I had the same problem last year. There are a few things I think helped cause it. First and worst my Tri-jersey was too tight. I took it off and it certainly helps, also, make sure to loosten your swimsuit. I theorize it interfears with digestion. I also stopped drinking near as much for shorter distances. And Finally, if it gets to bad back off biking quite so hard, save a little for te run. Doing all of these helped me stop cramping. It may be just one cause, but I prefer to be careful. Good Luck!

bigd,

I did a half IM yesterday and had a similiar problem. I got a small side ache type pain on the swim (not too bad, it came and went), then it went away on the bike, and then came back bad on the run. The ache sub-sided about mile 8 or 9, after I concentrated on trying to take deep / controlled breaths, then it came back in the last mile. I stopped and walked for about 20 seconds at every aid station and drank a cup of gatorade and then water. It seemed to help. Also, I'm not sure it if was stomach cramps or a classis side ache. It might of been both, I'm not sure. It was very hot yesterday (97 degrees). I only ate half of an EAS bar, and had one GU gel on the bike. I didn't eat anything on the run, fearing it wouldn't stay down. I drank about 32oz of gatorade on the bike, and about 60oz of water. It was so hot that food and sugar did not taste good at all.

After the race, I felt fine, ate some fruit, had dinner later on. Today, my stomach kind of hurts and I've had a side ache or small cramps today.

I think my problem starts in the swim. I know that when I get a side ache during a workout, it seems to stick with me and I know it will come back even if it seems to go away. When I got the ache in the swim yesterday, I knew I would get it again on the run.

I hade the exact same problem in a race two weeks ago. My only guess is that I'm not breathing correctly in the swim since I seem to get the ache during the swim. Maybe I drank too much before the race, maybe I ate the wrong thing the night before, or the morning of. I had a half a bagel with some peanut butter on it about 3 hours before the race (same for both races). I used to never have this problem, but I also used to never eat before a race.

If anybody out there has good advice to help out me and bigd, please reply.

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- Steve
http://bailey.sts.winisp.net

I saw this in a previous thread:

http://www.ais.org.au/nutrition/FactCramp.htm

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- Steve
http://bailey.sts.winisp.net

Thanks guys,

I think I came to the conclusion it was my breathing on the bike. My HR was 195+ most of the bike, though that isn't all that high to my max, my breathing was quicker than normal. Sooo... my short repeat brickwork outs yesterday, I kept the breathing slower and deeper. Nothing happened each time I came out of my transition to the run. I didn't drink anything on the bike either, which was a first(though, I can't afford to do that in race)

If anyone still has any tips or advice, please respond.