SWIM: 2.5 mile swim in NT lake, 1hr 27 mins
BIKE: 50 miles in 3hrs
RUN: 6 miles in 53.5 mins
This could take a while to summarize. But I'm tired so maybe it won't!
I slept in and had a fast breakfast. On top of that, I didn't drink much water in the morning. Plenty of opportunity, still didn't do it. This strongly contributed to what happens later.
The swim was fantastic, and went according to plan. I taped my ankle and it stayed in place. I had water and a gel between loops 2 and 3 which may have helped avoid cramps. I stayed calm, with a low HR and steady rhythm. My OWS abilities are a complete turnaround from last year. I'm not fast but I'm able to do it. On top of that, all I had to drink furing the swim was a few ounces of water.
The bike started about 40 mins after the swim. I needed time to get some fuel and water in me, and although I tried I probably didn't get enough. The ride started out slowly--I spotted a small chunk of rubber missing from my front tire. Who knows how long it's been there, but now that I knew I couldn't ride on it. But who carries a spare tire? Tubes, yes. Tires, no. The bike experts from BS/LS suggested the dollar bill fix--a piece of tough paper between the tube and tire to prevent the tube from expanding through the hole. So my Allstate Insurance card, a plasticy flexible paper was sacrificed for the repair. It expired Monday anyway.
As always, the flats were windy, always a headwind or crosswind regardless of direction. At least it seems that way. MC and TH were with me, and we set a comfy pace. My goal was to work on my bike-to-run nutrition. Of all the days to test a new a new sugar for the bike: CarboPro. 200 calories, 50g carbs, and nothing else. No protein, flavor, or electrolytes. I had it in my 2nd bottle, planning to use it in the 2nd half of the ride.
Between the wind and heat, I lost water fast. The aero bottle with cytomax emptied in the first half of the ride and I moved to the CarboPro. It did have a slight flavor, a blecky sort of bland pleasant-ness, if that makes any sense at all. If I were to try it again, I would have added a Nuun for flavor and electrolytes, but I don't think I'll be trying it again. It made me thirstier! It left my mouth dry and shriveled-feeling. That may have been due to the lack of salts in the drink. This was a problem. On top of that, I ran out of water. I carried enough for the planned ride (under 3 hrs), but gave some away to a rider thinking I'd be OK. And when the actual ride was closer to 3.5 hrs, I came up short.
Otherwise, everything was great. I'm still mashing a bit in the headwinds which had my feet hurting by mile 45. The tire repair held up. I thought my arms or back would be tired from the swim but they weren't. The only issue was the water situation. I was dry and had 5 more miles to go. Doesn't seem like much, does it? At the final turn, only 1.5 miles to go, my HR shot up to 170+ even though my effort didn't. My heart had that leaping feeling, a fluttery beat that was a combination of dehydration and heat and stress. When we got back to the truck, I was cooked. It wasn't a good time for a run, so we decided to skip the brick run and maybe get it in later when the heat of the day was off.
Water, water, water. I started dumping it in. But nothing coming out. Started eating Nuuns, grapes, and Powerade to get everything rebalanced. I was feeling better by 5pm and went for a run. I've already shown that I'm pretty resistant to dehydration, and that I can get pretty dry and still function. That's not a good thing, I'm not saying I'm proud of it either. But I ate some honey (tired of gels) and took off for TGP.
The honey didn't set well at first, but with some water the discomfort went away. I was feeling surprisingly good, and help a nice sub 9 pace. Waiting a few hours after the ride was the best decision, instead of a slog through the heat I instead had a strong run. By the time I finished, I was wiped with waves of heat coming off me. More water, water, water.
Still drinking water and more water. Still rebalancing. I messed up the nutrition today! What happened? Didn't start the morning off right. Didn't drink much around the swim. Didn't bring enough on the bike. All easily fixed, and I'm happy to have worked this out with a few months to go.
But didn't I learn this lesson already?
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