Drinking Problem?

One of my worst habits generally and also specific to tri training is that I don't like to to drink. I don't mean pints of ale, I mean any liquid at all. Water to me is the most boring stuff on earth and I can never be bothered to drink it. Not enough anyway. That's not so good under any circumstances but when you are trying to prepare for a long distance sporting event it can be hazardous to your health. So I'm doing my best to stay hydrated.

This past sunday was a 100k ride, and based on some intel provided by a studious friend who is also preparing for an Ironman (Florida) I calculated that I should consume 6 600ml bottles of sport drink (Cytomax in this case, my personal favourite) for the 4 hours I would be riding.

Could I do it? Not a chance. I managed to choke down 4 x 600ml over the duration of the ride but that was it. The good news is that I felt ok, not dry at all. I'll have to go back and re-calculate this - it was based on total caloric requirements and so did not take into account any solid food or energy gels, both of which I also consumed. Stay tuned, I'll report back next post and lay it all out.

What Kind of Fuel Am I (going to need?)

A friend and multi-IM finisher once described the race as "an eating contest". This after another friend got himself into a jackpot midway through IMLP2005, but took a break and fueled up and eventually got back into gear. It's a long long day and if you don't keep those calories coming you are going to be in serious trouble. I've posted earlier about the incredible caloric requirements for the race - the importance of nutrition cannot be overstated.

I had a small reminder of that yesterday during a 3 hour brick session. a two hour ride (easy-ish) followed by a one hour run (again, not too fast) didn't seem too ambitious but I made the fatal error of not eating enough on the bike. I ran out of energy bars so I relied strictly on Cytomax and Hammergel to provide fuel for the day. That caught up to me about 3/4 of the way through the run - I felt decidedly bonk-y and my heart rate was too high for my liking (over 160 on a moderate pace is too high). In short, I had run out of gas. Stupid? You bet. A valuable lesson? Yes indeed.

Eat eat eat eat eat. Then eat some more. Maybe I should tape that message to my handle bars.