mentally fried

It sounds less like a lack of training and more like just a number of problems with your race execution that took their toll as the race went on. It's probably good to have these things happen in a shorter race (well, not "good", but better than in the HIM) so you can take a look at what went wrong and try to work things out better before your goal race. Some things you might look at:

*Warmup. Did you do one? Preferably swimming, but if not possible, then 5-10 minutes of jogging or some other exercise to get your heart rate up and arms and legs moving? Not doing that, plus anxiety, can cause your heart rate to spike at the start and lead to a "breathless" feeling, especially in cold water or crowded conditions.

*Related to that, where and how you started the swim. Unless you're a super-fast swimmer, maybe better to start to the outside or back and gradually build up speed. It's a judgement call, but as you mentioned, you don't want to be gassed and mentally fried after the swim. If, like me, you're one of those people who just takes a while to get going, then try to place yourself so you have the time/space to do that, and not get swept up in a fast pace that's not sustainable from the get-go.

*Bike: Sounds like it went well, but maybe you overdid it for your fitness level, or to pull off a strong run with your current run fitness? I always struggle with this. I have done 10 HIM, including two World Championships, and have yet to really figure out the balance of bike and run effort that works optimally for me. Just because you "can" bike at a certain speed or power for a certain distance, doesn't necessarily mean you "should". There's still the run. It's always a compromise.

*Run: Probably affected by overcooking the bike. Plus lack of adequate nutrition and/or hydration usually comes back to bite on the run.

*Nutrition: Not sure of race distance. One gel sounds about right for someone who's average or faster for a sprint; a bit on the low side for an Olympic for most people. Definitely you want to fuel more, and more regularly, in a HIM, especially on the bike. (I take in about 600 calories on the bike, in increments every 20 minutes and am doing it in around 2:40-2:50. That would probably be on the low end of what people consume, considering I'm less than 120 pounds.)

*Hydration: Even in a sprint, you can get dehydrated enough on a hot day to affect performance, especially on the run. In a HIM, you need to stick to a regular plan for drinking that's worked well for you on long runs/rides.

Don't get too discouraged! There's a difference between training and racing, and it takes time to work it out.

thanks hot runner.i did not do a warm up. not sure how that works on the him but i plan to if i can. it cant hurt. i think the rest was fuel related. i drank a ton of water and gatorade, maybe to much as i was feeling a little sick, which never happens but did today. i didnt pay any attn to the fuel part of it cause i do twice these distances all the time. i think i got cocky and paid the price for it. my legged were cooked on the run. i dont know how i can take in that many calories in the him but will try. mainly if i can get thru the swim time i will gut the rest out if i have to. but i gotta get thru the swim.
the distance today was .62 21 6.2. with lots of steep hills and 95 degrees when i finally got back to the truck.
i think i will spend more time swim training and keep my bike and run the same for the next 6 weeks, then take a week to rest before the him.

i definately need to change the workouts. but distance wasnt my problem yest. i lost my breath at a 100 yds and i could not get it back. i side stroked, i floated on my back, i tried to just gut through it. could not get it. i dont have a explanation. normally after i get through the initial tired feeling i could just go on, slowly, but on. did not happen yest. but again it wasnt a training issue, was something diff. i didnt feel overly anxious, but maybe i was. but if i was, i would think the 1.2 would make that much worse.
it is what it is, i will train til race day, do my best, and whatever the results will be the results. would just like to figure out what happened

My guess would still be lack of warmup, and starting too fast. It's not necessarily anxiety related (though that can make it worse), just having to get going at a faster pace before you're physically ready, and the body not being happy with it. It's happened to me, most recently a week ago in a 70.3, even though I'm a confident swimmer and reasonably fast (usually in the top 20% for my age group and even overall including guys) and am not feeling any sense of panic. Just feel like I have no energy, nauseous, and/or can't get my breathing into a rhythm. I actually tend to struggle in all three sports if I have to start too fast--maybe just something about my physiology. It's not necessarily worse in a longer event--people tend to get more spread out on a longer swim, especially if it's a single-lap course, and there's more clear water. In many HIM now, you line up in self-seeded waves based on time. If you know you need/prefer to start slowly, seed yourself conservatively.

As for hydration, in very hot weather, you might find that drinking mainly electrolyte drink without sugar, and relying on other things for energy (gu, solids) would work better. Sometimes a more diluted drink in some of your bottles helps. For the best several years I've mainly trained and raced in the tropics--I found that I really couldn't tolerate sweet or overly concentrated drinks in those conditions. In many races, the Gatorade or other sports drinks served are quite concentrated. Hammer and Nuun make electrolyte tabs that are sugar-free that you can add to your water bottles. I find that I tend to need/tolerate more liquids and less nutrition when conditions are very warm. This is something you can experiment with on long runs/rides/bricks in training.

Edited by Hot Runner 2018-08-06 6:44 PM

thanks. it is greatly appreciated.
i am going to take a few days off, reset mentally, then refocus and train hard. i think it was a combo of several things, i will try to correct what i know went wrong. i stayed at the back or the pack on purpose, but maybe i did start out to fast. didnt seem like it, but maybe. i think just a combo of bad fueling due to over confidence, starting out a bit to fast, a bit anxious, not getting into any rythym with either my strokes or breathing, and just a bad day.

This^^.

It really sounds like you're setting yourself up for failure on the swim by not warming up and starting the swim way to fast. It's really hard to recover and get comfortable again once your body goes anaerobic.

Think of it this way. Let's say you're doing a 5 mile road race. You do all your training at a 9:00 mile pace. On race day you show up completely cold, put your toe on the line and when the gun goes off run the first 800 yards at a 7:30 pace before dropping back BELOW your 9:00 training pace. In that scenario I can almost guarantee you'll have a miserable 5 mile race. Now imagine you've got two more long aerobic events yet to go. It won't be good. No warm up and too fast of a start will wreck your race.

The bottom line is you can't race faster than you train...at least not for very long. If you try you'll get the many of the symptoms you describe.

It is really important to get a solid warm up in before you race. At least a light half mile+ EASY jog with a couple of pick ups is a good start. Get in the water before your wave and get an EASY swim of several hundred yards. You want to let your heart know it's time to work and start to raise up your HR. Get some blood flowing to those muscles.

The other part is you have to nail your pace on the swim. Blowing yourself up on the swim will compromise both your bike and run as you experienced. Know your swim pace and stroke cadence...then nail it exactly in your race. Your not in a swim race, you're in a triathlon, so over-doing it on the swim leg absolutely impacts your later performance once you exit the water. IMHO, you're far better off starting your swim intentionally slower than your training pace so you don't get sucked into starting too fast.

Totally agree as well with the advice from others on hydration and nutrition. You really need to think about your sweat rate so you have a plan to ensure adequate hydration. And you've got to have a plan for getting in calories. The recommendation is generally 60 grams of carbs PER HOUR or in the range of 200-300 calories. Proper calorie intake is something you should be practicing now on your longer bike and run workouts leading up to the race. You never want to experiment with new foods on race day and end up nauseous.

Good luck and happy training!

i didnt think i started out to fast, and i purposely started in the back of the pack so i didnt get caught up in that. after thinking about it i think it was a combo of lots and lots of things, starting with my complete disrespect for the race due to training at longer distances. that was my fault and not one i will make again.
everyone is sick in my house right now so maybe a bug played a part to. i havnt felt good since then.

Sounds like you need to get more comfortable in the water before your next race. Couple things I'd suggest. . . Take the first 50y of your next race at a very relaxed pace and build into your speed. Second, spend time in the pool learning to swim hard and then actively recover. So. . . go all out for 25y, turn, and swim back to the other end easy, recovering from the effort and slowing your breathing, but still swimming. Maybe that'll help you out.

I think you answered your own questions.

Didn't take it as seriously in regards to taper and training to race the olympic as you might have in the past. The weekend before can have a big impact if you over do it. I have also found out over the past few years of maturity I need more rest than before, more true taper, etc. I still set PR's every year, but the boy needs more rest and recovery. I could skate by with 6 to 7 hours of night of sleep with full IM load, but I need at least 8 and most times 9 or I'm wrecked.

You may have over reached on the swim and gone out too fast (too anxious to get out there and kill it?). But, side stroking and beating your time by 6 minutes... that's a win.

Fueling... the gel during the race might have been enough, but what about breakfast and before? Hydration? Did you get enough fluids?

Some races are for "fun" or race day practice, so they fall in your plan and you may not be as ready for them. You just kind of have to accept that unless you are taking each race seriously as max effort, then some may just be what they are. Consider this a learning experience for the half that you may need to tweak rest, recovery, nutrition and daily hydration.

im better mentally today. i will take what i learned, apply it to training, and overcome. im still shocked at what happened on the swim, but way better on this tri than the him. im hoping this doesnt cause me extreme anxiety at the him. i will train much harder for the swim even though i was already doing two and a half hours a week and train differently, as suggested above. then, its gonna be whatever its gonna be.

went swimming today for the first time since the tri. i needed the mental break and it was a struggle to force myself to go today. i was planning on doing a hour with fewer breaks and some hard sets in between easy ones to try and mimic the shortness of breath i was fighting. started out fine, never really lost my breath, just like all my other training sessions and nothing like the tri. but i was pulling harder trying to lose it, and hurt my shoulder. i literally could not pull water due to pain in it, tried to side stroke which was a bad mistake and finished the session off at 40 minutes. im fairly confident its not ligament or tendons, but torn muscle. i can make all the movements, just aches with no resistance and pure pain with resistance. soooooo, rest for a few days then try again. 6 weeks til augusta, terrible timing.

great info, and yes, i am really bad about those, 2 and 4 in paticular. an it gets alot worse as i tire and the form goes, what little form i have. oh well, im do dumb to quit

Stick drill. This drill will help you ingrained proper alignment of your hand entry. Use fins, if needed.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xaOB6uCugyU

This video gives some helpful tips on producing a high elbow catch. The straight arm pull is not what you want to do for distance freestyle...it puts more stress on the shoulder than the high elbow catch/pull.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=d40c8WL2XJQ

Make sure to exhale under water when you're swimming. If you get out of breath, remember to do this, and try to get back to a nice, comfortable breathing pace. Steadily exhale slowly while your face is in the water, then take a normal breath when it's time (usually every 2nd stroke). Even if you know to do this already, it is easy to forget during the start of a race. Holding your breath during efforts leads to high carbon dioxide, which creates a feeling of panic. Slowly exhale and flush out that CO2.

thanks again guys. i just HATE the water, its my kryptonite. we are never gonna get along. period. with that said i will train harder in it til the him then give my best, and hope the current is 2 mph, and wetsuit legal, lol. i just had my best bike and run time all year. IF i can just get out of the water in the time limit, i will finish. but, did i mention i HATE the water.