Swim Bike Run Live

What Goes In, Must Come Out

Thursday, June 17th, 2010

Since I wrote up and posted a detailed nutrition plan for Rev3 Quassy, I figure it only makes sense to report on exactly how it went.

Before and during the race, I felt great. I hit everything right on target and my stomach felt good. I could have used a little more EFS for a few spots on the run where I felt a little drained, but I was able to cross the finish line knowing that not only did I hit my plan, but it worked pretty well for me. I hydrated perfectly, peed on the run and avoided any major bonking. A happy day.

That was at least until I got in the car and started to drive home. My stomach started gurgling something angry. In the middle of nowhere, there isn’t anywhere to make a pit stop so I had to just grab onto the steering wheel tight and kept on driving.

Let’s just say that once I got home, it was clear that all the water I was taking in didn’t make it into my system and went right through me. Apparently there is such a thing as Runner’s Diarrhea. Who knew? Google it…

This was a major red flag since I want to figure out what is going on in my stomach so I don’t have to rush to the port-o-john mid-marathon (or bike) at the FullRev in September at Sandusky.

Normally I have never had ANY GI issues when training/racing, (except for some similar issues after my HIM race simulation workout) and I needed some more advice from smart people. And what better way than to go directly to the guy that designed every calorie that I took in both days, the co-founder of First Endurance, Robert Kunz. I love that FE has its own nutrition focused social network with people posting questions and tips. It is a great resource for not only info on FE products, but any endurance nutrition tips.  Definitely hit up http://team.firstendurance.com/ if you ever need some nutrition advice.
I posted some info on the nutrition I took on during the day and here is the response I got from Robert:

Thanks for taking the time to seek some help here at team.firstendurance.com. At first glance, I suspect its just a matter of just a bit high on the concentration. Take note that your ability to absorb nutrients changes throughout the race. Right out of T1 your body is transitioning from blood to the upper body, to shifting to your legs. At this point its a good idea to go light on the nutrition and fluids and consider just some light sips of water. Typically 20-30 minutes into the bike athletes start to feel much more efficient, the breathing becomes more rhythmic and you settle into your bike. At this point and throughout the rest of your bike is the best time to consume your calories, though try not to go more than about 10% solution.

Out of T2 its the same story..your body movements change from cycling to running, so for about 20 minutes focus on your form and trying to get comfortable and don’t force the calories in. During the run consume about 25% less calories per hour than on your bike at it is more difficult to absorb calories while running than while biking.

For your full Ironman your pacing should be slower than HIM, so the consumption of calories on the bike should be easier.

Ease into your nutrition just like you would your pace on each portion. I know Pro Michael Lovato likes to have water the first 45 minutes of his bike during Ironman since its super light but does tell his stomach that it needs to keep blood in the digestive system so nutrients can get absorbed. Small, frequent sips following T1 and T2 until you find that easy rhythm may help considerably.

So that is the new plan. Instead of starting out of T1 with my concentrated 400 calorie bottle of Liquid Shot, I’m going to switch it out and have either water or diluted EFS. Back to the drawing board.

I have no problem with little mini failures like this as long as I can learn something from it. It just means that I’m THAT much closer to knowing enough to nail every last mile of the Cedar Point FullRev…

Category : Nutrition, Triathlon

Tags: diarrhea, first endurance, half ironman nutrition plan, ironman nutrition plan

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