I raced in an Oly yesterday. Race time 0900 and it was 81 degrees with a heat index of 85. By the time I drug myself across the finish line it was 90 degrees with a heat index of 95. The run was an out and back on a large lake dam with NO shade at all. I felt good on the swim and the bike. I took in 24 ounces of 1st Endurance EFS drink and a GU gel on the bike without any issues. Then BAM!! at mile 1 of the run both quads locked up tight. I have NEVER had my quads lock up, EVER! I took in two more GUs and could continue running at a moderate pace until the turn around. Then my quads seemed to take turns locking up. The Gatorade Endurance on the course was watered down and not much help. I absolutely forced myself to run the last mile. Legs are sore today but no serious damage I hope.
Guess it is time to invest in a Salt Stick and tabs. Any other ideas because sodium depletion sucks and I have a Half to do on June 20th. I bet it is not much cooler then!! BTW. I weighed before and after the race. I lost 6 pounds! That is 2 pounds per hour. Yes, my time blew but I finished.
I was a little late with the popcorn as I ate it afterward! The plain salt thing will be something I try tomorrow on a bike ride. If my stomach can handle it, will I be a certified Macgruber user?
"I was a little late with the popcorn as I ate it afterward! "
I think when he said “Popcorn” he meant for himself when the people start posting and telling you to not blame your lack of fitness/ability to pace properly on sodium depletion.
Well don’t feel so bad as i did Auburn “Worlds Toughest Half” yesterday and at the start it was 37F and probably in 40’s and maybe lower 50’s by end of bike and my quads still cramped up. Maybe it was the 5500’ of climbing which I don’t enjoy very much on a tri bike. I have found electrolyte tabs work for me in the heat however…maybe just placebe…who knows.
I think when he said “Popcorn” he meant for himself when the people start posting and telling you to not blame your lack of fitness/ability to pace properly on sodium depletion.
Would I ever do such a thing?
Not that I would suggest that all the tabs and drinkies in the world, which the OP had anyway, would help a badly paced race.
Lake Carlyle?
I was out there too and had a similar experience. I didn’t have cramping but GI issues on the run. We’re not acclimated to the heat, I guess, it came up quickly this year.
If you drank 24 ounces of EFS on the bike, you had more than enough electrolytes for an OLY.
Actually, if the OP lost 6 lbs, most of which was obviously sweat, that amount of fluid loss can contain ~3000mg/3grams of sodium. Not sure about the EFS…but I’m pretty sure a bottle doesn’t have nearly that much
Now the real question is how many, if any, of those 3 grams need to be replaced during the event.
If you drank 24 ounces of EFS on the bike, you had more than enough electrolytes for an OLY.
Actually, if the OP lost 6 lbs, most of which was obviously sweat, that amount of fluid loss can contain ~3000mg/3grams of sodium. Not sure about the EFS…but I’m pretty sure a bottle doesn’t have nearly that much
Now the real question is how many, if any, of those 3 grams need to be replaced during the event.
-Physiojoe
This was more or less my point. He more than likely didn’t even need sodium supplementation, however the fact that he drank 24 ounces of EFS (which has A LOT of electrolytes, though likely not 3g of sodium) on the bike, should further rule out a sodium issue.
If I had to guess, I’d say he paced the bike by looking at MPH rather than going off of RPE and went too hard for the conditions. Especially given how early in the run he cramped up.
Amazing how often this comes up in a race situation instead of training, myself included so I don’t sound like a know it all, which leads me to believe that more often it is an conditioning issue.
I was returning some of the razzing about the “popcorn”! I didn’t really eat popcorn. LOL! As far as blowing up because of my pace, I hope not. I have done the entire race in training and NEVER had the cramp issue, held 20+mph on the bike on much more hilly terrain. The only difference was the heat and the amount of sweat. I do not have a Powertap or SRM but I watched my heart rate and cadence closely. On bike only training days I will hold 20mph on my 50 mile rides in the hills without cramps. I am not saying that I couldn’t use more conditioning, I know I certainly could, but I never felt fatigued. Just severe cramps in my quads. And by looking at the number of finishers at Carlyle with 10 minute plus paces, I would guess the heat was the major factor. This is an early heat wave for Illinois and Missouri. The winner only held a 7 min pace. That is where I usually hang out on my bricks. I was just told by many people the day of the race that sodium depletion was a likely factor, not the only factor. My training for my half begins tomorrow. I am open to suggestions as it is only 4 weeks away.
Sodium or not, I’ve had similar issues. Always in my quads to the point that I couldn’t bend my knee. Oddly, I never have cramped in any other muscle group/area. Last season this happend to me almost every race. The caveat was that it always happend as I ran out of the water after the swim to get on my bike. Theres no way it was a “conditioning issue” running into T1. It got to the point that I wanted to quit racing.
This season my first race was FL70.3 . Not wanting that crap to happen to me again I downed an entire bottle of e-load tablets the week leading up to the race. To the point where I was ingesting about 7-10 tabs per day and drinking a lot of water. Low and behold I had no issues of cramping whatsoever during the race. Was it the tabs or my head? Who knows… but I’ll keep doing it as long as it works.
Sodium or not, I’ve had similar issues. Always in my quads to the point that I couldn’t bend my knee. Oddly, I never have cramped in any other muscle group/area. Last season this happend to me almost every race. The caveat was that it always happend as I ran out of the water after the swim to get on my bike. Theres no way it was a “conditioning issue” running into T1. It got to the point that I wanted to quit racing.
This season my first race was FL70.3 . Not wanting that crap to happen to me again I downed an entire bottle of e-load tablets the week leading up to the race. To the point where I was ingesting about 7-10 tabs per day and drinking a lot of water. Low and behold I had no issues of cramping whatsoever during the race. Was it the tabs or my head? Who knows… but I’ll keep doing it as long as it works.
Are you a heavy sweater? Did you take any of the e-loads the morning of or during the race? As you said, it may be psychological but who gives a rat’s a@@ if it works.
I took 4 more at breakfast and had 7 or 8 during the bike portion of the race. I still faded on the second half of the run, but I would say its because I came from 45F to a 100F race. By faded I mean about 1min/mile slower than what I should have been running, not dragging my ass walking the course.
The plain salt thing will be something I try tomorrow on a bike ride. If my stomach can handle it, will I be a certified Macgruber user?