70.3 Mont Tremblant Race Report - Need some help!
70.3 Mont Termblant June 24, 2012
4:49:35 19th AG/134th OA
This was a beautiful place for a race, but probably one of the toughest 70.3 I have ever done. The bike course (from my Garmin) was a total of 3000ft of climbing. The majority of the climbing was done one the front half, and back half of the course, as the remainder of the course was rolling. What made the course tough was the % grade of the climbs. The first part I believed averaged 6%, while the last 20-25k averaged 12%. The run was similar in description, steep hills on the front half and back half, flat in the middle, which is on a cinder trail, total climbing of 600ft with an average gradient of 8-10%. I’m not absolutely sure on the temperature, but I am guessing it got up to about 80 during the run.
Morning Nutrition:
2AM: 2 Naked juices totaling 600 calories
4AM: Still feeling full from the 2AM calories, could only stomach a banana, not the banana and Stinger Waffle, I had planned. (180 calories).
5AM: Walked down to body marking, final transition preparations, sipping on Infinit, took in about 1/3 of the bottle (83 calories).
6:15AM: Walked to swim start, about a quarter of a mile away, sipping on water, was starting to feel hungry, probably would have been ok taking in that stinger waffle at 4, but had a GU, so took that at 6:30.
Swim:
3rd AG/41st OA 28:02
The lake was beautiful as were the rest of the surroundings at Mt. Tremblant. This is definitely the cleanest and clearest lake I have ever been in. The water temp was a little warmer than expected at 74 degrees, and all I had was my full sleeved wet suit since I had been anticipating cooler water temps. The swim was a beach start and was uneventful as expected, I stepped on the beach after the swim at 27:30, but with the mat being after the wet suit strippers, my time ended up being 28:02.
T1: 4:09
The run from the swim to T1 was the longest I have ever done, it was said to be around a quarter of a mile, hence the long transition time.
Bike: 19th AG/140th OA 2:36:10
FTP 276 Watts
AP 222 Watts
NP 229 Watts
IF .829
VI 1.03
TSS 178
AHR 150bpm
This was my first race using power, so I was both excited and nervous at the same time. I struggled to keep my HR down out of transition and through the first 10 or so miles on the bike due to the hills, but as some down hills came I got it under control. I then started to settle in focusing on sitting on my 224 number that coach Rich had helped me decide on before the race. A little background on my FTP. I had done a test, I believe week 17 of the HIM training, and bumped my FTP from 276 to 291. I had been training using that FTP the remainder of the time, but was becoming nervous because I had struggled on my last RR using this FTP. Coach Rich advised to go off the older FTP since I had more time in with it. I was very happy that he offered this advice on this course especially!! I basically have zero climbing during my training in the flat lands of Columbus, OH, so 3000 feet with average gradients of 6% for the first section, and 12% for the last 20k had me a little nervous and I had no idea what to expect time wise. I had a concentrated bottle of Infinit (3 servings totaling 780 calories, 1500mg of sodium) on my down tube, with a Speedfil A2 up top. I drank water for the first 20 minutes, then squirted 1/3 of my Infinit in every hour along with 20-24 oz of water at every aid station to mix the concentrate. I also took a salt tab every hour (255mg each). I actually ended up taking 4, because I felt a slight cramp approaching in my quad…more on that on the run unfortunately. I did not finish, but probably half of the last third of my Infinit, which was planned if I hit around 2:30 total bike time. Absolutely no stomach issues, I peed three times which made me a little nervous that I had too much fluid.
I felt very controlled the whole time on this extremely challenging bike course. I felt fresher than I ever have in my 10 years coming off the bike in a HIM, so needless to say, I was excited about the run, and knew that this was a day I could execute a great run!
T2: 1:10
Probably felt the best I ever have coming off the bike, thanks to using power for the first time. I was extremely happy with my bike split given the hilly and very steep terrain, and knew I did not burn too many matches on the ride. I was very confident going into the run that it was going to be a great day.
Run: 19th AG/134th OA 1:40:03 (7:35 avg.)
AHR 160 bpm
My goal on the run was to hold around 7:15 on the first three miles, and then hold 6:45-7 the rest of the way. I got to the first aid station, and felt the cramps coming on in the quads. I didn’t panic, I took a pack of Gatorlytes and poured it straight into the first cup of perform. It was super salty, but it seemed to stave of the cramps for the next three miles, as I just took perform and cola on the run along with my Infinit that I was carrying in two bottles on my fuel belt. I was right on pace the first three miles, and felt great knowing I could kick it up a notch. I started to hold right around 7’s with walking at the aid stations after the first 3 miles, and felt this was my comfort zone as I kept my HR in check. Then at the 10K mark first my hamstring (which is something I never have cramp), then my quad cramped severely complete stopping me in my tracks, and I was bent over for two minutes trying to work them out. I thought my race was over. I said to myself, work them out, and try to get moving. I downed a good amount of Infinit to get some sodium to the muscles ASAP, and was able to move again, thankfully. The rest of the run was spend holding around 7:45’s trying to stave off cramps and taking in perform and cola at every aid station. I even added Gatorlytes to one of my fuel belt bottles with water to squirt in the perform. RPE the last half felt as good as the first half, but I was unable to push because of the cramping. Of course I was hurting a little more the second half as normal in a HIM. Just an FYI, I had to pee basically the entire time on the run, and after the race my pee was a little darker than lemonade.
The hills were brutal up and down the first 3-4 miles and last 3-4 miles of the run. Steep, which I am sure did not help the cramping. I am just super frustrated with the cramping situation. I don’t know what else to do, I felt like I supplemented with enough electrolytes, but my cramping still debilitated my race.
Below is a rough estimate of nutrition during the race:
Bike:
-Took in a best estimate total of 620 calories of Infinit concentrate (17 oz) on the bike which had 1300mg of sodium.
-Took in 75 ounces of water with my concentrate.
-Took in 4 salt tabs (255mg a piece).
Bike totals:
-620 calories
-2320mg sodium
-92 ounces of fluid
Run:
-Had two 8oz fuel belt bottles of Infinit concentrate for a total of 220 calories, 450mg of sodium. Also had 2 Gatorlyte packets 780mg of sodium per.
-Had perform and cola at every aid station.
-Best estimate of sodium intake on the run was 2650mg.
Total sodium during the race was 4970mg.
I am open to absolutely any suggestions here, as this cramping has happened too many times. Am I taking on too much fluid, since I peed three times on the bike?? Not enough sodium?? Did I do something else wrong? Please help!
Comments
As someone doing IMMT it was great to hear your description of the course (or maybe not ! ) . I will be on the course this coming weekend to check out all these hills! I am very concerned w/the run....but at least the lake and scenery seemed awesome.
Congrats on a solid day of execution!
Well first of all, despite the cramps I'd still consider that a great race overall for a course as tough as Tremblant is sounding to be.
As for your specific question about cramping, I can not really offer any advice although I am very interested if anyone else can. I never cramp in training, even during long IM-duration bikes and bricks, but seem to cramp in almost every single HIM I do. This always begs me to ask the question, what do I do differently in racing than I do in training?
The most obvious thing I can ever identify is drinking, I simply drink way more water during a race because far more water is available. I do take in calories / electrolytes as well, but I think my balance has been too far off, too much water, not enough everything else. However, I'm not sure if that is the case for you, you seemed to take in pretty considerable amounts of electrolytes, but needs vary from person to person so that may still be a contributing factor.
I'd also consider the fact that you train in predominately flat Ohio, maybe simply not being accustomed to the amount of hills on both the bike and the run contributed in some way to the crampoing.
Either way, this course is sounding like it is going to be a real ball buster for the full! Oh boy, here we go...
@Matt thanks for the link, definitely gives me some great options, just what I was searching for. Maybe we should keep in touch and kick ideas back and forth on what seems to be working.
@Tim great race man, you killed it! Thanks for the advice, I need to get this thing under control for sure! I may need to give the Perform a go next race, I just think I am taking in too much water.
@Pete and Trevor - thanks for the advice, I obviously need all the help I can get, just super frustrating!!
Bryan, first of all, you had a great race, on a serious course, with challenging temps. Bask in it, despite your sense of disappointment.
Cramps: I have painfully learned there is not just one answer. It might be too much, or too little of any of the following: calories, electrolyte, fluid. And (though not in your case) it might be going anaerobic on the hills on the bike. In any event, it happens, and pinpointing the answer is frusttrating.
I would note you may have been taking too many calories on the run. If you took 4 oz of coke and 4 oz of perform @ each aid station, plus the 220 cal in the Fuel belt, that might have added up to more than 600 cal in 100 minutes - way too much for your GI system to absorb at the effort level @ which you were running.
My suggestion: drop the fuel belt, and alternate water/coke/perform @ aid stations, diluting the coke and perform if needed for more fluid. The run is about keeping fluid levels up, and putting in just enough carbs to keep you going, maybe 150-200 cal/hour, tops. The bike, the early part of the bike, is the time to get the calories in.
Question for anyone......I was talking with another triathlete this morning about my issues, and she mentioned I may want to switch to solids to fuel. Does that make sense?? Does fueling with fluids only affect my cramping?