HIM analysis and execution questions?

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2009-07-20 3:34 PM

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Subject: HIM analysis and execution questions?

Folks,

My first HIM was a success. I swam better than expected in rough conditions and rode very well, my run was not good, but I completed it. My plan was to keep my HR between 125 and 135 on the bike. I did not execute this plan. It took me 45 minutes to get my HR down to 135 from the swim. I did finally get settled down but it was a chore to hold back. I really felt good and even though my HR was 10 -15 bpm higher than usual it did not feel hard. I stuck to my nutrition and electrolyte plan fig newton and endurolyte every 30 minutes and a Heed / Perpetum cocktail with a gel shot every 30 minutes and a power bar at the halfway point. Total calories for the 3 hour ride was 1500. 

My run fell apart at the 7 mile mark. I was taking a gel and enduralyte every 30 minutes the fisrt 3 miles then every 10 - 15 minutes as I started to feel bad. My leg started cramping and this time it was my right leg. Whenever this happened before it was the left leg. And this time it was the front of my thighs first then the arches of my feet and finally my calf. I have never had a cramp in my foot or thigh. I was a little baffled by this and attributed it to pushing to hard on the bike. Today I was trying to think of other reasons this may have happened and would like to ask your opinion on this. I am not looking for excuses as I am happy to have finished. 

My training plan had a 3 week taper and my work shut down for maintenance the week after the Fourth of July. I planned to use this time off to scrape and paint my windows and entry way. I thought it would be far enough from the race Jily 19th to not matter. Bad weather put me a few days behind and I finished the Wednesday before the Sunday race. Do you think standing  on the step ladder for a few hours a day in the days before the race would contribute to my leg problems on race day? The reason I am thinking this is because of the different places I got cramps, feet and thigh instead of hamstring and calfs? I did notice my ankles were swollen the 2 weeks before the race, but I figured this was to to the drop in exercise hours.

Kevin   

2009-07-20 3:39 PM
in reply to: #2296916

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Subject: RE: HIM analysis and execution questions?
Your first thought is the most likely, you went too hard on the bike
2009-07-20 3:46 PM
in reply to: #2296916

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Subject: RE: HIM analysis and execution questions?
That is a very heavy nutrition plan for the bike? Do you sweat a lot? Are you taking in just water, or is there always a supplement with it?

Another thing could be contributed to how many brick workouts you got in during training. Get those legs use to the transition!

Congrats on the HIM success!
2009-07-20 3:46 PM
in reply to: #2296916

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Subject: RE: HIM analysis and execution questions?
couple of red flags.

one- bike pacing, looks like you cooked yourself and then blew up on the run.
what did your bike training look like leading up to this?

two- this is the red flag for me: "Total calories for the 3 hour ride was 1500."
thats 500 cal per hour......... you could have cut that in half and been fine. your stomach would have been freaking out at that point. same with the run, a gel every 15 min once you started feeling bad prob only made matters worse.

i would say work on the bike pacing/training, and figure out the nutrition a bit better,

start in the 250-300 an hour rance and tweak from there.
2009-07-20 3:48 PM
in reply to: #2296939

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Subject: RE: HIM analysis and execution questions?
TexTriGuy - 2009-07-20 2:46 PM

That is a very heavy nutrition plan for the bike? Do you sweat a lot? Are you taking in just water, or is there always a supplement with it?

Another thing could be contributed to how many brick workouts you got in during training. Get those legs use to the transition!

Congrats on the HIM success!



i dont think the bricks really would have anything to do with it, even more so in this case.

he said he made it to mile 7 alright, and then it looks like he blew up there.
this is a very common way to fall apart with improper bike pacing/training. overcook the bike, make it half way through the run and then die.

agreed on the nutrition, unless you are 6'9'' and 400 pounds that is insane, thats almost a gel every 10 min.
2009-07-20 7:24 PM
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Subject: RE: HIM analysis and execution questions?
Looks like a whole lotta food to me. Did you train with this much food?

2009-07-20 8:40 PM
in reply to: #2296916

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Subject: RE: HIM analysis and execution questions?
Guys,

Good point on the calories. I did not think about this as much as I should have. I followed a full IM training plan and was using this strategy on the long rides up to 6 hours. I used the same concentration of heed and perpetum for 3 hours that I used for 6 hours. This could have been a mistake. The same with Gel. I was taking one flask 6oz in 6 hours and for the race consumed the same amount in 3 hours. I am 6'1 215 so I probably over did it a little. Would that make my leg and feet cramp? I did not have any intestinal or stomach problems. I felt great I just could not run any further due to the cramping. 

Kevin
2009-07-21 8:48 AM
in reply to: #2297537

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Subject: RE: HIM analysis and execution questions?
chevy57 - 2009-07-20 9:40 PM Guys,

Good point on the calories. I did not think about this as much as I should have. I followed a full IM training plan and was using this strategy on the long rides up to 6 hours. I used the same concentration of heed and perpetum for 3 hours that I used for 6 hours. This could have been a mistake. The same with Gel. I was taking one flask 6oz in 6 hours and for the race consumed the same amount in 3 hours. I am 6'1 215 so I probably over did it a little. Would that make my leg and feet cramp? I did not have any intestinal or stomach problems. I felt great I just could not run any further due to the cramping. 

Kevin


500 cal/hr does seem like an awful lot, but it's unlikely that would cause the kind of cramping you experienced.  That sounds much more like a pacing/fitness issue.
2009-07-21 9:01 AM
in reply to: #2296916

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Subject: RE: HIM analysis and execution questions?
I just pulled the data from the swim portion and was very surprised to see how high my HR was for the swim. I was 37 minutes at an ave of 150 with a max of 164. This explains why it took me so much longer to settle down on the bike. The swim effort did not feel hard to me. I think I need more racing experience. This was my second tri and clearly I need to pace better. I will also pay closer attention to calories. The data is pointing to going to hard to fast. I really should know better.

Kevin  
2009-07-21 2:30 PM
in reply to: #2296916

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Subject: RE: HIM analysis and execution questions?
chevy57 - 2009-07-20 3:34 PM

Folks,

My first HIM was a success. I swam better than expected in rough conditions and rode very well, my run was not good, but I completed it. My plan was to keep my HR between 125 and 135 on the bike. I did not execute this plan. It took me 45 minutes to get my HR down to 135 from the swim. I did finally get settled down but it was a chore to hold back. I really felt good and even though my HR was 10 -15 bpm higher than usual it did not feel hard. I stuck to my nutrition and electrolyte plan fig newton and endurolyte every 30 minutes and a Heed / Perpetum cocktail with a gel shot every 30 minutes and a power bar at the halfway point. Total calories for the 3 hour ride was 1500. 

My run fell apart at the 7 mile mark. I was taking a gel and enduralyte every 30 minutes the fisrt 3 miles then every 10 - 15 minutes as I started to feel bad. My leg started cramping and this time it was my right leg. Whenever this happened before it was the left leg. And this time it was the front of my thighs first then the arches of my feet and finally my calf. I have never had a cramp in my foot or thigh. I was a little baffled by this and attributed it to pushing to hard on the bike. Today I was trying to think of other reasons this may have happened and would like to ask your opinion on this. I am not looking for excuses as I am happy to have finished. 

My training plan had a 3 week taper and my work shut down for maintenance the week after the Fourth of July. I planned to use this time off to scrape and paint my windows and entry way. I thought it would be far enough from the race Jily 19th to not matter. Bad weather put me a few days behind and I finished the Wednesday before the Sunday race. Do you think standing  on the step ladder for a few hours a day in the days before the race would contribute to my leg problems on race day? The reason I am thinking this is because of the different places I got cramps, feet and thigh instead of hamstring and calfs? I did notice my ankles were swollen the 2 weeks before the race, but I figured this was to to the drop in exercise hours.

Kevin   





Just curious, was this the Door County Half? If so this was my first HIM too!
2009-07-21 3:34 PM
in reply to: #2296916

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Subject: RE: HIM analysis and execution questions?
No. It was the Musselman in Geneva NY.

Kevin

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