what happened?

I've done over a dozen sprints and have never had a fatigue/nutritional problem given the short distance (typically 1 Gu gel and water).  But I did my first Oly in July but only added 1 additional Gu gel to my nutritional program and wound up dehydrated and nauseous on the run (I got through the bike ok).  I walked about half of the 6 miles. 

Clearly it's a big step up nutritionally moving from sprint to Oly distance and calories and electrolytes play a bigger role. 

I somewhat agree with ???BuckHamilton.  I don't think hydration/nutrition is an issue.  I typically do 3 hour training rides on 20-40 ounces of water.  It really depends on how much you're sweating and a lot of that has to do with heat.  I felt the temperature on race day was optimal and I knew I didn't need much water.  During my Olympic race, I took down one Gatorade Prime before the race and one 20 ounce bottle of water mixed with Hammer Heed powder during the race.  I'm in my first season of the sport and the Chicago Triathlon was my first Olympic distance race and fourth triathlon (previous 3 races were Sprints). 

I think it boils down to one or more of the following:

A.) You have not developed proper conditioning

B.) You raced on tired legs due to not properly tapering

C.) Not enough bricks in your normal workouts

D.) Need to toughen up mentally

E.) Poor race strategy (see below)

During the off season, focus on developing your cardio engine and when spring arrives, try a small race, perhaps a super sprint or a sprint race to help you build some confidence before signing up for a longer distance race @ a bigger venue.  You don't need to go at 100% the entire race.  You'll figure out how much to push your body with more races on your belt.

Also, I think people underestimate how much fatigue the swim causes on the body.  I know when I got out of the water, my HR spiked up quite a bit and I had a hard time getting up to speed on the first bike leg.  I almost always have this problem after getting out of the water.  And during a race, you don't get to properly warm up your legs, so the first 10-15 minutes will always be challenging, especially with a strong headwind like we had last Sunday.  My advice for you is to take it easy and wait for your legs to warm up, before hammering it.

I was not going fast at all on the bike. My plan was just to save as much energy for the 10k, but I could not shake off the fatigue. It took me 59 min for the first leg of the bike. Also I have been practicing a couple of lake swim to bike, so I don't think that was the issue. I had to skip two days of my taper week due to some virus I got. However, I was feeling pretty good the morning off, a little cough and stuffiness but that's it. So I am guessing most likely option A and D.

A.)  I really can't tell much by just looking at your logs other than you've dedicated some time to training.  It really depends on what physical condition you're in now and what your goal is in this sport.  If you're not in the best shape, then I suggest you take it slow and develop your cardio engine - you lose weight and get fit in the process.  To do that you swim, bike, and run.  Repeat a lot at varying intensities.   Monitor your diet and fuel properly.

Once you're fit enough, it all depends on your goals.  If your goal is to just to finish an Olympic distance race, I'd suggest at least getting in a couple of 10 mile runs a month, as well as a couple of 50 mile bike rides.  That should allow your body to make the proper adaptations for longer distances and on race day, you should have no problem doing approximately 1/2 of that.  Can't offer any tips for swimming since I'm really terrible at it.

D.) As BuckHamilton stated...HTFU.  Dig deep and find the desire to perform at your best.  Also, consider training with a group or finding a training partner so that you can push eachother.  I'm not sure where you're located, but I'm sure there's a Tri club in your area.

Good luck!

Hey Ifi, So I'm NO expert..by any stretch of the imagination. This past Sunday was my first tri period...but it was the Oly tri. I'm going to suggest that maybe go get a physical and make sure everything is working properly? I think it's just a smart thing to do (or at least that is what my wife tells me), especially if you had trained well and a good mind set etc etc.

Personally I ran out of gas on the run but still finished. I'm sure everyone is different here but during the bike ride I was just so damn happy to be out of that water that it felt great (keep in mind I did my first, and last mountain bike division). Anyhow, if you dont think getting an overall check out is worth while, you can look forward to training for the tri's next year..personally I find not succeeding as I wanted to the first time (extra emphasis on "AS I WANTED TO", not others) to be the most amazing motivation..learned from experience.

Sorry about sounding mean, but what I was trying to get at was that there is a point in every race that I want to quit (sometimes multiple) because I feel crappy. That is when you need to dig down and figure out how to push past it. It ussally goes away. My bad points are the last 2 miles of the bike (start to dread the run) and mile 2 of the run (when I relize I still have a long way to go). But I have also had it appear in the swim. That swim was tough and it took a lot out a look of good triathletes. Look at the times compared to last year and you will see about a 5 to 10 minute drop in times.

Keep at it but expect it to be hard, because it is

my question is when was your wave?  Did you have any water with while you waited?  Trouble with the Chicago try is you can wait 3  to 4 hours from set up to race.  a lot can happen in that time that can affect you if you are not drinking at all.

swim was really tough from what I hear too and swim might just taken way more out of you than you were expecting/expected. 

I know my first tri swim I was so exhausted I basically hung over my handle bars just trying to keep moving on the bike.

Key is go out and keep training.  Keep improving and next year you will be better off or at least know your body better and maybe know what is going on. 

I'd be interested to know about your nutrition.  What did you eat that morning?  Did you have anything between then and when your wave started?  Did you take anything in between finishing the swim and dropping off the bike?

Also, you said you had a virus the week prior - could that have been part of the issue?