My Timberman 2009 went all right for the first 3.5 hours or so, then went to hell on the run in (I think) a nutrition-related way. I’m trying to sort out exactly why.
The background: last year I did the race (my first, and my first 70.3) in a bit over 6 hours. I was hoping to nip in somewhere under that mark this time around; given the training I’ve done this year it seemed realistic.
I went in the 11th wave - with the accident-related delay it was well past 8 before we got going, so we got our share of the heat and then some. My swim was slow but otherwise trouble-free. I was a few minutes slower than '08, but not terribly concerned, since I felt like I left myself in good shape for the bike. The bike went well (it’s what I’m most comfortable with, by far). I avoided any trouble (is it just me, or were there a lot of flats out there yesterday?), took in plenty of water and some Gatorade on the course, sucked down a gel every 45 minutes or so, and felt comfortable enough given the conditions as the heat and humidity got to work. I thought I had left myself enough in the tank.
Then came the run. I got completely cooked on the run last year, and figured there were probably several reasons - pushing a little too hard on the bike, maybe not taking in enough fluids, and certainly just not being fit enough for the distance. Moreover (and this ties in to what happened to me yesterday) last year I was completely, totally exhausted after the race last year; I mean, cannot possibly keep my eyes open at the dinner table, falling asleep by 7 PM, really out of it, passing-out in a fog kind of tired. I felt like I’d been roofied or something (not that that’s ever happened to me!)
I get out of T2 yesterday and start off at a pretty slow pace, figuring I’ll get my legs into it and slowly turn it up if I can later. At this point, even a 10:30 mpm run will probably get me in under 6. I’m not feeling like a million bucks, but I’m ok as I start off running. By mile 4 or so I’m reluctantly thinking I have to walk a bit. That’s when I start to feel downright woozy upstairs…my head bobbing and wobbling around, my eyes wanting to close. I never felt like I was going to collapse physically, and I never cramped (I’ve never suffered muscle cramps, and rarely even a stitch). But I was having a hard time not going cross-eyed and keeping my head up; at this point I’m feeling like trying to run is a very bad idea. Walking at least kept me awake. A good long spell of walking, more water and a gel at the aid station, and I felt slightly more lucid but still kind of loopy. At this point I knew I was coming in well after my goal, but I put finishing the race, by hook or by crook, above ending up in the med tent or DNF.
Around mile 5 I started up a slow jog again and got to the start of the second loop. Shortly after that, I’m forced to walk again, this time with a very nice woman who was also among the walking wounded. She thought, given what I was feeling, that I needed to get some electrolytes in me; I’ve never taken an E-cap in my life, much less in this race, so she may be right here. I popped four of them at the next aid station, kept walking, and a little further on began feeling a lot clearer. Around mile 8 I start my slowish jog again, and for a while even feel somewhat good running-wise, but I don’t push it; I figured that if I’m in some sort of nutrition/chemical deficit, it’s way, way too late to get back to “crank it” mode. I just wanted to get across the line at that point, and I did.
A humbling learning experience.
I’m not an expert in exercise physiology or body chemistry, so I want to know exactly what happened to me yesterday, before I start thinking about how work out my nutrition better and keep it from ever happening again. I’ve been glancing over the various threads on electrolyte replacement during races (the arguments for and against), hyponatremia, etc. Was it a serious deficit of electrolytes or something else that likely did me in?
