hitting the wall

gumbynation

hello all,
Serious newbie question for your discussion that doesn't involve GPS on a treadmill...

Yesterday I did my first olympic length triathlon in scorching weather in Athy. great day - great event easy course, savage weather etc
finished in under 3 hours. pretty happy with my lot but...

Coming off the bike running into transition i started to feel pretty queasy and remained that way till about 3.5k into the run. When i say run it should be read 'waddle' - I am reliable informed by two witnesses that i looked more like a frightened pale duck/penguin trying to escape a polar bear whilst clutching a bottle of powerade, rather than a 'triathlete'!

I had to stop twice briefly to give my stomach a chance to clear its contents which thankfully never materialised. i was close to giving up on the 'run' part and walking the rest of the 10k but a managed (with the aid of a refreshing used icepack from a fellow competitor!) to reinvorgate myself to the point of waddling like a duck again before finally remembering how to run after the 3.5km drink station. At which point the queasiness passed and i was smiling and well able to run like a champion all the way to the finish, including a sprint to the finish from 250m out with what felt like plenty left in the tank.

Now some background info for your analysis..
i ate two nutrigrain bars on the bike one at 1km and one at 20 km, washed down with blue powerade and the rest of the (750ml) bottle drank at fairly regular intervals through out the bike. i took a bottle with me on the run and probably drank 150-200 mils in the first 3kms before ditching it (to a steward - not littering!)
i had a decent 'tri friendly' breakfast early and think i ate pretty well on the day in general ( apart from the race itself).

In the 2 weeks before the race i did virtually no training.
I surf and play football and cycle to work about 3 days a week (30km round trip) so i have a reasonable level of fitness and did quite a bit of training for the final sprint (1 hr 22ish) but with work/other commitments i did nothing for 2 weeks leading up to the race.
That said i was happy with my swim - under 30mins ( first time swimming 1.5km this year, didnt even do it in the pool) and the bike wasn't too bad 1hr.16mins (about the same as my mates and we'd be at a similar fitness levels)
im just a bit dissapointed as i know it doesnt take me 1hr and 2 mins to run 10kms! - (nearer to 50 mins) and it felt like i could keep on running at the finish line.

also when considering my experience one should bear in mind during the fingal sprint I had NO problem whatsover coming off the bike. I felt top notch going into the run and was able to keep up a decent pace throughout (did the run in 21 mins). Again for comparison i had no stomach issues in the fingal, drank spar brand lucozade on the bike which i had to stop drinking in the run as it was too sweet - i was thirsty but couldnt drink it. but still didnt have any queasiness.
eating on the bike was a first for me yesterday, and probably a last. id sooner complete the race without eating than go through that again.

So my question is:

Do you think this wall i hit coming off the bike / into the run was due to:

A) A lack of training, both recent and overall?

Nutrition on the day

Can you suggest anything to remedy this

Suggestions on the back of a postcard to:
Gumbynation helpline,
C/O ART forum
Boards.ie

Many thanks
Gumby

Husavik

It does not sound like you hit the wall if you ate two bars and drank a sports drink. It sounds like it was a stomach problem if you ask me.

Were the Nutri grain bars a first? For an Olympic tri I would recommend a quality sports drink like High 5 sachets to mix with water, a ripe banana and extra water. I'm no expert, this is just from experience. 40k on the bike can leave you at little leg heavy and it tends to take about a km or so before the bike legs are out of the system (though you may already know this). Another thing to consider is not going quite as hard on the bike. Leave your energy for the run.

Bloody Nipples

Is eating necessary during an olympic distance tri? I know next to nothing about it but if you can do a marathon without eating then why not an olympic triathlon. I'd have thought that carbo-loading in the days beforehand would be all you need? Unless I'm totally wrong.

gumbynation

thanks for the advice folks.

hussavik:
i think you are on the money... it was the stomach issue that stopped me from running. i just assumed that was the same as 'the wall'. are they different?
yes the eating of the bars was a first. and in restrospect, i handnt even tried them in the training i did so it was a total rookie error on my part, im just trying to figure out how to avoid it in the future.
it was the first tri ive done at that length so i had no idea sure what i was supposed to be consuming during the race.
Theres just so much stuff on the internet i gave up trying to research it properly and just went with what i could get in tesco. (clearly not the smartest move...)
ill try the hi-5 sachet drinks in training before my olympic length one so.

Nipples:
regards marathon.... never run more than 10kms in my life so i have no idea if i can run a marathon or was that a general statement as in a person can run a marathon without food so i dont need to be eating anything at all for these races???

Thanks again for your advice folks

Bloody Nipples

Yep if you carbo load the day before the race then eating shouldn't really be necessary. You could have a few gels for T1 and T2 but I wouldn't think you'd need to eat anything.

Krusty_Clown

I was going to post the same thing as Husavik. It sounds like an experience I had during my first marathon, where I over-did it on the sugar-based products and didn't drink enough water and take enough salt. I'm not a triathlete, but it sounds like you need to work on your nutrition plan and practice it a little in training.

When you hit the wall, it's more of a feeling of needing to stop, without being able to attribute it to any specific cause or reason (or so I'm told. )

tunney

gumbynation wrote: »

hello all,
Serious newbie question for your discussion that doesn't involve GPS on a treadmill...

Yesterday I did my first olympic length triathlon in scorching weather in Athy. great day - great event easy course, savage weather etc
finished in under 3 hours. pretty happy with my lot but...

Coming off the bike running into transition i started to feel pretty queasy and remained that way till about 3.5k into the run. When i say run it should be read 'waddle' - I am reliable informed by two witnesses that i looked more like a frightened pale duck/penguin trying to escape a polar bear whilst clutching a bottle of powerade, rather than a 'triathlete'!

I had to stop twice briefly to give my stomach a chance to clear its contents which thankfully never materialised. i was close to giving up on the 'run' part and walking the rest of the 10k but a managed (with the aid of a refreshing used icepack from a fellow competitor!) to reinvorgate myself to the point of waddling like a duck again before finally remembering how to run after the 3.5km drink station. At which point the queasiness passed and i was smiling and well able to run like a champion all the way to the finish, including a sprint to the finish from 250m out with what felt like plenty left in the tank.

Now some background info for your analysis..
i ate two nutrigrain bars on the bike one at 1km and one at 20 km, washed down with blue powerade and the rest of the (750ml) bottle drank at fairly regular intervals through out the bike. i took a bottle with me on the run and probably drank 150-200 mils in the first 3kms before ditching it (to a steward - not littering!)
i had a decent 'tri friendly' breakfast early and think i ate pretty well on the day in general ( apart from the race itself).

In the 2 weeks before the race i did virtually no training.
I surf and play football and cycle to work about 3 days a week (30km round trip) so i have a reasonable level of fitness and did quite a bit of training for the final sprint (1 hr 22ish) but with work/other commitments i did nothing for 2 weeks leading up to the race.
That said i was happy with my swim - under 30mins ( first time swimming 1.5km this year, didnt even do it in the pool) and the bike wasn't too bad 1hr.16mins (about the same as my mates and we'd be at a similar fitness levels)
im just a bit dissapointed as i know it doesnt take me 1hr and 2 mins to run 10kms! - (nearer to 50 mins) and it felt like i could keep on running at the finish line.

also when considering my experience one should bear in mind during the fingal sprint I had NO problem whatsover coming off the bike. I felt top notch going into the run and was able to keep up a decent pace throughout (did the run in 21 mins). Again for comparison i had no stomach issues in the fingal, drank spar brand lucozade on the bike which i had to stop drinking in the run as it was too sweet - i was thirsty but couldnt drink it. but still didnt have any queasiness.
eating on the bike was a first for me yesterday, and probably a last. id sooner complete the race without eating than go through that again.

So my question is:

Do you think this wall i hit coming off the bike / into the run was due to:

A) A lack of training, both recent and overall?

Nutrition on the day

Can you suggest anything to remedy this

Suggestions on the back of a postcard to:
Gumbynation helpline,
C/O ART forum
Boards.ie

Many thanks
Gumby

You ate and drank way way way too much.

All you really need, if you need anything, maybe one 750ml carb drink on the bike, maybe one gel.

No solids.
No carb drink on the run.

Energy supplies are not going to be an issue in an event as short as an olympic distance tri.

"Carbo loading" may also have played a part in it. Most people use it as an excuse to overeat and end of bloated and in a bad state. I'd avoid for anything other than IM and even then I'l probably just eat a tad bit more the day before.

Glycogen depletion - aka "hitting the wall". You can't think, you can't make decisions, your vision may go blurry. You're in a complete and utter jock.

ir666

People can focus too much on drinks and gels.

These fancy products will not boost your performance on the day.

It is all in the training, training, training.:eek:

For 3 DCM's I stuck to water except for a few stray jelly beans handed out by the kids near the end.

God , them Jelly Beans sure taste good after 3.5 hrs of running/ploddin...............:)

Krusty_Clown

ir666 wrote: »

For 3 DCM's I stuck to water except for a few stray jelly beans handed out by the kids near the end.

Hardcore! Still though, you might have made it in less than three hours had you enjoyed some sports drinks and gels.

gumbynation

thanks everyone,
great advice!!
Gumby