Nice report. Sorry your run fell apart And believe me I know exactly how you feel with borderline collapsing. It has happened to me a few times during some of my long stuff and it is really scary...I get lightheaded and dizzy and wish I could just puke and get it over with but I don't...I just feel so out of it and fuzzy and need to lay down. I haven't figured out the problem but I know that if I eat and drink WAY more than I think I need to on the bike that usually helps. On the bike I aim for 1.5 bottles of infinit an hour (2 scoops per bottle) as well as a gel every 45 minutes.

Also, is your breakfast big enough? Try eating more during some long training days. I aim for 800 calories 3 hours before a HIM. It's such a long day that you really need to make sure you eat enough before it starts.

Do you take salt? If it was that hot out you were probably sweating out a lot of salt. Infinit has sodium in it and so do gels but I always supplement with 2 saltstick pills an hour, especially on the hot days. On the run you said you switched from infinit to water and gaterade. Gaterade has some sodium but not enough.

Don't let a bad run get you down! There's still plenty of time until Arizona. We'll be great!

Well, Todd... a 3:06 half marathon from you is unheard of.  Besides the obvious fact that your Garmin was out of commission... perhaps your HR was higher than you expected?  The symptoms seem to be indicative of a bonk.  What's your Infinit profile like?

Have you ever heard of Salt Stick Capsules?  I was always a huge fan of Hammer Endurolytes- these things are like Endurolytes plus.  They have all sorts of nutrients in them... they make long runs infinitely more enjoyable.  I would strongly recommend you try them.  Between working your butt off on the bike then running in the heat, I'm willing to bet your nutrition strategy was to blame.  Try the salt stick caps- they work.  I know I wouldn't be able to handle the amount of running I've been doing without them.

For what it's worth too- awesome job on the swim!  That's got to be your best swim ever, wasn't it?

Wow... rough day. But huge props for gutting it out.

I checked my split at the swim turn around, but only because nobody else was around... so I don't think it was me.

I was looking for the same portta pottie on the bike course as you. That was a long ride.

Dude... I do not care what the research say... protein and races do not mix for me. Whey protein is very easy to take. The only protein I will take is a Power Bar peanut butter protein bar. It actually tastes good to me. As far as soy protein... makes me want to gag just thinking about it. I tried those "Roctanes"... big mistake. I pretty much keep it to sugar. Certainly for a HIM... I would eat a bar on the bike for a full, but that is it.

Dude, trust your training. You know what you have done, and a full will be a much lower pace. Nutrition and training alone do not ruin a race... an inadequate PACE for the nutrition, training, or condition is what ruins a race. We can all walk 70.3 if we had to. It was just a bad day. Without any data, you have no idea what you really did to what you "think" you did.

I meant to add this link, too.  This article was posted today:

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/cms/article-detail.asp?articleid=2481&vote=5

Well Todd...it's hard to say what messed up your run.  Too bad you did not have any heart rate data  because that would give you a good indication about when things started going south.  This stuff happens though.  My first marathon after hitting the 20-mile mark at about 2:20 took be about 90-minutes to do the final 10K.  SH^! HAPPENS!  Better this happen in your training then during IMAZ.

I have never tried Infinit.  When I did my IM I pretty much stuck with what worked in training, cytomax and or gatorade, power and cliff bars, gels, and bananas.  You still have a couple months before IMAZ.  If I were you, I would get you nutrition dialed in and don't waver from that for IMAZ.  Also, really pay attention to how you feel on your training rides.  Hopefully your HRM comes through for you on race day...but if it doesn't you want to be sure that you aren't spent from the bike. It's too bad that this had to happen during a race leading up to yuor IM.  But it's a learning experience and I would bet it does not happen again.  Shake it off and go kick some but at IMAZ!