Way to gut it out, Mark.  You wrote:

Two days later as I write this I have gone from not wanting to ever do a triathlon again to being determined to figure out what went wrong so I can have a decent race next year.

And I say AMEN, BROTHER!  I feel the same way about myself, and my race.

Mark - Good race and way to gut that thing out.  Cramps are a B*tch!

I agree that the Myoplex bars are pretty high in protien.  That is harder to digest.  I do have a cliff bar (but only one) and they have a better carb/protien ratio (45 carbs, 11 protien).  I take it early in the bike just b/c I NEED something solid mentally.  I think cliff blocks would work, too, for solidness (is that a word?). 

And since you were 8 pounds down, that really makes me think you were dehydrated.  Did you have to go to the bathroom at all?  I am telling you, if you didn't you weren't drinking enough.  My $.02.

Congrats, though, man!  Seriously a great accomplishment!

All the stuff you peeps are saying makes so much sense now!  Those bars are made for a low carb (not no carb)/high protein diet to lose weight.  I was mostly focussed oncalories I suppose but a steak would have high calories but certainly not something that I would eat out there or even the night b4.  Stupid, stupid, stupid!

I didn't even come close to having to go to the bathroom - I never do during a workout - I sweat way too much!

So far, here are the conclusions: No myoplex in the race, drink more so I have to actually "go".  Better to have to go than to dehydrate.  Finally, I won't do that race again w/o salt tablets (?)  If you have more comments keep them coming as I obviously have a lot to learn.  Thanks!

Way to gut it out and congrats on getting the first one in the bag.  Some suggestions maybe:

1.  Sweat testing.  Weigh yourself before and after you run and determine how much fluid you are losing.  Once you go over two percent body weight in weight loss performance starts to suffer.  If you know how much you need to drink it gets a lot easier, coming from a habitual cramper and sweaty mofo.

2.  Nutrition takes some time.  It is a hit or miss thing, but the more you experiment in training and take notes of results, the better.  Protein does have a risk of causing cramps as it is harder on the gut.  Might want to look at something like InfinIT which seems to work pretty good for me.

3.  Salt caps- again these can help with cramps, but if you dont know numero uno, you arent doing much.  My understanding is all extra sodium does is help you absorb the water effeciently.

Hmmm...not sure what else, but damn proud of ya man.  HIM is a whole different ballgame and aint no joke fo sho.  Glad to see ya back on the horse, or donkey or whatever.  It doesnt come overnight and you are making tons of progress.  EEEEAAAWWWW and big ups! 

Wow, what a day, sorry the nutrition wasn't quite there for you. 

By the way, have you thought of emailing the race director to ask what is up with the times?

Yes - I'll see what kind of response I get.

Mark,

First off- congratulations for finishing your first (but not last) Half Ironman. It's an accomplishment that few get the opportunity to complete.

Having swam with you last week, and ridden at Crank Daddys last winter,  I know you are much faster than this race shows. As Joe mentioned, the long distance race is where nutrition makes or breaks a race ( I learned this the hard way at HC).

I also know what you are going through emotionally, I went through the same stuff last month. Give it a few more days and your feel much better about things.

Looking back, my F'ed up HIM was the best thing that happend for my tri career. Look at it as a learning experience, that while painful, will make you faster in the future. PM me if you want to chat.

Hey, you hung in there and you finished!  That counts!  Great job

Holy cow- you had a rough time out there!!   A great learning experience I am guessing though?? 

Next year that course will be yours!!!

Wow, that was some race you had.

Swim: You learned from the races you had this year and it seems you had a perfect swim

T1: Took the time to make sure everything was perfect ! Great A+

Bike: You knew how hard you could go, and you stock to it, awesome ! I hope I will be able to do that well when I get out there for my HIM.

T2: great

Run: ..................Well.............like you said “when I ran I felt pretty good energy” I understand that like you had done the right thing on the bike, since you still had energy left for the run. Crams are a B#$%&. I think (read guess!) that it is probably a combinations more things that let to your situation.  You already listed 3 very good things, the only other thing that might help, well it helped me, last year I got cramps on the run in ALL my Tri´s What helped me was when I moved my seat a bit more forward. That is all I can think of, sorry.

BUT, and this is a BIG but, You hang in there and you finished it !!!! You did NOT quit, you are an inspirations !!!!!

You did a ½ IRONMAN !!!!!!! CONGRATULATIONS

You had a tough day, wow! I lost track of the number of places you were cramping! Nice work gutting it out and finishing.

It's tough having a great swim and bike only to have the race come crashing down on you on the run. I speak from experience, this happened to me on my first two HIM's. Take all the info that everyone has posted above about nutrition, hydration, etc. and start working on a plan for your next race. Experiment in training with different drinks and gels and food to find out what works best for you. You will have a better next race, you have shown you have the mental toughness to do this.

Congrats on finishing a HIM!

Mark,
Sounds like a rough day.  And it sounds like a learning experince.

Had you ever training taking the myoplex bars?  One of the things I always read, nothing new on race day.  I would think trying those during a long brick would have been a smart thing to do.

You finished and that is the best part.  I don't know that I would have in that case.  Congrats.