Syracuse 70.3, my nutrition, hydration, execution. run cramp fest
From the title, please give input on what I did wrong. I'll out line from start to finish.
Goal: finish, look good doing it. great day 6:20, most likely 6:30-6:40
Day before: 2200 calories, Perogies @5:30pm, 24oz of Roctane before bed. No heavy foods, drank 60 oz during the day, no training, just chilled.
Race day, up at 1:50 urinal break, drank 4-5 oz Roctane, couple of spoonfuls of greek yogurt.Back to bed. 3:18am- two peanutbutter rollups, powerbar, 24 oz of Roctane, only 1 cup of coffee. Off to the course. Drank another 24 oz of Roctane. Roctane gel at 6am, another at 6:40. Swim start 7:10
Swim :59 min, 9 minutes faster than Open swin week prior on almost the same course (they shifted it do to slight wind). I felt calm despite excitement level, newsleeveless wetsuit was working out well, felt like I was a little faster (sleeveless verses full). No problems
Bike, executed as planned. major work first 11-12 miles, and I stayed in the seat. Not in the sero bars all the way, but steady and deliberate. I had rehearsed where I could ease on the pedals to biring heartrate down. I did my best to not blow it in this section. I felt ready to go after the long climb, in fact the steep climb at mile 21 went much better this time.
On the bike I carried 40oz of rocktane, and 21 oz of water. Didn't drink much roctane until end of climbing the first 11 miles, ater 1/2 of a powerbar, decided I wasn't hungry. Mile 15 I ditched water, and loaded more water in speedfil. rest of bike I kept heart rate between 132 and 144. I felt really good, and smooth. BIke was aero,and I just cruised downhills, passing a ton of people. Figured I was banking effort for the run. Last bike stop, slammed a gu. I loaded maybe 10-12 oz of perform, rest water. I drank about a third of the diluted solution. Biked spilt 3:20, eight minute faster than rehearsal. Felt like I could have yanked another 15-20 minutes if I was a ricky racer. Drank a total of 91-93 oz Temps 71 or so starting out, 78 when I finished.
Into the run slammed another roctane gel, two lava rock (salt) tabs and headed out. By the time I hit first run station (.5 mile), left quad started cramping hard. walked the station, water/ice/coke, massaged my leg, ressumed running at 9:45-10 pace, easy downhill to mile two, and I get some relief. Mile two potty break break, clear pee, felt better about hydration. 2nd aid station water/ice/coke/ice sponges (love those things). Started hills going to mile three, left hamstring starts barking. reduced to a walk, I walked up to top of a steep corner, ressumed running, but easing into it at a slower pace. Mile 3, qaud locks up. I stop and massage, walk to turnaround and run station water/ice/coke. Temp up to 81. Run the down hill at 10:15 pace, bottom of the hill quads start up again, I wall to aid station water/ice/coke/orange slices/ice sponges. Slamed a GU @ mile 5. Run the flat up to hill back into the park, and hit aid station mile 6 , water/ice/coke, run to second loop, stop at shower for 30 seconds, felt wonderful.
2nd loop out, I made it to aid station again, water/ice/coke/orange slices. walked quarter mile, ran the down hill. My slow pace was lslower than earlier pace as when I picked it up, both hamstrings would tighten up. Most of the second loop was the same (intake), except I hooked up with another runner having similiar issues and we decided to walk the hills,and take the downhills,and flats at a pace where nothing ached. Great conversation,and the last 5 miles just went by. I had gas in the tank, but could not get the muscles to loosen up. Calves that I worried so much about twinged a few times, but never became a problem. I am confused that by the end of the run, I really did not want any food or drink at all. Wasn't that thirsty for 30 minutes after finishing. I problem solved as much as I could, but I am glad to resolve to just enjoy the ride, and not do any further damage.
I obviously need to straigthen out what went wrong, and any help would be beyond appreciated.
Comments
Thanks Steve, I forgot to mention, no GI upset at all, bike or run. I also forgot to mention I took one salt tab 2 hrs in on the bike
Lava Salts:
Lava Sports Lava Salts Supplement
Replenish valuable electrolytes, help your body maintain hydration status and metabolize energy faster with Lava Salts!It really sounds like you shorted yourself on Electrolytes. I dont know the total levels you took in from the roctane et al on the bike, but my guess is with the one tab in the bike you were still well short of the usual perscribed 1000mg per hour. But intake of electolytes is highly dependant on sodium levels in your diet. If you have a high sodium diet then you'll need more than other people. So I'd experiment with taking more tabs each hour. I use hammer endurolytes and pop 3-4 capsules an hour on top of everything else = 600-800mg . I have definitely notice cramping if I forget, or dont take them because I thought it was cooler.
My calculation show ~ 2500mg Na for the day on what I'm guessing was a 6 Hr event (~400-450mg/hr). May need more next time around. Also may find this thread helpful http://members.endurancenation.us/Training/TrainingForums/tabid/101/aft/9043/Default.aspx
Hi coach. I will detail a little further, maybe this helps. The bike leg went not only as I planned it out, but a little better. Having trained on the actual bike course, I was calm, knew all my cues, changes, etc. Since the work onthe course is mostly loaded in the early miles, I made sure not to blow it there. Smooth, steady. I run out of gear with 39/28 but still kept heart rate no higher than 166 peak on the climb, and hovered around 160-161 on the work part of the hill. I used all the relief spots that the hill offers,and would drop down to 148 to 151. Rest of the course I would go between 132 and 144, and I felt great, wanted to go much faster, but I trusted my numbers. Cadence after the hill work, 86-93 typical. coasted the downhills,and used all the free speed I could get. No cramping on the bike. calves twinged briefly going up the early hills,and I eased right off, never a thought after that.
The side benefit of halving calf/IT trouble the weeks prior was I was well rested. The bike felt really good, and I know I left time out on the course to bank on the run.
First step was not the problem into the run. it was roughy 600-700 yards into it. Up to that moment, I was happy that I did not feel like I had lead filled legs going from bike to run. In fact , my worry was to be sure to stick to my target pace the first three miles. I acually thought, I might start going too fast for the plan I laid out. The best way to describe it, was if I crossed an invisible fence and got zapped.
I had no indications of any trouble during race rehearsal,and it was reaching mid-high eighties on the run. I ran those very same hills during rehearsal.
Thanks!
I went back and I come up 2430mg Na from morning until crossing finish line. Goal was 6:30.
Reading through the Wiki, am I correct in understaning I should have been looking at a range from 3250mg to 6500mg?
Coaches: I have read were slight bike fit changes have caused or corrected weird or even big problems, so I won't rule it out, and will look into a fit session to verify what I have or improve it. I assume improve as I drop more weight, I should be able to drop front profile an inch or two. I do feel that I have drank the EN koolaid,and followed the bike plan. Any impressions or insights as to where I go or how I solve this?
THanks
Mike
The 500-1000mg per hour would be taken during the race and would not include what you ate prior to the race. You were way short on electrolytes. That can be a highly individualistic thing though.
You can't discount what kind of havoc your first 70.3 wreaks on your body. You just never know how your body is going to react the first time you string together a SBR for that duration. Race rehearsals often don't completely prepare you for race day. There is no simulation for race day but race day itself. You now have a baseline to make adjustments.
1. Dehydration has been known to cause cramping.
2 Electrolyte imbalances have been known to cause cramping.
3. Using the muscles beyond its trained range( intensity) can cause cramping.
Any of those 3 things could be the culprit or it could be a combination. Look at fluid intake vs sweat rate to get a feel for your needs on race day and look at Na intake as well as factors on the bike. As Bob said RR are all fine and well but they do not put your body through what it goes through on race day. Thus problems will arise that do not occur during training or RR.
Also not sure if you are in the Clydesdale category but I find that as a bigger triathlete I need more fluid than the average Joe. Bigger guys body temps temps rise faster
and we are often out there longer.
BTW congrats on finishing your first HIM.
Thankas everyone for the feedback. Sure helps to have it.
THis would be my second HIM (thanks for the congrats Dewey!) For all practical purposes the first one was in 1994. I did that one in 6:05. Hard bike course, very hot run. I weighed 152-155 back then. Knowing what I know now, and looking back, I got away with a lot of stuff without penalty. Did it purely on fitness, youth, and being relatively light. I was wasted for a long time after completing it. Problably why I had the doubts of doing it 18 years later. It took me several months back then to return to my running splits, it took a lot out of me.
Last Sunday -I weighed 185. Today, I am tired, but not feeling bad. No gimping, getting itchy to do some work.
THanks again for giving me opinions and input that I can draw from and apply to the problem.
Mike