First thing to do is to journal your whole day.. what you ate/drank when.. liquids, solids, sodium. etc.

The more detail you remember the better..

It might give some insight into what is going on.

Day before the race.
Morning of the race.
Before swim.
T1
On the bike
T2
On the run

Any allergies food sensitivities?

Some folks can eat or drink anything others are sensitive to lots of things.

The bloating is a tell-tale sign of nutrition trouble. Hyponatremia could also be occurring. In both the bloating and too much water (hyponatremia), the answer is to race like you train, and at less than blazing speed that us 50-54 AG'ers exhibit, that means fewer calories.

You may spend most of the race obsessing about your hunger, but that's better than crawling through with discomfort from nausea and bloating.

Congratulations on 25 lbs of weight loss while training-that's no small feat!

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DFL > DNF > DNS

The most comfortable long runs I've had, whether an IM run or an ultra, are when I'm a teeny bit hungry. Like I could eat but I don't need to. If I feel a little bit of hunger I know my stomach is processing food and I can eat a little. If I feel full, I stop cramming in calories.

I think people get so wrapped up in following a strict nutrition plan they forget the body has it's own ideas. If you keep eating when your stomach feels crappy and full you are making things worse.

When my stomach starts to bother me I sip water only, not chug it. And only if it is hot. Usually I'm well hydrated and not drinking for a bit won't kill me. No food. I wait until my stomach empties before I put anything more into it. I find Coke is a huge help for this.

I also know there is a difference between nausea and bloating. If I'm feeling like I have a sour stomach I'll take in solid food like pretzels. It seems to soak up the acids.

If I'm bloated, nothing down the gullet.

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Jen

"In order to keep a true perspective on one's importance, everyone should have a dog that worships him and a cat that will ignore him." - Dereke Bruce

Thanks everyone, for the suggestions. I took in less than 200 cal an hour on the bike and about 125 an hour on the run-still too much? One salt tab per hour. I kept the same nutriton the same as when I trained even down to the small payday bar at special needs. It seems like the races HIM and longer, I have issues. Maybe bike pacing, overall fitness. I don't know. Very frustrating.

the boys always say if your run sucked, look to your bike. I'm not sure how much of that I want to believe because it is hard in training to accept you'll have to go slower in racetime (especially IM). I guess I'll find out in November. High HR says to me overextended so I'd say your bike was too hard. High HR plus sloshy stomach says to me nutrition not getting in. I've only been at this for a couple years so my experience is very limited but I'm your ageish (52) and know recovery just gets worse and worse.

So I'm thinking 3 things; overcooked the bike, nutrition didn't work, recovery from swim and bike at our age. I take 2-3 electrolyte tablets/hour on hot days (31C+) as humidity of 70%+ is a given. I'm not sure 1 salt tab would work for me.

Also, I have thought I'd dialed in nutrition in training only to find (in my only IM so far) that I had to throw it out the window. I'm now finding even in training I can't find a good nutrition. So, just wanted to throw out there that unless you're doing a full IM in training, you can't really dial in your nutrition. I think you have to be prepared to wing it. You have a lot more experience than I do, but this is what worked for me at IMCoz last year.

Before 1 cliff bar and a bottle of 2 scoops espresso Perpeteum
after swim grabbed some Very Cold (i wanted to go back and KISS that volunteer and Still remember the glory of that gel thing) gel like thing unlike any gel I've ever seen.
On bike started with 2 scoops Perpeteum and water with 2-3 electrolyte tablets/hour (early am when still cool only 2, afternoon when sun came out 3) and water. By 2nd loop stomach was Very Very Unhappy. Tried oncourse powerbar and about vomited. Switched to pure oncourse gatorade and water. Continued electrolytes.
Run - those fizzy tablets that are electrolytes (Gu, Nuun, something like that) about one an hour in water and whatever my stomach said yes to on course. Sometimes water, gatorade or Coke. No solids at all the entire day. Also had 3 GUs on run. I ran/walked (planned) much of loop 1, walked much of loop 2 and ran most of loop 3, but that is how I train - I always try to negative split every sport.

I hope something here resonates for you.

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http://harvestmoon6.blogspot.com
https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/katasmit

Thanks Kathy,
So you train with no solids on the bike as well even in training? I keep thinking that may be the way to go race day since I seem to overdo on the bike. But this past weekend, I felt great coming off that bike and was really psyched that the first part of the run went so well. Maybe I should have started with Galloway 3/2 instead of 4/1 to keep the HR down.
I really want to attempt IMF next year but I have got to figure out this piece before I can feel good about signing up. Costs too much to keep doing the same wrong thing.
Thanks!

well, yeah, I used to. :) I am going to start experimenting with savory next ride - eggs, rice, soy sauce, sugar. We'll see.

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http://harvestmoon6.blogspot.com
https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/katasmit

I fall solidly in the "you might have gone too hard on the swim and/or the bike" camp.

I have done what you did (but paced exponentially worse) and my stomach started bloating while I was still on the bike. It was hot (Louisville, 2010), so I worried about dehydration and kept drinking water. This lead to more bloating and the dreaded tour of the potties on the run. I walked with two different guys (both trying to break 10 hrs - they were on their second loop) who had the same exact problem.

Please take this advice with a grain of salt if you are a fast racer because I am a MOP girl. Since that miserable experience at Louisville, I have had two successful (for me) IMs by following the Endurance Nation 4 keys to IM execution. This is the "Don't Eat The Paste" article. I have never used this company for coaching or plans, but not eating the paste in my race worked great for me. I swam as if it were a warm-up, rode at "La Di Da" pace (stupid easy/below my usual warm-up watts) on the bike, and ran at forever pace, but I ran the whole thing feeling great and passed about 700 people. You can do this too. It is way more fun to pass people on the run than it is to have walkers pass you because you blew up.

If your tummy was bloated, you were not digesting. The solution to this is to slow down and stop consuming until your digestion resumes and your stomach can empty. The few miles I ran at Louisville were after I walked the majority of the first loop of the run so my digestion could return. I would argue that nutrition is not your problem. If you are going at an appropriate speed for a MOP person, you should be able to eat most anything (Chomps, Cliff bars, Dr Lim's rice cakes, granola bars, peanut butter, etc). I agree with the other poster that suggested limiting intake (water and food) to match your thirst/hunger. I find that I tend to overhydrate and that leads to GI distress.

I would also suggest that you consider doing a race-simulation brick (or two, if you mess up the first one like I did) in training to help groove your race paces. There is a great deal of argument about whether longer bricks (I did a 90 mile bike/9 mile run) are beneficial or harmful, but I have found them very helpful to let me make my plan and stick to it on race day.

Thank you for this. REading now. Had a GREAT IM last year - took it easy all along but this year I have times I want to make so I think your article will be Very Helpful to rein myself in. :) Thank you!


Oh goodness. Were they talking to ME? "but we can't fix stoopid if you decide to race your own way"

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http://harvestmoon6.blogspot.com
https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/katasmit

Yay! I am glad it helped you. I have made it my mission to save as many people as possible from the tour-de-potty. It is just so easy to think "I feel great, sure I can hold this" and then blow up.

If it would be helpful to read my race reports from all 3 races, I am mrs. brown_dog_us on BT and my race reports are posted there.

Ah, salt might well be the offender here. What do you take? Endurolytes are terrible. On a hot day I'd have to take 4 an hour. I use SCaps. 2 an hour on hot days.

Taking in an extra salt tab to see if that settles your stomach won't hurt you. That is something to try in troubleshooting. I have found that makes me feel better on hot days.

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Jen

"In order to keep a true perspective on one's importance, everyone should have a dog that worships him and a cat that will ignore him." - Dereke Bruce

consider doing a couple long rides with some harder lengthy intervals (45-60 minutes), not too hard, but that after 3-4 of them (w /10 minutes rest) you really feel it. Practice eating with those and see how you feel. You are likely going harder in the race than you train at and don't recognize it.

I agree. I used to be nauseas at end of hard races, and many times even vomited in the last miles. But adding salt tablets has really helped.

Good luck.

Thanks again for all the responces-I do take salt tabs but only 1 an hour. It seems like i bloat even more with the tabs. I have used NUUN with good results while running. Infinit really causes bloating with all the foam it produces. I can try the Scaps-I have not used that brand. This race was really not that hot-72-75 max. I had been doing 1 cap an hour with temps well into the 90-95+.
What I did not use this season was a HRM. I really need to get another one-any suggestions that is reasonably priced?

Getting the pieces together here-several easy things I can change to possible pull IMF together.
Thanks again and keep the suggestions coming-great job!

HRM - I have a simple Polar FT40 that I use for my training & racing. It's actually my everyday watch too. I have a different strap than the one that came with it because it transmits better in water, but its my go-to. If you want GPS & HRM or anything like that I hear good things about the 910xt, but don't have it. I don't get too concerned with the distances (bike computer & mile markers usually) so I just check it to see if I'm in range while training or cooking myself too much.

I checked it a few times during my recent 10mi swim, but didn't like what I saw so I stopped. I was raing hard but had a HR even higher than expected. So I went back to just keeping my head down & pushing.

I'm on the heavier side at 5'6" & 150-160 & I only take in about 200cal/hr during HIM & IM. I've used one salt tab/hr but if I start feeling bad I'll take another & see if it helps.

I second what someone else said about long intervals in a long ride or run to see what happens.

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AW

Infinit should not be foaming unless you have a formulation with protein in it. If that is the case, I'd swap formulations. NUUN is great, but it is really an active lifestyle / pre-race stay hydrated drink, as opposed to a race performance formula.

No advice to eat bacon?

;-)

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Jen

"In order to keep a true perspective on one's importance, everyone should have a dog that worships him and a cat that will ignore him." - Dereke Bruce

That is a trade secret shared only by Rappster, Khai and myself.