Fred D and Jason's (Tri808) Half Ironman Mentor Group CLOSED! (Page 42)

Originally posted by Mike_D Can't believe the race is tomorrow. I'm really looking forward to it. It will be a fun day of swimming, biking, and then some sort of forward movement thing akin to running . Getting all packed up and heading to the race for packet pickup later this afternoon. Staying someplace close to the race site, and should be home sometime later tomorrow PM. Not feeling nervous, but ready (as I can be).

Have a great race!  Looking forward to the race report.  Hope the "sort of forward movement thing akin to running" goes well

Question for the group:

Do you treat fuel and fluids as separate, or do you use a drink with calories?

Lots of variation here (yes, no and everything in between), so I'm curious what others in the group do in training and racing.

This came to mind as I was mixing up some Power-drink stuff to get used to riding with it, as I believe that's what they'll have at the exchanges at Timberman.  The recommended three scoops per large bottle just seemed like a LOT of sugar and salt and caused me to wonder how you all approach it both in training and racing.

Thanks!

Matt

Originally posted by Mike_D Can't believe the race is tomorrow. I'm really looking forward to it. It will be a fun day of swimming, biking, and then some sort of forward movement thing akin to running . Getting all packed up and heading to the race for packet pickup later this afternoon. Staying someplace close to the race site, and should be home sometime later tomorrow PM. Not feeling nervous, but ready (as I can be).

Have fun and have a great race!

I generally try to keep them separate, or at least always carry one bottle of water on board in case the liquid calories I have is not working for me.  Liquid calories are generally the easiest to consume for me since it just requires one movement rather than eating and washing it down with water, but I also don't like the feeling of being "trapped" in the concentration of liquid calories.  On race day, the conditions and how your stomach is feeling can change the way you want to hydrate and take in calories.  Hotter days may require much more water, but still the same amount of calories.  Or there may be days where you need more calories but not as much water.

I had no idea Heed was that low on sodium.  I'm not one to advocate taking a lot of excess salt, but the powergels I use have 200mg per packet.  So if I'm taking 5 gels, that's 1000mg with no excess salt supplement (such as salt sticks).  That would take a lot of Heed to get me that same amount.  If you're the type that doesn't need a lot of salt, or the weather you race in isn't as hot, it may not be as big of an issue.

Funny.  I'm almost the same re: every 45 minutes.

I've been experimenting with different things.  I tend to have a bottle of water and then a bottle of Gatorade that I'll alternate between.  I used to take a gel every 45 minutes but I've swapped it out with organic coconut covered dates.  I like having something to chew, they give you a boost (120 calories) though I'm not sure about salt.

This race I will bring some pretzels with me and maybe start munching at the end of the bike and during the run.  I was low on salt last race and by the end had horrible cramping.  I always thought it was so healthy to have a low salt intake but have learned that it's not always a bad thing!

Originally posted by Mike_D Can't believe the race is tomorrow. I'm really looking forward to it. It will be a fun day of swimming, biking, and then some sort of forward movement thing akin to running . Getting all packed up and heading to the race for packet pickup later this afternoon. Staying someplace close to the race site, and should be home sometime later tomorrow PM. Not feeling nervous, but ready (as I can be).

Have a great race!!

I've been training with fuel and fluids a separate items.  I haven't experimented with using a drink with calories, but I also haven't been at this very long.  Some people like it, so if my fueling plan doesn't work out as well as I'm hoping at Vineman, maybe I'll consider it.

Follow-up question: is there an issue with drinking only fluids with electrolytes, rather than having some bottles with electrolytes and some with just water?  I know not taking enough sodium (and other electrolytes) can result in hyponatremia, but is there a risk from taking too many electrolytes?  Or maybe the mix concentration is not high enough to ever have to worry about it??

I use Skratch mix and really like it -- my current thought is to bring three bottles (the number of cages I have on my bike) with Skratch and then get water off the course as needed.

I also found out that Heed was very low in sodium (and I sweat like a pig/will drop 1.5lbs in 30min running non-humid conditions).  I have started experimenting with Gatorade End Formula which has over 240mg I think.  For my HIM last year, I used Stinger waffles to mix up some solid/non sweet tasting (i dont like gummy consistency)  for the first part of the ride, then used a gu the last part to make sure easy digestion.  All still a work in progress. 

Even the Enduralytes from Heed are very small amounts having to take too many, I will also try to use Salt sticks to supplement for humid conditions.

Did my first race of the season today, a mini-sprint that was the first Tri I ever did last year at this time.  The race is part of the Tri for Fun series that is geared toward beginners and is advertised as 400s/11b/3.1r.  Noticed last year these were not quite accurate and this year was no different.  Swim was 460 due to buoy placement, ride was 8.3 due to road construction (with a signifiant no-passing one on one of the straightaways), but the run was right on.  They introduced timing chips for the first time as an option and about 60% of participants had opted in according to the RD.  I noticed the folks with the high end bikes almost all had the chips, so I'm guessing the timed participants were on the more experienced side of the curve.

I'd rate the swim as OK.  Swam at an average of 1:49/100 which is the fastest I've done yet - and with no wetsuit (water was 72 degrees and it was a short swim).  I kept my stroke rate down from the beginning and felt good at the end energy-wise to transition to the bike.  I say "OK" because I did not plan my lines well enough (stayed inside too much) and got caught up in several bunches I either had to swim around or tread water for a few seconds as they sorted themselves out.  I did manage to latch onto a swimmer about halfway through who was swimming breaststroke the whole way at my pace and figured he'd be sighting every stroke, so just followed him and sighted a lot less.

T1 was good at 1:46.  It is a small transition area, so not a lot of running.  I got a great spot on the rack and, not having a wetsuit on, was in and out quickly.

The ride felt good.  Knew there was a not insignificant hill as soon as you mounted so geared appropriately.  Unfortunately the guy in front of me did not and almost took me out as he suddenly veered right into my path and could not have missed my rear tire by more than inches.  Once I got to the top of the hill it was a slow modest incline on a smooth surface, so I started cranking it up but not aggressively so - until a guy passed me.  That got my juices flowing and I kept with him for the next 5 miles or so, during which we had to get through the no-pass zone and the slower riders in there.  We had a short but steep hill at that point and when we got to near the crest he slowed and I took the opportunity to pass him back and held him off the rest of the way.  Averaged 21.2 mph on the ride which, considering I'm on a road bike and we had the no-pass zone, I'm very happy with!  The end of the ride is back down that steep hill and as I'm braking my back brakes are screeching so rely mostly on my front brakes.  As a result when I finally came to a complete stop my rear wheel came up about a foot and there was a moment of "UH-OH" right in front of a large group of spectators, but ended up being no problem.

T2 was 0:55.  Holy Crap!  Under a minute.  I knew it went well, but not this well.  They didn't actually time it but I had my 910 on and started it for the run as I left the grassy transition area and hit the paved trail, so think it is pretty close.

This was actually the best part of the race.  First of all, from my first step I was in stride.  I felt none of the stiffness in the legs or minor pain in the lower back I'd always felt before, and it was great.  Mile 1 I kept a bit in check as I did not want to overcook it and ran an 8:00 pace and felt good.  So in mile 2 picked it up and ran a 7:42 - and felt good.  So in mile 3 pushed a little harder and ran a 7:23.  In the last quarter mile there was one guy ahead of me I wanted to pick off so picked it up further.  My Garmin tells me I was going at a 6:25-6:45 chasing him down.  When I got even with him he as much as said "No Way!" and we both started sprinting at about a 5:40, but I didn't have enough reserves and he got in 0.13 seconds ahead of me.  I was a little bummed until I found out he was less than half my age.  Frickin' whippersnapper . . .

Overall time was 58:56.  This compares favorably to the same race last year which was a 1:06:50, but it's not quite apples to apples due to the course change for construction which took about 3/4-1 mile off the ride.  Still, I'm very happy with the outcome and the progress I see in various parts of my racing.  In the group of racers that opted in for the timing chips, I placed 23/214 and for my AG of 55+ 2/22.

Tom - great race and terrific finish!  Sweet to podium (and pay no mind to those whippersnappers)!

Mike, congrats on finishing and getting past the DNF from last year.  Too bad about the leg, but you knew that going in and it sounds like you dealt with it well.  It's a real test to finish when you're hurting (and without making yourself more hurt) - well done!

I ran a small 5 mile Dad's Day run this weekend in Ohio while visiting my wife's family and our friends (we've lived there a couple times - wow, never thought I'd be able to say THAT as a Bostonian).  Finished 13 OA and 4th or 5th in my AG (sick of that AG trend!) and Kim crushed it - she was low 50's OA, third female overall and first in her AG.  I ran back the house after cheering her on while she collected her well deserved hardware, and managed to get a bit over 13 miles in on tired legs.  A great Father's Day, if you ask me!

Still trying to figure out quite how to schedule the build vs. peak vs. taper weeks for the July Oly and August HIM.  I'm still going to try to race the Oly on kind of fresh legs (will do a lighter build week 2 weeks prior and a heavy taper the week prior) and then do a 2 week HIM build and one week of peak, one week of true taper before it.  I think it'll work out, but this being my first full season of tri's (and having never done an Oly or HIM), it's a learning experience...

Kim wants to do a marathon in the fall, and I'll likely hop in with her.  Not sure I'll have time to prep the way I'd like after the HIM, but should be fun.  Targeting a real go at the 26.2 for next May, possibly.  Will push my tri racing off until second half of the season, but there are some great races then, too.

Too many fun things to do!!

Matt