IM Lanzarote: Intestine 1, legs 0
It was my third race in Lanzarote, IM distance race number roughly 16 (can't be bother to count). Preparation went well, although I had mild diarrhoea the week before, nothing important, negligible (maybe not so with hindsight). I felt relaxed and ready. I had a good swim. Very early on on the bike I could feel that my small intestine was shutting down and getting ischemic. I had this once more than a decade ago in IM Zurich, toughed it up and finished, but it took me ages to recover and I was close to need surgery. So I could not eat much, then nothing at all. The only solution in this case is to ease off. I did slow down, lowering power and HR, spending the day being passed on the bike (a new experience for me :(. The bike course in Lanza is relentless and although I tried to ease off, it's not easy to do. There is only so much fuel in the tank, and my intestine progressively got from uncomfortable to painful. I tried to eat on a long, flat, tailwind section at km 120-130, trying different food; I could chew but could not force myself to swallow. I was nauseous, feeling light headed (not great with strong wind!). Eventually the choice was between a) tough it up for a very slow marathon and take risks with my health and with my next two races (June and July), or b) accept the reality and not even start the marathon. After several hours pondering on the bike I, for once (maybe the first time ever!) took the sensible option to called it a day in T2. My wife grabbed my bike as a volunteer, and then asked to quit her job for a while to help me. She was extremely supportive, doing her best to make me go, probably thinking that I was going to regret my decision afterwards. But I had hours on the bike to think about it, and she had only minutes. I lay down in the medical tent for an hour and did not feel that much better. I still could not eat, barely sip a bit of water. That's when I finally decided to hand in my chip that I kept with me, refusing to let it go (for information, I did not receive medical assistance and could still resume racing). It took me another hour laying down to feel a bit better. No way I would have recover rapidly walking/running in the sun. Maybe I could have walk/jog the marathon and spend maybe 5-6h doing it (I had enough time to do it), but at what cost, and for what gain? To shed a bit more light on the risks, here is a link to a report from a famous case of the same issue by Chris Leigh. I new about it and it was in my mind during the race.
http://www.ironman.com/triathlon-news/articles/2003/06/a-question-of-triumph-over-adversity.aspx#axzz3azqjAgZF .
I feel much better now and will probably recover very rapidly. Watching the awards and video yesterday night, of course I had some doubts whether I took the right decision. My rational side says 'yes, 100%', my emotional side says 'well, maybe, you know, ...'.
Was my GI problem the week before the source of the ischaemia? Maybe, but I will never know for sure and I don't remember last time if the same had happened. However I figured out something on the course Saturday: I don't have to prove anything to anybody, including myself. Am I getting old? ;)
I hope that, maybe, this experience will help somebody. For me, it's time to think about my next race!
Francois-Xavier Li @FrancoisLi
"We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." George Bernard Shaw
http://www.swimrunfrance.fr
http://www.worldofswimrun.com
It was my third race in Lanzarote, IM distance race number roughly 16 (can't be bother to count). Preparation went well, although I had mild diarrhoea the week before, nothing important, negligible (maybe not so with hindsight). I felt relaxed and ready. I had a good swim. Very early on on the bike I could feel that my small intestine was shutting down and getting ischemic. I had this once more than a decade ago in IM Zurich, toughed it up and finished, but it took me ages to recover and I was close to need surgery. So I could not eat much, then nothing at all. The only solution in this case is to ease off. I did slow down, lowering power and HR, spending the day being passed on the bike (a new experience for me :(. The bike course in Lanza is relentless and although I tried to ease off, it's not easy to do. There is only so much fuel in the tank, and my intestine progressively got from uncomfortable to painful. I tried to eat on a long, flat, tailwind section at km 120-130, trying different food; I could chew but could not force myself to swallow. I was nauseous, feeling light headed (not great with strong wind!). Eventually the choice was between a) tough it up for a very slow marathon and take risks with my health and with my next two races (June and July), or b) accept the reality and not even start the marathon. After several hours pondering on the bike I, for once (maybe the first time ever!) took the sensible option to called it a day in T2. My wife grabbed my bike as a volunteer, and then asked to quit her job for a while to help me. She was extremely supportive, doing her best to make me go, probably thinking that I was going to regret my decision afterwards. But I had hours on the bike to think about it, and she had only minutes. I lay down in the medical tent for an hour and did not feel that much better. I still could not eat, barely sip a bit of water. That's when I finally decided to hand in my chip that I kept with me, refusing to let it go (for information, I did not receive medical assistance and could still resume racing). It took me another hour laying down to feel a bit better. No way I would have recover rapidly walking/running in the sun. Maybe I could have walk/jog the marathon and spend maybe 5-6h doing it (I had enough time to do it), but at what cost, and for what gain? To shed a bit more light on the risks, here is a link to a report from a famous case of the same issue by Chris Leigh. I new about it and it was in my mind during the race.
http://www.ironman.com/triathlon-news/articles/2003/06/a-question-of-triumph-over-adversity.aspx#axzz3azqjAgZF .
I feel much better now and will probably recover very rapidly. Watching the awards and video yesterday night, of course I had some doubts whether I took the right decision. My rational side says 'yes, 100%', my emotional side says 'well, maybe, you know, ...'.
Was my GI problem the week before the source of the ischaemia? Maybe, but I will never know for sure and I don't remember last time if the same had happened. However I figured out something on the course Saturday: I don't have to prove anything to anybody, including myself. Am I getting old? ;)
I hope that, maybe, this experience will help somebody. For me, it's time to think about my next race!
Francois-Xavier Li @FrancoisLi
"We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." George Bernard Shaw
http://www.swimrunfrance.fr
http://www.worldofswimrun.com