David Gillen's Group - FULL (Page 20)

Wow, and I thought I sweat a lot at about 80 oz/hr!  Your calculations look correct. Johnny is right though, it was really humid today.  So just keep that in mind.  You might sweat less in drier conditions.  Also, your sweat rate will slow down in your 2nd and 3rd hours of exercise, but unfortunately this is due to dehydration.  Also, keep in mind that you'll probably sweat less on the bike.  You should try to measure this also.  It's easier to drink and absorb liquids on the bike, so your goal should be to come off the bike as hydrated as possible to prepare yourself for they dehyrdating that will occur during the run.

There is obviously no way you can absorb 113 oz/hr, so you're going to get dehydrated over time.  This idea is just to minimize it.  Many people will tell you that your stomach and intestines can only absorb 40 or so oz/hr, but many others will tell you that you can train your absorption rate just like anything else.  I've tried this with some success last year.  Thus, I'd start at the ~50 oz/hr you're drinking now, and try to increase that to 60 oz/hr and see how your system holds up.   Once you can absorb 60 oz/hr without bloating or other problems, try to up it to 70 or so.  You get the idea.

Also, you should experiment with different sports drinks to see which ones you can absorb the fastest.  Plain Gatorade is notorious for causing "GatorGut" and not absorbing optimally for many people.   Another great tip that I found helped me last summer was to start running with a stomach fairly full of liquid.  A full stomach will empty quicker which is exactly what you want.  Remember our sweat rate isn't our limiter, our absorption rate is!

Instead of doing something productive like reviewing my June or planning my July or even logging, I read this article about 25 celebrities who've run a marathon . I thought I'd share it with y'all just to prove I'm not always obsessing over sweat and heart rates!

Must be a Monday!

phoenixrising404 - 2007-07-02 4:33 PM  What, if anything, did you do for Mental Training for your IM?? You read that it is important, and with my obsessive asthmatic perfectionistic inferiority complex tendency to faint or get numb hands when stressed deal--I figure I better start NOW with that mental training bit!

Despite doing some research on mental training, I actually did very little.  I didn't really do any of the visualization that I read so much about.  However, I am a firm believe in mantras, which are just short phrases that you often say out loud when the times get tough to help you regain focus or return to a positive mindset.  These are often quite personal so be sure to try different ones and find your favorites.  Mine are quite cheesy: "Hello Pain.  Come run with me."  "Just keep swimming.  Just keep swimming." to the tune of "Dory's song" from "Finding Nemo".   This positive self-talk goes a long ways.

Another biggie is just to learn not to dwell on negative thoughts.  Strive to think postive things.  So instead of thinking.  "Damn, the wind really sucks", think "This wind is making me tougher and I'm doing a good job of staying aero!"   I had those exact thoughts about 3 dozen times in my windy IM!

Also, I found that by simply putting in the time on the long stuff that I slowly started to gain more mental confidence.   When 80-100 miles stopped seeming so long and impossible, and started to feel more just like another weekend, I knew I had gained both physical and mental endurance to cover the distance!  That perspective change is what I enjoyed most about IM training.

dgillen - 2007-07-02 5:01 PM

phoenixrising404 - 2007-07-02 4:33 PM What, if anything, did you do for Mental Training for your IM?? You read that it is important, and with my obsessive asthmatic perfectionistic inferiority complex tendency to faint or get numb hands when stressed deal--I figure I better start NOW with that mental training bit!

Despite doing some research on mental training...

Let me share some of my research on mental training and motivation...

http://del.icio.us/dgillen/motivation

http://del.icio.us/dgillen/mental

Mmmm...Burrito.  Fearless Leader like burrito.  Mmmm...Must go to Chipotle! 

 About the liver, my mom used to make me eat liver. This is how it is done: First, you cover it entirely in ketchup (or your favorite condiment) then you cut it up into just slightly larger than mouth size pieces. Then piece by piece you swallow it whole. Presto, it's gone and you didn't even have to taste it!!!!

Have a great liverless 4th y'all!

I support what Shaq is trying to do with the show, but it seems like "his helpers" are doing all the work, and he's just there for show! I'm curious to see if the kids can lose weight though.

Tim, good luck on the race. I've been reading your logs and it looks like you're more than ready. Please be sure to write a race report. We're all very curious.

Hope everyone has a good 4th. We finally had a little break in the weather here. I went out for 30 mile ride and about 2 miles from home I saw my wife just started her ride. So I did another 30 with her. I had to stop a Subway to refill my water and buy some cookies b/c I was out of calories. It did rain on us the last 20 minutes or so, but all in all it was a great ride.

I'm off to my sisters-in-law's house. Her contractions are about 6 minutes apart and she about ready to give birth to the first grand-daughter for my wife's parents. Pretty exciting!