I recently finished a race and ran into a few issues I was wondering if people had some input on.
First problem was for some reason on the bike leg I kept pissing like a race horse. It was a cool and rainy day so I'm sure that had something to due with it. However the amount coming out definately did not match the volume going in. Unfortunately I believe this gave me the idea that I was "overhydrated" which lead to me making the unwise decsion of not consuming the fluids I had planned on. I also made the same mistake in the run, following the same reasoning, and left some of my fluids at the transition area and didn't stop at as many aid stations as I should have. I guess I'm just curious were all that fluid came from. The only plausible explanation I can come up with is that it came from the metabolism of the glucose. Since I was not sweating it off it came out via urine. Since normally in my mind peeing alot equates to "overhydration" not "burning calories" I suspended fluid intake which lead to definate dehydration on the run.
Second I ran into a small bout of intestinal fortitude issues. Somehow in the morning I got caught up in the race day excitement and broke the foremost rule of racing. "Never try anything new on race day" While the group of folks I was with were sitting around the table at a resturant someone ordered a bowl of oatmeal. I thought it looked good and ordered one too. About a third of the way thru the bowl I realized that I rarely eat anything before races normally only sports drink and maybey a banana and quite eating it. Things went well thru the bike but about 2-3 miles into the run intestinal cramping started. I made it without issue, AKA crapping my pants, thru the entire race however I had diareaha and intestinal problems for pretty much the rest of the day. Not sure if this was caused by the oatmeal, gel or possibly related to the dehydration issue.
Second I ran into a small bout of intestinal fortitude issues. Somehow in the morning I got caught up in the race day excitement and broke the foremost rule of racing. "Never try anything new on race day" While the group of folks I was with were sitting around the table at a resturant someone ordered a bowl of oatmeal. I thought it looked good and ordered one too. About a third of the way thru the bowl I realized that I rarely eat anything before races normally only sports drink and maybey a banana and quite eating it. Things went well thru the bike but about 2-3 miles into the run intestinal cramping started. I made it without issue, AKA crapping my pants, thru the entire race however I had diareaha and intestinal problems for pretty much the rest of the day. Not sure if this was caused by the oatmeal, gel or possibly related to the dehydration issue.
I had hot rice cereal once before a tri. I didn't have any stomach problems, but I could barely move, I felt so tired after the first half of the swim. It wasn't a good morning. I don't usually run or swim or bike after cereal because I get very tired. I don't know why I thought it would be a good pre-tri breakfast, except that it sounded "hearty".
I can come up with is that it came from the metabolism of the glucose.
I think that is right--remember it takes 2 gms of water to turn 1 gm of carbs into glucose--this comes back when the glucose is used.
Quoted message said:
Second I ran into a small bout of intestinal fortitude issues.
My thoughts are that you got badly away from an isotonic gut--far too much fluids, not enough electrolites--unless you were supplementing salt, discontinuing fluids made this worse. Too much fluids in the gut can lead to the type of problems you experienced.
Did you drink any caffeinated beverages that morning?
I like a cup or two of coffee in the morning. If I go for a ride or run, I have to stop a few times to "water the trees". Caffeine is a diuretic (sp?), makes ya want to pee.
MK
MJuric wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...
Quoted message said:
I recently finished a race and ran into a few issues I was wondering if people had some input on.
First problem was for some reason on the bike leg I kept pissing like a race horse. It was a cool and rainy day so I'm sure that had something to due with it. However the amount coming out definately did not match the volume going in. Unfortunately I believe this gave me the idea that I was "overhydrated" which lead to me making the unwise decsion of not consuming the fluids I had planned on. I also made the same mistake in the run, following the same reasoning, and left some of my fluids at the transition area and didn't stop at as many aid stations as I should have. I guess I'm just curious were all that fluid came from. The only plausible explanation I can come up with is that it came from the metabolism of the glucose. Since I was not sweating it off it came out via urine. Since normally in my mind peeing alot equates to "overhydration" not "burning calories" I suspended fluid intake which lead to definate dehydration on the run.
Second I ran into a small bout of intestinal fortitude issues. Somehow in the morning I got caught up in the race day excitement and broke the foremost rule of racing. "Never try anything new on race day" While the group of folks I was with were sitting around the table at a resturant someone ordered a bowl of oatmeal. I thought it looked good and ordered one too. About a third of the way thru the bowl I realized that I rarely eat anything before races normally only sports drink and maybey a banana and quite eating it. Things went well thru the bike but about 2-3 miles into the run intestinal cramping started. I made it without issue, AKA crapping my pants, thru the entire race however I had diareaha and intestinal problems for pretty much the rest of the day. Not sure if this was caused by the oatmeal, gel or possibly related to the dehydration issue.
I had hot rice cereal once before a tri. I didn't have any stomach problems, but I could barely move, I felt so tired after the first half of the swim. It wasn't a good morning. I don't usually run or swim or bike after cereal because I get very tired. I don't know why I thought it would be a good pre-tri breakfast, except that it sounded "hearty".
I don't know if this would work for other people, but I pretty much always have a cinnamon bagel and a crunchy peanut butter Clif bar for breakfast as soon as I wake up on race day, chased with a bottle or two of Gatorade. Then I'll have a gel or two a little closer to race time. I've never had a problem with it.
(Normally, I have a few bowls of cold ceral with 1% milk, but I avoid dairy on race day ever since I had the issues with a water bottle full of heavy cream during a half IM :-)
--Harold Buck
"I used to rock and roll all night, and party every day. Then it was every other day. . . ."
I can come up with is that it came from the metabolism of the glucose.
I think that is right--remember it takes 2 gms of water to turn 1 gm of carbs into glucose--this comes back when the glucose is used.
Quoted message said:
Second I ran into a small bout of intestinal fortitude issues.
My thoughts are that you got badly away from an isotonic gut--far too much fluids, not enough electrolites--unless you were supplementing salt, discontinuing fluids made this worse. Too much fluids in the gut can lead to the type of problems you experienced.
That's something I hadn't thought of. If I'm understanding you correctly you're saying I wasn't "Shedding" fluids fast enough and thus my electrolytes became more diluted which compounded the problem. Not taking in additional sport type drinks which contained electrolytes compounded the problem. Correct? I have had a couple of people point to the direction of Sodium loss as a possible issue.
Did you drink any caffeinated beverages that morning?
I like a cup or two of coffee in the morning. If I go for a ride or run, I have to stop a few times to "water the trees". Caffeine is a diuretic (sp?), makes ya want to pee.
I've read recently (Runner's Word, I think) that they're re-thinking the diuretic effects of caffeine. It definitely has that effect in non-users, but the effect seems to disappear quickly when people get used to taking caffeine.
--Harold Buck
"I used to rock and roll all night, and party every day. Then it was every other day. . . ."
I had hot rice cereal once before a tri. I didn't have any stomach problems, but I could barely move, I felt so tired after the first half of the swim. It wasn't a good morning. I don't usually run or swim or bike after cereal because I get very tired. I don't know why I thought it would be a good pre-tri breakfast, except that it sounded "hearty".
I don't know if this would work for other people, but I pretty much always have a cinnamon bagel and a crunchy peanut butter Clif bar for breakfast as soon as I wake up on race day, chased with a bottle or two of Gatorade. Then I'll have a gel or two a little closer to race time. I've never had a problem with it.
You seem to enjoy carbs before your big event. 🙂 Thank you for sharing.
I have found that I can't have gatorade products until much later in the day, or it makes me very tired. I now use electrolyte pills. I am not really sure how much to use.
Do you have that same problem at all?
Quoted message said:
(Normally, I have a few bowls of cold ceral with 1% milk, but I avoid dairy on race day ever since I had the issues with a water bottle full of heavy cream during a half IM :-)
Why did they give you a water bottle full of heavy cream? That would make me sick, I am pretty sure.
That's something I hadn't thought of. If I'm understanding you correctly you're saying I wasn't "Shedding" fluids fast enough and thus my electrolytes became more diluted which compounded the problem. Not taking in additional sport type drinks which contained electrolytes compounded the problem. Correct? I have had a couple of people point to the direction of Sodium loss as a possible issue.
You should read up on hyponatremia a bit.
My friend was so scared of hyponatremia he told me he wasn't going to drink anything during our half-IM, and that he'd probably just eat some Gatorade powder or something. Yes, he was joking, but as they pointed out in Runner's World, dehydration will likely just screw up your performance--you'll quit before you get into serous danger--but hyponatremia has a good chance of killing you.
--Harold Buck
"I used to rock and roll all night, and party every day. Then it was every other day. . . ."
That's something I hadn't thought of. If I'm understanding you correctly you're saying I wasn't "Shedding" fluids fast enough and thus my electrolytes became more diluted which compounded the problem. Not taking in additional sport type drinks which contained electrolytes compounded the problem. Correct?
That's the general idea. I'm sure the details are more complicated.
That's something I hadn't thought of. If I'm understanding you correctly you're saying I wasn't "Shedding" fluids fast enough and thus my electrolytes became more diluted which compounded the problem. Not taking in additional sport type drinks which contained electrolytes compounded the problem. Correct? I have had a couple of people point to the direction of Sodium loss as a possible issue.
You should read up on hyponatremia a bit.
My friend was so scared of hyponatremia he told me he wasn't going to drink anything during our half-IM, and that he'd probably just eat some Gatorade powder or something. Yes, he was joking, but as they pointed out in Runner's World, dehydration will likely just screw up your performance--you'll quit before you get into serous danger--but hyponatremia has a good chance of killing you.
--Harold Buck
I've read several articles on the subject. Most of them dealt with the problem of bringing in water only for hydration rather than a sports drink. I've not seen anything on the potential of hyponatremia that dealt with the issue of dilution due to the release of water during glucose metabolism. The only time I took in pure water was with gel. All other times was sport drink. Unfortunetly it never occured to me during the race that I was suffering from loss of electrolytes or just plain dilution of electrolytes because it was cool and or raining most of the race. I had several eloctrolyte tabs with me I never even thought to take.
~Matt
Quoted message said:
"I used to rock and roll all night, and party every day. Then it was every other day. . . ."
(Normally, I have a few bowls of cold ceral with 1% milk, but I avoid dairy on race day ever since I had the issues with a water bottle full of heavy cream during a half IM :-)
Why did they give you a water bottle full of heavy cream? That would make me sick, I am pretty sure.
The little ":-)" meant that I was joking.
--Harold Buck
"I used to rock and roll all night, and party every day. Then it was every other day. . . ."
