I should also add the swim, bike and run splits for both of the above disasters are freaky close. Literally same exact story.

What was your HR during the run and did it match with your percieved exertion?

only one bottle of water?? if that is true i would start by drinking more.

Do you ride with power? If so, have you held that power before in training and ran well afterward on a brick?

Also, I would ditch the solids.

Look for a sports drink that gets its carbs mostly from complex carbs (maltodextrin) not simple sugars. It is very hard for the body to absorb and break down simple sugars (hence your sloshy stomach).

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blog

Sounds like you bonked, were dehydrated and used solids.

So three mistakes or missed opportunities.

Maurice

That’s like 400 calories on the bike. Doesn’t seem nearly enough.

think about osmolality

ETA:

There is nothing wrong about solids contrary to what others posted

Do you have a PM and if so think about your kJ output and calorie input. Also not a shabby thing to think about during training either

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Brian Stover USAT LII
Accelerate3 Coaching
Insta

Did you take in any salt other then from the Scratch? My gut tends to shut down if I don’t take in enough salt. I did Chattanooga 70.3 today and started supplementing with base salt Friday night and probably went through at least one full canister of it during the race today.

Yea I ride with a power meter. My FTP is around 320 and my average watts were 220 (for both of the above mentioned races). I felt like this should have been plenty conservative effort to run well. But I was wrong.

Too much protein and/or not enough water?

1 bottle in the south in summer wouldn't even get me from the car to body marking!

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Eliot
blog thing - strava thing

anything with peanut butter for me is recipe for disaster. Guaranteed trips to the bushes. protein and caffiene give me trouble during workouts races.

Not enough water.

I came to tri as a runner with an iron gut. I've done only one IM and 3 HIM. In my first ever nutrition practice session during a long ride/run training session, I had two bottles of "nutrition" (a mix between cytomax and maltedextrin). About 400 calories in each bottle along with a 100-calorie gel every hour minutes. Cruised the 4-hour bike trainer ride.

About 600 yards into the run, I was doubled over in pain with stomach cramps like you've never had. I'm not sure I've had a stomach cramp running since grade school. I couldn't run 200 yards without walking. Ran/walked an hour and then laid on my steps for about 15 minutes to try and make the stomach pain go away.

I called my coach who suggested that nutrition plan and he immediately asked me how much water I drank?

Water? Like the water I used to mix my bottles?

No. Straight water that your body uses to flush food out of your stomach.

He told me I should try to get in 8-12 ounces an hour to start and then we would adjust that accordingly.

Next session, I used the same nutrition plan, added the water, and ran like I am used to.

Yes HR was 155-160 for the periods where I could run which theoretically should be totally fine.

Thanks I’ll give that a try. I have IM Louisville in October (my first IM) and I’m really wanting to run to my capabilities in that race and not have a re-run of my day today.

Sooo I looked at my race gear post race and I actually only drank a little over half of my skratch bottle and 2/3 of my Shiv bladder. So only about 25 oz of fluid for the 56 miles. I guess it could just be bonking both times. This was my 4th 70.3 and I’ve never had a good run. They’ve all been walks due to stomach seizing. Meanwhile I ran a 1:39 open half marathon in March and it felt easy. So my fitness was good.

I agree on the maltodextrin. I make my own sports drink with malto, orange juice, salt, and water. Then I have my GU bottle on the down tube...which is malto based. I keep Amrita bars in my bento box. They are vegan and easy on the stomach. Plain water behind the saddle.

Edit: I see that you ran an open half marathon at 1:39 and your target was to run a 1:45 half in a 70.3. Just for reference, my open half marathon is just under 1:25 and my target 70.3 half time is 1:45. Maybe I should be a little more optimistic...but I doubt it.

You probably need more water with those gels and uncrustables. Aim for 10-12 ounces per 100 calories. Adjust, likely upwards, depending on your sweat rate. Also consider the amount of sodium you are consuming.

400 calories = 48ish ounces of liquid. If 200 of those calories are in 1 bottle (200 cal sport drink in a 22oz bottle), you need at least 1 more full bottle of water.

Desert Dude mentioned it.

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Brandon Marsh - Website | @BrandonMarshTX | RokaSports | 1stEndurance | ATC Bikeshop |

Thanks. So I consumed 510 calories for the 2:37 ride in the form of clif bar, 2 gels, and 1/2 bottle of skratch. I drank way less than I thought I did. I prob only drank about 25 oz of water cuz the ride today wasn’t hot til the last 30’. I think I bonked. My power dropped over the last 30’ of the ride just like in Augusta 2016.

Maybe. That's 200 calories an hour, which is a little light but not ridiculously light, especially if you had breakfast. That does not count the swim and not counting any run calories. Bonk maybe, dehydration maybe.

Maybe you just rode too hard despite what you thought. It's not uncommon to think your target power is higher than it should be, which it might also have been because everyone says I fouled up my nutrition, but in reality they over rode the bike.

There's leeway in a 70.3 to make a few relatively small mistakes and still be able to do ok. If your run was really bad, then you probably made more than a few or at least 1 or 2 big ones.

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Brandon Marsh - Website | @BrandonMarshTX | RokaSports | 1stEndurance | ATC Bikeshop |

I think maybe it is as simple as you did not drink enough.

My first half-IM a long, long time ago, same thing happened to me because I only drank 2 bottles on bike. While walking the half-marathon and stopping many times to throw-up, an old-timer walking with me told me I was supposed to drink the whole bottle between aid stations and then get another one at the aid station, and drink that etc. I did not feel better at that race until after the IV kicked in after I limped to the finish in close to last, and then after the IV, I felt amazing. Since then, I drink a lot, and no stomach issues on run for 1/2 IM.

Looking at your report - it looks like you did not drink enough.

I would think a 20 minute difference between open and 70.3 run is way too much. No more than 10 minutes if you pace the bike correctly.

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Let food be thy medicine...

Yeah, you could be a lot more optimistic. My open PR is 1:24 flat, and I ran 1:30 twice in a HIM between that open half. I've since run faster HIM splits but could probably improve on my open times by a similar amount.

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ZONE3 - We Last Longer

No talk about what you ate for breakfast or dinner? I have a feeling you ate too much somewhere and it did not digest in time