I have been writing a full report on the race for the last 20 minutes and I just realized that I lost the whole thing. This time I am going to go to the point. I need your help to figure out what went wrong. All type of suggestions accepted, thank you!
Well, the reason why I am writing this is because I ended up shaking, light headed and ultimately in the ambulance with an IV for about an hour right after I crossed the finish line. Let’s see, after the swim I was feeling awesome, however, in mile 4 or so my xlab flatwing broke and I lost everything on it including my water. I feared dehydratation so I started drinking some gatorade even when I wasn’t thirsty. I got and drank water from every single aid-station. I ate two gels, one banana, and a granola bar (what I usually eat on the bike). By the turn around on the bike I was feeling great and riding at my best; I think I was something like 36 or so. Approximately 5-7 miles after that I started feeling dizzy and a little lightheaded. I decided to go easier and recover so I would be strong on the run. Five miles later, I had severe pain and cramping in my harmstrings. I made it through and got to transition. I felt like crap but decided to keep going. I had plenty of fluids (all kinds at that poing). I had to walk almost the whole thing except for a couple of stretches. Oh, I don’t want to be scatologic or anything but, thank God for those portapotties in the middle of the run!!! As I said before, right after the finish line I almost passed out. I remember people talking to me and not much more. The paramedics were theer and they decided to take me in the ambulance. At that point I saw bottomfeeder taking pictures of me; it was kind of funny because he even suggested that I went back to the finish line so I would cross it crawling and then he would be able to take a really good picture; can you believe it?? hehehe (nice meeting you by the way). So I was taken to the ambulance where two nice ladies took good care of me. After 25 minutes or so in there I was feeling much better and then, this one guy whose name I believe is Erick came in. He looked really bad; I hope he is fully recuperated now.
Anyways, here I have a couple of questions for you guys:
do you think I just went too fast too early and I just bombed?
could it be that I had too much to drink?
was it dumb that I wanted to finish no matter what?
I think you should change your title on your thread. It sounded like Chip did something terribly wrong at his first race as RD until scanning thru your post.
I am glad that they took care of you. Eric is okay - he was transported to the hospital in another ambulance with (I think) Hyponatrimia. I am glad to hear that our medical response system was working well.
I’m no doctor, but I happen to be the guy that “assisted your decent to the pavement” after you finished.
My “uneducated” guess is that you didn’t take in enough electrolytes. You were visibly cramping and had few signs of salt, while others where fairly covered. If you took in plenty of fluids it would have gone right back out with no electrolytes., excluding hypnonetremnia.
The “best” thing to do if things start spiraling out of control is to stop and reset. Stop at an aid station, find some shade, take in fluids, especially something with electrolytes. Even eat something. I did this in IMWI 2005 after completely hosing my hydration on the bike. Ended up spending 30 minutes at one aid station and 15 minutes on another just drinking and getting things back to normal. I didn’t leave the last aid station until I pissed and I “Felt” good. I took the final miles back to transition easy and by the time I hit the run actually felt good. Had a complete crap time but ended up finishing feeling good and having a great time…way at the back of the race.
I am still trying to figure out what went wrong and I think I drank way too much. I had 3 bottles of water and 1 of gatorade during the bike. During the run I had lots of water and flat coke; probably about 4 cups every aid station but not electrolytes!
Today I’ve been feeling severe pain everywhere; specially the inside of my harmstrings which is where the symptoms started. This morning I almost had to learn how to walk again. It still hurts but I hope this will teach me a lesson. My next race is steelhead and I hope I am ready by then.
Thanks again,
DPC
Hey man, at full strength heed only has 60 mg of sodium per 16 oz. that is NOTHING for most of us. I was taking 860 mg on top of that! Don’t feel badly. Lesson learned. Regular Gatorade has 200 mg. GEF has 400 mg.
as usual, I only had 2 small sized bottles of GEF on the bike and 1/2 of water. Sips of HEED at each run aid station. 2 GU gels on the bike, 2 on the run. That’s it for me.
Point is, each of us needs to find what we need for each length race, temp/humidity/effort, etc.
It was good that you now know more or less what you need. We all learn our lesson the hard way.
Yep, exactly right. I learned the hard way at Madison in 2005…now I’m sucking down the E-gels and the gatorade every chance I get!! I might have been covered in salt at the end of Rockman, but I felt pretty good. A couple of gatorades and some Doritos in the car on the way back and I was fine.
Should have introduced myself- I was the other dude helping out until the medics got there.
Diego- no stress man. Lesson learned and time to focus on ripping ass at Steelhead!
FWIW, you do sweat a lot- you’re typically soaked and I’m only a little damp whenever we ride or run together. I think the salt pills might do the trick.
Sounds like big time hyponatremia. Over-consuming fluid, even if it has electrolytes can give you serious hyponatremia. This can cause brain swelling and can be fatal–remember the woman who died after the water drinking contest recently. AND, all that water with very little electrolytes made things even worse. Even regular gatorade is fairly low in electrolytes, most importantly sodium. Sounds like you panicked after losing your fluid. You can always sttick a bottle in your jersey pocket. Carrying some electrolyte capsules can save you if you lose your fluids and have to consume other
I’m with RROOF on this one. Very individualized but you have to cover the basics: fluid, calories, and sodium. I did the race a little on the light side for everything and the next time around will upping my intake on the bike and decreasing it on the run. Second, don’t forget about breakfast. Some basic guides are 400-500 calories 2.5 to 3 hours before start time for a half IM.
My Rockman Tri Nutrition
Breakfast- 2 Powerbars (chocolate), 11 oz of Starbucks Italian Roast Coffee at 4 am.
Bike- 2 bottle of water (plain water), three C2 Max Powergels
Run- Coke at every aid station, sips of water, sips of HEED, two powergels and one Hammergel
I would like to thank the CokaCola company for their donation of CokaCola products that I was sure to “flatten” before it was put on the run course. If I had only figured out how to make an “ice bath” it would have been a great race.
I’m glad you made it through the race. It does sound like you should have taken the Endurolyte pills at the aid stations and probably some of the gels. Too much fluid on the bike and not enough electrolytes likely caused your cramping. It sure sounded like your race was going well until then. I think I passed you on the run around the second aid station and you weren’t looking very good. For ahwile you would walk and I would pass you, then you would run and pass me until eventually you just stopped running and I went by you for good. It was great they were able to help you at the finish and you didn’t need hospitalization. Pushing yourself to go so far on cramping muscles will probably take a couple of weeks to recover from. I hope your next race goes much better.
