your self before and after?
That's definitely a good point, it doesn't sound like much. But I don't really sweat much at all, so the only place that water is going to go is out - if I drink 95 oz, I probably pee 85 oz. When I got back, I weighed .3 pounds more than when I left. So I know I wasn't dehydrated. Then again it was not warm at all. In warm water, I'm sure I would sweat some, but experience with warmer races has taught me I don't sweat that much, regardless of weather.
I would think your body would have enough fluid to digest assuming you are chasing your calories down with the water you do drink.
I would also be prepared to increase your fluid if the weather heats up on you...
Peed x 6 and only drank a pretty small amount? Unusual but that's a lot of peeing! Does this occur on all your rides???
No, because I usually don't drink this much! On rides under 2 hours, I will eat a gel or two and drink to thirst. I generally don't go through more than 1 water bottle at most. On longer rides, I will drink a bit more and take some Infinit, but I rarely go through the two bottles (one water, one Infinit) I take with me, unless it's very very hot. I do probably pee every 2 hours though.
LOL Sarah, thanks for sharing that. "Better to pee than have an IV" may have to be my new motto for the bike course
I love carrying caffeinated gels -- I use them as nutritional "treats" before the less-than-fun sections of bike courses.
That's a great idea about the caffeinated gels as treats. I'll have to think about where I want to strategically eat them!