Looking back on what turned out to be a total meltdown on the run at Vineman 70.3 (the first two miles were o.k., but after that it was a complete and total struggle), I am wondering if part of the problem was that I set myself up for tough day on the run by not hydrating enough on the bike. I figure I drank about 38 ounces of Gatorade over about a 2 1/2 hour period on the bike, so lets say 15 ounces per hour. The air temperature was probably in the mid to upper-60’s when I started the bike and probably in the mid-80’s when I finished the bike. I followed my usual drinking pattern, but I don’t usually ride when it’s that warm out.
Just curious how many ounces of fluid the rest of you took in/take in per hour on the bike during a HIM on a warm-to-hot day?
I had the same problem at LD worlds. I took in plenty of Infinit and felt great on the bike but 2 miles into the run-total meltdown. I’m thinking that we need more calories at the end of the bike-take GU, maybe. i started with some coke but I don’t think there is enuf calories in it. Slowman said he took a bunch of GUs on the bike. He wrote a really good article about calories and distance-worth taking a look at.
Without knowing much about you I think 60 ounces might have been a better number to shoot for. Some other thougts …
Wetsuits in 77 degree water is a recipe for dehydration … i strongly believe this and i bet most people lost alot of fluids in their time in the suit.
Experiment with hydration before the race … make sure you have enough sodiun / carbohydrate the day before to help store fluids
Bike pacing … remember you are pacing and drinking fluids in preparation for the run … not so smuch to get thru the bike. When it’s going to be hot most people are not willing to slow down so that the body can absorb more fluid.
Enough calories? If all you had was the gatorade then your issue may be hydration & caloric
Another thing to consider is your fluid intake in the time before the swim start. It is easy to get caught up in last minute bathroom trips, transition area arrangements, chatting with people, warming up, walking to the swim start area, etc. You ought to have a bottle of electrolyte drink in your hand at all times in the ~30 min or so leading to the gun. Not necessarily a drink that is overly sweet or with lots of calories that might not sit well during the swim, but make sure you start the race topped off.
If it makes you feel any better, I also became severely dehydrated on the run. I was really blown away by this because I’ve never been in a position where I was truly concerned for my health. I had to make a conscious effort to slow down the last 2 miles because I seriously thought I was going to black out.
I’m kind of scratching my head on this one too. I know bike pacing was a non-issue for me as RPE and power data were on the conservative side and HR was consistent with previous HIMs. I suspect I completely underestimated my fluid intake requirements. I just did my normal thing…
Interesting to hear the comments about wearing a wetsuit in 77* water. I hadn’t even thought about the possibility of that contributing to my dehydration meltdown.
5’9" - 150 lbs & pretty lean. I drank about 40 or 50 ounces of fluids in about 4 hours before my start time. Besides Gatorade every 15 minutes on the bike, I ate 1/2 Cliff bar at 30 minutes and the other 1/2 at 1 hour into the ride, then I had a Gu at 1:30, 2:00, and 2:30. I drank Gatorade every mile during the run and ate a Gu at about the 1/2 way mark. I never cramped on the run, but I just didn’t have the energy.
I thought I had the nutrition worked out pretty well, but maybe not. I think the swim in the wetsuit might have been the wild card. My heart rate was higher during the swim than it had been during any of my previous HIM’s.
I definitely tried to make sure I was hydrated beforehand, so drank a lot of fluids the day before, and I probably drank in the neighborhood of 40 or 50 ounces about 4 hours before my start time. I think I probably had about 8 oz. of orange juice, 8 oz. of milk with protein powder, and somewhere around 30 ounces of Gatorade. I’ll keep tweaking the fluid intake to see what works best for me.
Glad to hear that you made it through. Did you partake in the icewater sponge bath at the finish? I couldn’t believe how good that felt!
It’s not like I ever stopped sweating or got really really thirsty on the run, so I think I was probably on the light side of being dehydrated, but it was bad enough that there was about a 5 mile stretch where I had to tell myself just to keep running and not to walk. I had the feeling that if I stopped to walk that I might not start running again. Luckily by slowing my pace down quite a bit I was able to rebound enough by mile 9 1/2 that I actually felt somewhat o.k. and decided try to push the pace starting at mile 10. That strategy sort of worked, but by the end I was absolutely done!