I’m reflecting on Steelhead 70.3 and I have some nutrition issues to resolve before Madison - looking for suggestions as I have a big bike/run brick (88 miles/10k run) next weekend that would be another good test day for nutrition.
Let me preface this by saying that race day conditions were perfect and my race was nearly perfect. I started the swim conservatively but efficiently, bike went 100% to plan, and started out the run feeling amazing. I had absolutely no muscle cramps/fatigue, never felt dehydrated, and I stuck with nutrition that I know and have been training with. So halfway through the run is when it all went south, my stomach started cramping bad - every mile after mile 6 (about every mile) I thought I would shit my pants - to the point that I was planning spots along the run in case i had to make an emergency dump. Luckily I held out for just long enough, but my GI issues continued days after the race. For the next 3 days, my stomach was cramping about every hour and I had to make bathroom stops (thank god I work from home). No diarrhea, just stomach issues. This has never happened to me before, but given how long it took to recover has me concerned.
Days leading up: Lots of water/hydration - standard stuff
Breakfast (4am): Coffee/Cream/Sugar and PBJ on Raisin Bread (go-to breakfast) - standard stuff
Pre-Swim (7am): Nothing
Bike (I have trained with all of this - nothing new):
Aero Bottle (16oz) - 2x Gatorade Prime Pre-Game + Water (200 calories and 50g carbs)
BTA Bottle (22oz) - Gatordate Powder + Water (180 calories and 44g carbs)
Bento - Gatorade Chews (100 calories and 24g carbs)
Run: Took a sip of Gatorade Endurance at a couple aid stations but when I felt my stomach talking, I switched to 100% water throughout the run.
Also, for context…I’m 140lbs, typically don’t sweat much and although this was my first 70.3, I’ve put in the time/distances before. Again, I felt great during the entire race and I’ve never felt so fresh for a run - even with GI issues my legs felt good and body felt hydrated, so I’m confused at what I did wrong or what I should do differently going into this next big training weekend and IM Madison in 6 weeks. Could it be too much gatorade junk and just not enough water (sodium ratio/ph)? I know the carb count is really low, but my body/muscles weren’t fatigued and just not demanding anything more.
I’m not informed enough to comment on your diet or course nutrition, other than that dairy (cream) would be a no-no for me. Hopefully you were able to clear everything out before the race. I am prone to GI distress on long runs and have taken loperamide (Imodium) before races without incident.
A couple of questions…
Am I reading correctly that you only drank a cup of coffee race morning and had 38oz total fluid for the whole bike?
Can you tell me a little about why you like the Prime Pre-Game packets?
38oz - at most. and this was forced, hydrating every 20 minutes as precautionary. i reckon i can do the 56 miles on 24oz if drinking to thirst. I normally just don’t drink much.
nothing special about the gatorade prime packets - convenience, taste, and carbs.
OK, I won’t try to diagnose your stomach issues, but you seem to already know that you’re taking in too little fluid and energy.
You have time to experiment more leading into IMMOO and you don’t have to scrap your entire plan. Working with what you like so far, I’d move the Prime to pre-race - it is just not formulated for race effort with that low sodium and unknown osmolality, but it could be a great pre-swim energy hit. You could stick with the standard Gatorade on the bike, and the biggest change to test is drinking it on-schedule to meet a higher goal (a bottle an hour is a good start at your weight). That still won’t be enough energy, so you’d want to up the chews and/or other foods to get through a full day. Hope that helps.
First 70.3 in hot conditions, drank regular Gatorade and it upset my stomach enough (bloating) that I didn’t drink much on the bike. Probably only had about 20-30 oz. After the race, very serious cramping that lasted for many many hours. I believe this was all due to low hydration. I didn’t pee on the bike or the run during that race. Now, I will typically drink 20-30 ounces per hour when riding outside and more when it’s hot. That’s about 50-60 ounces for a 70.3 bike aiming to pee once towards the end of the bike (hopefully before the last aid station so I can get a water bottle to rinse off with).
2nd instance was IMLou. In this case, it was too many carbs on the bike. I made a last minute decision to make my homebrew sports drink stronger than than I had trained with (very stupid idea) and also supplemented with chews on the bike (also a stupid idea since I didn’t do it in training). About 6 miles into the run, first trip to the portojohn to dispose of those excess cards the hard way and subsequent trips during ever mile or two after. Post race, took an imodium and was good to go with no lingering effects.
This is total shot in the dark, but my guess would be low water intake combined with a hot race. For your longer training ride, increase your water intake and see how it goes.
I’m thinking at your weight you would need around 220 calories per hour on the bike. And I don’t think you really came close to that. Do you just not like drinking on the bike? Or do you forget?
neither…i’m just generally not thirsty - whether it’s normal life or training. not sure if it’s genetics and my body retains water or what the issue is. but i consumed around 480 calories on the bike and finished in 2.5 hrs so not too far from 220/hr. again, didn’t feel dehydrated, fatigued, no muscle cramping nothing…which is why i was thinking it’s not a calorie issue but perhaps a higher ratio of sodium to water then my body would’ve liked (or absorbed).
mgreer - same symptoms are your 2nd issue basically. only difference is that i didn’t consume too many carbs.
