A Tale of Two Triathlons: Part II

“Running in place will never get you the same results as running from a lion.”

– The Most Interesting Man in the World.

So after my epic fail at 2012 Sevierville sprint triathlon what did I do different in preparing for 2013: everything. No seriously: everything. Shortly after the race I replaced my 1994 Trek 470 with a 2004 Masi Vincere triple. During the winter I dusted off my used Cycleops Mag Plus trainer and actually used it. I went so far as to take it to my local bike mechanic and asked him to find out why its resistance adjustment didn’t work. Turns out the cable wasn’t connected. Thanks Timmy. I went to West Bicycles in Knoxville and got a bike fit on the Masi. Shout out to Fares and Kelly.

More importantly I got a grip and a plan. I picked out a sprint triathlon plan from Triathlete Magazine’s Essential Week-by-Week Training Guide by Matt Fitzgerald. My training got a lot less random when every week had two swims, two rides and two runs. Train in three sports for a triathlon? An idea so crazy it could just work. My workouts got less random also. Now each had a structure and a purpose. I wasn’t just swimming, biking and running. Now there were drills, intervals and strides.

Most importantly I attended two triathlon clinics put on by the Tri Cities Triathlon Club. I want to thank every member of TCTC who welcomed me wholeheartedly into the club, even those of you that kicked me in the pool or swam over me or both or both repeatedly. Special shout out to the instructor of the TCTC clinics, Triathlon Coach John Hanna. He improved my swim dramatically and helped me change my running form, getting rid of my heel strike and freeing me from shin splints. I also got a lot of good information, tips and a completely new understanding of hydration from a series of lectures during the off season. Thanks Upton. Waterlogged: The Serious Problem of Overhydration in Endurance Sports by Timothy Noakes should be required reading for all triathletes.

If like me, you tend to take the lone wolf route with your training, I urge you to seek out other triathletes. Whether you trail alone because of a lack of speed, lack of confidence or lack of a local triathlon group, reach out there is someone you can learn from and train with at least a little. All of your life you’ve been told that there is strength in numbers. This is certainly true. Here is a new concept I want you to try on for size. There is speed in numbers.

For more details about my preparation and training for this race, please see my earlier posts about the clinics, as well as, Weeks of Tweaks and Back on the Bike.

This time I started training for the race months in advance and gear preparation weeks in advance. Two weeks before the race I ordered new Continental Grand Prix 4000 S tires, bought Xtenex elastic shoelaces, picked up another pair of Aqua Sphere Kayenne swim goggles and called my local bike shop, Rocky Top Bicycles, Morristown, TN, to schedule a pre-race check up for my bike. I wanted to make sure I had time for at least one test run with each new item. Nothing new on race day.

I started gathering gear and putting everything into a backpack a week before race day. A new NC State Wolfpack t-shirt arrived just in time to complete my race kit. Thanks Frank. The night before the race, I threw a backpack of gear into my van, attached my bike rack and bike. Good to go in about 15 minutes. And since we had moved 45 minutes further away from Sevierville, I booked a room at a local hotel to cut race day driving time. And yes I printed out directions this year just in case.

Sevierville 2013: Plan Meets Reality

Training montage music goes here. May 18^th, 2013, was a wet rainy Saturday, and I was more than a little worried. None of my previous half dozen triathlons had been in the rain. I had trained for months, but it had been a mixed bag. My swim was definitely stronger. I felt stronger on the bike but my bike computer wasn’t really showing the improvement. Stupid technology. As far as the run, at least now I could run without pain but was I any faster?

When the transition zone opened at 6:30 am, I was there with my bike and backpack ready get my race packet, pick a spot and set up. Once I got everything where I wanted and my shoes bagged to keep some of the rain out, I headed to the pool to warm up. Let me rephrase that I headed to the pool to adjust my body and mind just how cold the all-night rain had made that pool water. Soon we got the call to clear the pool. There was nothing left to do but stand around in the rain chatting as hypothermia set in and wait for the race to start.

The horn sounds, swimmers enter the water and the line moves forward. Soon there are only a few swimmers between me and the pool. I start to panic, afraid the cold water and race stress will have me hanging on the pool wall like last year. I remember what a wise man told me, “you can’t bull through panic, you have to collapse into it.” I slow my breathing and step forward. The man slapped me on the shoulder and shouted, “go!”

I hit the water. The cold is overwhelming, and I have trouble putting my face in the water. Because of my warmup swim I’m prepared and able to cope. I slow my pace and start humming a little motivational song I use for hills on the bike and long runs. I make it to wall, go under the rope and start the 2^nd length. I’m getting into a rhythm now and passing some of the other swimmers. I’m still slightly stressed and a little breathless but I keep stroking. Rinse, lather, repeat. Then I realize I’m on the final length. A couple swimmers surge past me, and I’m at the wall. I grab the wall, bend my knees and shoulder roll onto the pool deck. It’s not graceful but I’m out of the pool with only one thought careening around in my misshapen skull: “Get to the bike, get to the bike, get to the bike.”

Mr. Graceful rolls out of the pool.

I jog toward transition, getting a high five from Dustin on the way. I get to my bike and transition the way I practiced. I don shirt, glasses, helmet, bike shoes. This year: no socks, gloves or doo-rag. Before the race I dusted the inside of my bike shoes and running shoes with baby powder to reduce friction. Thanks Janine. I unrack my bike, grab it by the seat and run it through transition. I pass the mount line, throw a leg over, clip in and take off.

The Fat Man Crankth

Rain is falling and water is running in channels on the road. The bikes ahead of me are throwing up rooster tails of spray. The rain alternates between slackening and thickening but never really goes away. As I ride out of the park I try to anticipate the other riders and keep my distance more than usual uncertain of my ability to handle the bike in bad weather. I recall what Kevin said at the pre-race meeting: “Y’all know your brakes don’t work now, right?”

The first half of the bike course is mostly on highway. Riders have their own lane marked off by cones. Police are at every intersection. I go out pretty fast. I had planned to try to maintain a cadence of about 80 rpm, just a bit faster than my usual 75. Every time I look down at the bike computer my cadence is 90 or higher. Interestingly enough my average cadence for the race will turn out to be about 75. So either the 50 to 60 rpm on the hills brought it down or I faded late in the bike and just didn’t notice.

About a third of the way through the bike, I start thinking about easing off a bit to save something for the run. Then a woman on mountain bike starts to pass me. I pick up the pace and put her behind me. I have no problem getting chicked it happens to me quite regularly. I may not be on a triathlon bike or a state-of-the-art road bike but I am on a road bike. Surely I can drop a mountain bike on a paved road. My quads are getting fried. So I stop thinking about mashing the pedals and start thinking about wiping my feet to transfer some of the load to my hamstrings. Thanks again, Upton.

I make the turn onto Forge Hideaway Road, home of Hillzilla. As the road grows steeper I shift to the tiny little chainring of my triple, an advantage I didn’t have last year. I’ve been thinking about my rematch with Hillzilla for quite some time and debated whether I should try to ride the steepest pitch or just walk it again. As I round the corner and eyeball my nemesis, the climb looks doable. I stand in the pedals and crank toward the summit. Hillzilla is going down. My breath comes in gasps and my heart rate spikes but I make it over.

From here on out the course is pretty much two-land country road. This is where they store the hills and curves. As I crest each hill, I assess the road below making sure I don’t gain more speed than I can carry through the curves in these wet conditions. Shortly I crest a hill and look down on Collier Drive, a four-lane highway, we have to cross. The police have traffic stopped to let the racers through. I pause for a beat, make sure the cops see me then shift into the big chainring and crank. The middle turn lane is slightly raised, and I figure there is a 50/50 chance I’ll catch some air. I don’t but it is still cool to make a blast across a four-lane.

I find myself on some rollers and a road bike passes me. Instead of fading into the distance it stays about 50 feet ahead. At the top of the next roller, my left hand of it’s own volition, shifts into the big chainring and my cadence increases. Apparently some part of my nervous system has decided to contest his lead. I’m pretty sure it wasn’t my frontal lobe. I storm past and hold a lead for about a half mile. Then we hit a hill and he drops me like I’m a 10-year-old delivering newspapers on a three-speed. I find myself alone for the last couple miles of the bike course. Then I’m back on Park road. I turn into the park, stop at the dismount line, get off and hustle into transition.

I’m wet, miserable and setting a better pace than expected. Photo courtesy of Dustin Mabe.

Man On The Run

I rack my bike. Drop my glasses, helmet and bike shoes. I put on my running shoes then grab my cap and race belt. I bolt for the run exit and under my breath I’m chanting: “Get off the roof, get off the roof, get off the roof.” Yes my daughter and I have watched “Mulan” many times over the years. Total elapsed time for T2: just under one minute.

As I start the run I catch up with Steve, another TCTC member. I consider him to be the toughest triathlete out here today. We exchange greetings, and I move on. It’s a two lap run course, mostly running path and sidewalk with some grassy fields thrown in. About three quarters of the way through the first lap, Dawn passes me. Turns out getting chicked by someone you know is way better than being chicked by a stranger. At the beginning of my second lap I hear a familiar voice asking me if this is the run course. It’s Melissa well on her way to completing her first triathlon. We chat for a bit then our respective paces separate us.

At this point I’m just trying to hold what I’ve got. I know my swim was faster than last year. I have a good feeling about the bike as well. There wasn’t time to check the bike computer. I don’t want to lose ground on the run. Although I’ve been a runner on and off most of my life, I hate the run leg of triathlons. You so desperately want to finish strong but you have so very little left to give. I have got to be faster than last year. Got to be faster. Finally the finish line is in sight. I pick up my pace and sprint across it. After I cool down I hang around the finish line with my wife and the TCTC gang and cheered as more triathletes finish. It was a very good day, so much better than last year.

The Bottom Line

When I got home and compared my 2012 and 2013 stats, I found that I had managed to improve in every aspect of the race. I was thrilled, relieved and validated. I cut my swim time by 45 seconds. My T1 time decreased by almost 90 seconds. I chopped almost six minutes off the bike leg. My T2 time dropped by 1:40. Finally my run time came down a full six minutes, making it my fastest 5K in over a year. Thanks again to everyone who shared this journey of inspiration, information and perspiration.

A Tale of Two Triathlons: Part I

“If at first you don’t succeed … try coming up with an actual plan and then loosely following it.”

– Al Dockery 2013

I’ve been wanting to write about the 2012 Sevierville sprint triathlon for a while. How did it go? Not so good. My working title for a race report would have to be something like: The Top 10 Ways to Screw Up Your Sprint Triathlon. Let’s countdown my major malfunctions from last year.

10. No real training plan: I followed my old dysfunctional training plan of run three or four days a week and trying to get a bike ride and swim in somewhere.

9. My bike and swim workouts had no real structure. I would just swim or ride. No drills, intervals or tempo.

8. I waited until the day before the event to get my gear together and was up until midnight.

7. I thought I had been to the race site before and didn’t print out directions, which lead to driving around lost.

6. I arrived about 10 minutes before transition closed and had to set up my gear in a hurry wherever I could find a space.

5. I didn’t warm up in the pool before the race started. So when it came my turn I jumped in the pool and started swimming, the cold water took my breath, my motivation and my memories of kindergarten. I had to hang on the wall twice in a 150 yard swim.

The Finish Line wasn’t the only line I crossed at Sevierville 2012.

4. I had no real transition strategy. I wore everything I usually wear on bike rides: CoolMax doo-rag, gloves, socks, etc. I had not bought elastic shoelaces because they just seemed gimmicky to me.

3. I did not check out the bike course in any way. Didn’t look at a bike course map with elevation profile. Yes, there was one posted online. Did not drive or ride the bike course. What did I find when I actually got out on the bike course. There was one hill – Hillzilla – so steep that I had to get off the bike and push. Talk about a spirit crusher.

2. Failure to prevent and manage injuries. The run didn’t go that well either because I could only run about 100 yards at a time due to epic shin splints. At the time I tried to therapy my way around them. Later I learned how to prevent them.

1. Perhaps my biggest blunder was having unrealistic expectations. The pattern had been there for some time. Follow crappy training plan: come in last in age group, last Clydesdale or just plain last. Yet I kept thinking that things would get better.

There were a few bright spots in this otherwise dismal outing. The weather was good. While I came in last, I did actually finish. Oh yeah, there was one bright shinning moment. As I neared the finish line, Team Al and some friends from the Rocky Top Multisport Club saw me and cheered me across the line. That almost made it worthwhile. Still anytime you drive home from a triathlon thinking about putting your bike on Craigslist and you aren’t upgrading, you’ve had a bad day.

Coming next: Sevierville Sprint Triathlon 2013 Breakthrough or Breakdown. It has thrills, chills, rain and achievement? Until then Stumble on.

Wacky World of Wetsuits

I’m going to to ahead and confess to some wetsuit avoidance. I find wetsuits intimidating for two reasons cost and fit. Wetsuits have some fairly serious sticker shock. The other more important issue was my belief that wetsuit manufacturers probably did not make a wetsuit I could actually wear. Frankly athletic clothing makers never foresaw something my size trying to swim, bike or run. I’m a big guy running typically about 10 pounds beyond the specs for most of the larger size wetsuits. Also I’m proportioned a bit differently than most of the other endurance sports children: chubby, long waist, short legs and big calves that run about 18 inches in circumference with gusts to 18.5 depending on how much I run.

 As usual I was forced through yet another triathlon doorway when I signed up for an April clinic that had several open water swims scheduled. Given the early Spring water temperatures in East TN, options included: hypothermia, wetsuit or kayak. Since I don’t own a kayak, my choices boiled down to beg, borrow, rent or buy a wetsuit or stand on the shore watching. Clearly it was time to gather some some courage, information and neoprene.

Me in an Orca S4 size 11 triathlon wetsuit.

I started my search by calling my local swim/triathlon store a mere 90 minutes away in Knoxville. It turns out that they didn’t have anything in my size right now. Understandable as noted above most triathletes are considerably less fluffy than me. Next I turned to my local triathlon clubs. I’m lucky to have two strong groups with Facebook pages within driving distance. Posts to both groups got me several leads which I ran down in my usual less than systematic manner.

My big break came when one of my tri brothers in nearby Morristown invited me over to try on his two-piece DeSoto wetsuit in size 7. Thanks Dave. (Note DeSoto and Orca sizes are different. The largest DeSoto is a 7, and the largest Orca is an 11.) He gave me a good introduction to putting on a wetsuit. I was shocked and amazed to learn that you can put a hole in a triathlon wetsuit if you are not careful with your fingernails. He showed me the plastic grocery bag method for getting your hands and feet into the suit. You put you foot in the bag and slide it through the leg of the wetsuit. Remove bag put on other foot repeat. Works with hands too. If it is a one-piece wetsuit you carefully pull the suit up to your waist until your voice changes. I don’t know what metric the women use, and I’m probably better off not knowing.

Now comes the fun part. Breathe out and pull your shoulder blades back and together. (If you can actually clap with your shoulder blades this will be easy, otherwise not so much.) And have someone zip up the back of the suit. The DeSoto pullover/bibjohn two-piece suits zip down. Most one-piece suits zip up. Really important info: zipper goes in back. Now move your arms in a swimming motion and carefully work the sleeves up toward the shoulders until you have a good range of motion going. Take your time and get it right. You don’t want to feel like your in a bind once you hit the water and start swimming.

Before he got his Desoto wetsuit Dave had rented an Orca S4 from http://www.triwetsuitrentals.com and recommended them highly. So I sent them an e-mail via their website. The owner called me back same day and listened to my long list of physical deformities and reassured me that a Orca S4 in size 11 would indeed contain my massive bulk. One Paypal transaction later and the wetsuit was winging its way to me via Fedex.

It arrived a couple days later and I was so impressed with the company that I actually read the enclosed directions and followed them. Let’s just keep that between ourselves. I have very little street cred as it is. If it gets out that I can or will on occasion follow directions; well, let’s not go there.

I did indeed get the wetsuit on with some help from plastic grocery bags, baby powder and an assistant to zip it up. Since the wetsuit was black and technically a compression garment, I was hoping that it would be shall we say “slimming.” The end result was more walrus than Navy SEAL. Still having succeeded in actually donning the wetsuit it was time for a test drive. Time to find out why everyone is so “I just hope the race will be wetsuit legal.”

What was my first swim in a wetsuit like? Imagine that your mutant superpower was buoyancy. Your legs just float. Let me say that again, your legs just float. Vigorous kick, weak kick, intermittent kick: it doesn’t matter. Your legs float. You float. Swimming was noticeably easier. Treading water was amazing. I usually struggle to keep my head above water with my nose is always perilously close to the water’s surface. In the wetsuit, my whole head and neck are out of the water almost effortlessly.

Bottom line: 1). It is very likely that there is a wetsuit out there for you. You may have to shop around, reach out to your tri family, and rent one first. 2). You want one. Performance wise, wetsuits completely rock. Now if you will excuse me, I’m off to the internet to stalk a DeSoto Speedtube.

Links:

www.triwetsuitrentals.com

http://www.desotosport.com/

http://www.orca.com/category/wetsuits

How to put on an Orca wetsuit

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFOaWyONw2I

How to put on a Desoto wetsuit

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZTDssI-y_Y

Triathlon Clinic II: Tri Harder

Please forgive the title. This is the second weekend triathlon clinic I’ve attended, and Spring 2013 TCTC triathlon clinic just didn’t sing. Once more I had an opportunity tap into Triathlon Coach, John Hanna’s encyclopedic knowledge of all things triathlon, and experience the friendship and spirited tomfoolery that is the Tri-Cities Triathlon Club.

The theme of this workshop was “A Change of Plans.” A lot of thought, effort and energy went into developing a program for the weekend’s activities including multiple open water swims and then the weather came along and dropped an arctic or even an antarctic air mass on us. Saturday was particularly cold. At first the group tried to stick it out at Warrior’s Path State Park but by mid afternoon hypothermia set in, and we sought an indoor venue. Sunday the weather relented, and we returned to the park for a bike to run brick workout. This post will cover some of the highlights of the clinic. I make no attempt to be either comprehensive or chronological.

Metabolic Efficiency

Over breakfast, Coach John gave us a brief overview of Metabolic Efficiency. He recently became certificated on this topic. If you’ve been following the triathlon blogs, podcasts and publications at all, I’m sure you know that this has been a hot subject over the last couple of years and that Bob Seebohar, the well-known sports dietitian, coach and athlete, is the pioneer behind this lifestyle. The idea as I understand it is to make food choices that improve the body’s ability to burn fat, control blood sugar and insulin, and eliminate GI distress during training and racing. Also you can avoid becoming what Coach John described as the “rolling smorgasbord.” If you’ve ever taped a dozen gels to the top tube of your bike for a sprint triathlon then you know what he is talking about.

An additional benefit of the metabolic efficiency approach is that it is not necessary to count calories or measure food. For details contact Coach John or check one of Seebohar’s books or seminars. I’ve been looking at Seebohar’s Nutrition Periodization for Athletes: Taking Traditional Sports Nutrition to the Next Level.

Running: Form is Function

The running efficiency workshop was my major reason for coming out this time. I’ve been struggling with my running for the last couple of years. My major limiting factor has been shin splints. Also while I’ve never been a fast runner, recently I’ve become epically slow. Clearly I could use a few clues here.

We started out in a parking lot lined up in rows working on dynamic running warm up drills. So we are doing high knees, butt kicks, bounding, skipping and striding for all we are worth. Think West Side Story in running clothes or Thriller with really fit zombies. The park had several programs and nature walks going that weekend. A group of birdwatchers came through while we were going through our warmups, and I think it was entirely possible that we may have gotten more attention than the red crested tree snipe or the horned gargle lark.

Once we warmed up, Coach John watched each of us run and gave tips on form. He diagnosed me as a heel striker. While this hurt my feelings, accepting reality is often the first step toward making progress. I had worked for months to improve my running form and move to a more mid-foot strike, and apparently failed miserably. To be fair and somewhat reasonable, he also showed us a way to get off your heels and experience what a mid-foot strike feels like.

He had us pair up and face each other. One person would lean forward from the ankles and the other would support them by placing their hands on their shoulders. On command the person holding would step to one side, and the person leaning would run to avoid falling. When I did this, I didn’t heel strike. Once you know what good form feels like you can repeat it. Later running the 5K route there at the park, I found that if I leaned forward until I was just a bit uncomfortable I didn’t heel strike.

There are a couple lessons here worth consideration. There are many aspects of this sport, like running form, that cannot be assessed by the athlete. While this is more obvious in swimming, it is also true for the bike and the run. This points out the benefits of group workouts, classes, workshops, coaches and trainers.

With practice you can move your bike through transition with one hand.

The Transition Zone

When it comes to transition I’m pretty sure that I’ve won my “Don’t be that Guy” award. Yeah I was the guy sitting on the five-gallon bucket putting on socks at a pool-swim sprint race. And yes early on I thought you needed nutrition for sprint races. On the positive side, I was never seen making a sandwich in T1 or T2 although this was likely due to a lack of available ingredients. Once I finally got the basics of transition down I never really spent much time improving and refining. Why? I’m pretty slow in all three sports so time saved in transition didn’t seem all that important. Yes I realize that I just took a side trip into bizarro logic land and stayed for a self-guided tour.

Meanwhile back in reality, the secret to transition is having a good plan and practice. Let me share something here that my PTA instructor taught me. Practice does not make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect. You shouldn’t just do a quick walk through. You should actually practice your transitions in something close to race conditions. Also let’s not wait until the weekend before the event to start. Let’s look at a few highlights from the clinic.

You should arrive early to your event. Ideally you want to be there when transition opens for setup. If this is before sunrise bring a headlamp. Set up your bike and gear the way you practiced, taking care not to take up too much space. Send your significant other back to the car for the item you forgot. Do not pump your tires to max pressure, especially if it is going to be a hot day. Send your significant other back to the car for the other item you forgot. Vow to make a checklist next time.

Thoughts for T1: Make sure that you bike is in a gear appropriate for the terrain. If you wear socks, roll them up. If you haven’t practiced putting on socks with wet feet, do it now. I’ll wait. Sorry didn’t realize that you were at work. Helmet on before unracking bike. Congratulate yourself for putting Body Glide inside the back your bike shoes for easy entry. If there is a big crowd at the mount line realize that you can run past and mount in the clear. You just can’t mount before the mount line.

Thoughts for T2: Rack the bike before taking off your helmet. Change shoes. Elastic laces make it much easier. Congratulate yourself for putting Body Glide inside the back your running shoes for easy entry. Grab your race belt with number attached and hat. Scram. You can put those on while running. Think about how glad you are that you did those brick workouts.

Coach John demonstrates bike shoe – rubber band technique.

TRX: Combining Strength and Core

The segment on functional training with the TRX suspension system for a combined strength and core workout, did not initially interest me all that much. We were introduced to TRX on one of the basketball courts at the Wellness Center, in Johnson City. After doing a few exercises like rows, squats, single-leg squats, and planks I began to understand just how much core work the system can deliver. Coach John demonstrated how to do burpees with TRX. I did not attempt this exercise. The face-plant potential was just too great. A couple of days after the clinic, I found myself on Amazon looking at TRX reviews. Suspension training may have a place in my routine after all.

Triathlon Community

As I left the weekend clinic I had the same two thoughts that occurred to me at the last clinic. First, I couldn’t believe how much information I had picked up in a sport that I’ve been involved in for years. Second, I couldn’t believe how much fun it was to hang out with other triathletes. Watching and encouraging new triathletes just starting this insanity also a blast. I need to get out more, and so do you. Stumble on.

Links:

Triathlon and Swimming Coach, John Hanna

http://www.e3tri.com/

Bob Seebohar

http://bobseebohar.blogspot.com/

http://www.amazon.com/Bob-Seebohar/e/B00287PB6Q

TRX

http://www.trxtraining.com/

Weeks of Tweaks

With mid-May and the Sevierville Sprint Triathlon looming ever nearer, I decided to get my act together and get training while there was still time to train properly. First I picked out a training plan from Triathlete Magazine’s Essential Week-by-Week Training Guide. The plan called for two workouts in each discipline each week. After giving it some thought I added a third bike workout to each week because frankly the bike leg remains a weakness. This is a severe issue in triathlon.

Next I dusted off my used Cycleops Mag Plus trainer and set it up in the spare bedroom. I have vowed to do one to two workouts each week on the trainer. There is just no way around the time savings and the control it gives you over your bike workout. There is also no way around the boredom. So far I’ve tried watching movies on DVD, watching YouTube videos and listening to podcasts and music on my iPod. So far action movies work best for me. I find I speed up during the chase scenes. I’m still waiting for cable TV to offer the explosion channel: all explosions, all the time.

I wanted to introduce more precision into my training. I decided to address this by training using heart rate zones. Several of the fitness and triathlon podcasts I listen to regularly advocate this approach. So I Googled “heart rate zone calculator.” This was an adventure in itself. In other words, about 678,000 results (0.24 seconds). I was looking for a calculator that used both resting heart rate and age to calculate five heart rate zones. I was told that using your resting heart rate would give more accurate zones, so I took my pulse at waking for three days and used the average. I wanted five zones because this is what most of my sources – books, podcasts, websites – seem to use. Most of the sites I found calculate heart rate zones based solely on age and gave anywhere from three to seven zones. Some have zones and sub zones. Apparently it’s complicated. Anyway I found what I was looking for in the heart rate zone calculator at www.marathonguide.com.

http://www.marathonguide.com/fitnesscalcs/HeartRate2calc.cfm

Next I dug out my old Timex heart rate monitor and started wearing it during my bike and run workouts. A quick shout out to the guy on the Beginner Triathlon forum that shipped me his old heart rate strap to replace my broken strap. You sir are a gentleman and a scholar. If you are doing triathlons and aren’t browsing and posting questions on the Beginner Triathlete and Slowtwitch forums, you need to start. By monitoring my heart rate, I’m trying to introduce some precision into my training. The goal is to make my easy workouts easy and my hard workouts hard. This I’m told could lead to progress.

In another move toward more precision, I replaced my Sigma 1609 wireless bike computer with the wired version of the Sigma 1609. The wireless version was a little slow to update both speed and cadence. The lag wasn’t much, just a few seconds but it bugged me. This may have been because of interference from my Planet Bike Blaze one-watt LED headlight which is always set in strobe mode. The flashing headlight and taillight on my bike are part of my never-ending quest to avoid having my bike and I becoming a hood ornament or ditch strainer. The good news: a 30 minute test ride confirmed that the wired version updates much faster, indeed almost instantly. The bad news: I may have added a half pound to my bike in zip ties alone. When you get down on the floor and look at it, there are an amazing number of gadgets and rotating masses that you don’t want your bike computer cable to tangle with literally.

My current cockpit includes Ultralight bike mirror, 1 watt Planet Bike headlight and a wired Sigma 1609 bike computer.

YouTube Video on Ultra Light Bike Mirror

Yet another tweak was forced upon me in the form of an ear infection. This necessitated a visit to the doctor, antibiotics, a layoff in swimming and the purchase of TYR silicone ear plugs. I’m told using either a 50/50 mix of rubbing alcohol and vinegar, or over-the-counter swimmers ear drops post swim helps also.

If you’re getting the idea that the tweaks never stop, that training and progressing is a matter of constantly adapting to changing conditions, changing equipment and changing fitness levels, then welcome to endurance sports in general and triathlon in particular. Stumble on.

Back on The Bike

Having made good progress on my swim and run in recent weeks, I decided to get started on addressing my biggest weakness the bike leg. So I packed up my two thousand something aluminum frame, Masi Vincere, triple chainring, road bike that I purchased used last summer and headed for West Bicycles in Knoxville for a bike fit.

There I met Kelly, the bike mechanic/fitter, and we began the process of tweaking my bike to better fit my large, fat and imaginatively proportioned body. I have trouble find clothes that fit. Apparently my particular combination of long torso and short limbs never occurred to clothing makers as a possibility. As it goes with apparel so it goes with bicycles. It turns out that I have long femurs and stubby tibias. He did not say a word about my misshapen head. Discretion is important in a bike fitter.

This is my second bike fit and it remains to me a mysterious process. You show up with your bike, bike shoes and shorts. The bike goes on a raised platform where it is locked into a trainer. The bike fitter looks at you, looks at the bike, looks at you, looks at the bike. He has you get on the bike and pedal for a minute or two. I have no idea what goes through a bike fitter’s mind when confronted by a big guy like me and a less than state-of-the-art bike like the Masi. It has to be something like that immortal quote by Scotty from Star Trek, “I can’t change the laws of physics man!” Thankfully Kelly remained stoic, munched his apple, measured, adjusted and soldiered on. Dedication is important in a bike fitter.

The good news was that I did actually have the correct frame size, 56 cm. Score one for me: it’s hard to fix that without buying another bike. Next he moved the seat higher. Then he leveled the seat. Then he moved the seat higher. In total the seat rose about 3.5 cm. Yeah, I had the seat a tiny bit low. I’m kind of glad that I did move it up 1 cm last month. That’s the difference between a new bike owner’s guesswork and a bike fitter’s assessment. Precision is important in a bike fitter.

The change in seat position necessitated changes to the handlebar. Same as it ever was. This mirrored my first bike fit experience with my old, steel-frame Trek 470. It boiled down to either moving the shifters or getting a new handlebar. After some coaching, I went with a FSA Wing Pro alloy compact road bike handlebar wrapped with white Lizard Skins DSP 2.5mm bar tape. The handlebar’s two key selling points for me were it’s shallow drops and Aero-Ergo flat top. I rounded out my upgrades with new Shimano SH-R191 road bike shoes and replaced my old SPD pedals with Shimano 105 road pedals. A quick spin in the parking lot confirmed that I could actually clip in and ride reasonably well.

Real World Road Test

Inspired by my new bike fit and bent on to justify the expense of my new purchases I set off last weekend on my first real road ride of the season. The weather forecast called for a high of 60 and partly cloudy conditions. I try not to quibble with the weather folks but partly cloudy means that some point you actually see the sun. Didn’t happen. And yes they still owe me 10 degrees Fahrenheit as well. So off into the cool, gray day I ride dodging puddles, muddy patches and what looks like cow poo. Apparently cows commute. Guess I should have known, probably crossing the road with chickens who as we know historically commute. We just aren’t sure why. The route was Rader’s Sidetrack just outside Greeneville. It’s a 16.5 mile combination loop and out-and-back route with significant climbs in the middle. I believe this is sometimes referred to as a lollipop route.

Click to access Raders%20Sidetrack%20Map.pdf

As anyone who has made major changes to their bike setup will tell you it’s like coming home after a business trip to find the living room furniture rearranged. Everything is familiar just not where you left it. It will take weeks of riding to discover the benefits of my bike fit and upgrades. So far I love the new handlebar and bar tape. The shallow drops and Aero-Ergo flat top completely rock. I am more comfortable in any hand position: hoods, drops or tops. It’s like a Barcalounger for my hands. The new shoes and pedals are going to take some adjustment. I’m finding clipping in a little tricky but expected this. I have so far avoided the classic stop, and drop because I forgot to or was unable to clip out. Imagine laughing cows if this does occur. I was expecting the higher seat height to make me feel a bit tippy but so far not so much. My man parts are becoming reacquainted with my bike seat. It’s an uncomfortable but familiar occurrence.

As for my performance, I was a little disappointed by my slow speed and poor climbing ability. I had spent a lot of time this winter on a stationary bike doing intervals in the hopes of carrying over what little bike fitness I developed last season. Such is life one bike ride does not a season make. (At least I hope not because if it does I’m sunk lower than James Cameron exploring the Mariana Trench.) So this off season I’ve set the stage for a better tri season, now it’s just a matter of commitment and brainpower. I’ve got to find someone with commitment and brainpower.

The Week of Bulletproof Coffee

This blog post is primarily about nutrition in general and beginning a low carb diet in particular. I hesitate to tread in this area because of individual variation and what appears to be a lack of definitive science about weight control and weight loss. Much of the discussion about nutrition these days has descended into dogma. Please read this post with an open mind and sense of humor. Please do not spray paint “paleo” across my house. I’m renting. My landlord would freak.

Salad with leftover steak.

Salad with leftover tilapia.

Salad with boiled egg and avocado.

I’ve been making exceptional of progress lately. A weekend swim clinic gave me the tools I need to improve my swim. A new set of running shoe insoles has eliminated my shin splint pain. Only two hurdles left: the bike and nutrition. This year I’ll be using an actual triathlon training plan from Triathlete Magazine’s Essential Week-by-Week Training Guide by Matt Fitzgerald. I’m hoping that this will boost my bike performance so much that I will for once not be last in my age group. Frankly I’d be happy to just finish in front of some of the guys on mountain bikes. Baby steps.

So onto the sticky matter of nutrition. Nutrition and weight loss are areas where I’ve had no traction whatsoever this year. So I decided to shake things up by going onto a low carb diet including trying something I heard about on the Garden Variety Triathlon podcast: bulletproof coffee, which is attributed to Dave Asprey, the bulletproof executive.

Crazy Coffee

On the surface bulletproof coffee is not that appetizing an idea. Take a cup of coffee add either two tablespoons of coconut oil or about a quarter of a stick of butter. Blend, drink, breakfast. I was explaining it to a friend. He had only one question: Why would you do that? His tone of voice was the same as it would have been if he had caught me installing an above-ground pool in my backyard by filling up a large cardboard box with water.

The whole idea is that the fat in the coconut oil or butter fills you up and you aren’t hungry for hours. Yep its the 240-calorie breakfast. The odd thing about it is that, at least for me, it works. I really wasn’t hungry for hours. Tried it all week with both coconut oil and butter. I used regular unsalted butter. I could not afford the organic grass-fed butter specified by most of the recipes. Will I continue? Maybe and I’m not even a coffee drinker.

Now that we got the weird, yet entertaining part out of the way, let’s talk about the rest of my low carb diet. Why low carb? I am becoming more and more convinced that at least for me carbohydrates are the bulk of the nutritional problem. If you’d like more information about some of the new nutrition information I’m following, let me suggest reading Why We Get Fat: And What to Do About It by Gary Taubes and watching The Bitter Truth about Sugar, by Robert H. Lustig MD, a pediatric endocrinologist at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF).

The rest of my current diet is fairly simple. Lunch is a salad with protein, basically whatever is leftover from last night’s dinner. Dinner is protein and steamed vegetables. Snacks include cheese sticks, macadamia nuts, almonds, protein bars, as well as celery with cream cheese or almond butter. How’s it going. Well I’m two weeks in and I’ve lost about 10 pounds. I know it’s mostly water weight but I’m glad the needle on the scale is moving downward again.

I’d like to suggest changing the way you think about diet, exercise and your weight. Also let’s use this definition of diet: “The kinds of food that a person, animal, or community habitually eats.” Not diet as in a temporary restriction in calories designed to get you through your next class reunion. If your current diet is working blame the diet, not yourself. There is no one right diet. Two people can have very different experiences and outcomes on the same diet. A calorie is not a calorie. Macronutrients matter. I’m cutting carbs(down to 50-100 grams/day) , increasing fats and keeping protein fairly constant. And for me right now it’s working. What will work for you? Do some research and try some new ideas and new foods. Don’t rely on willpower. Don’t make your diet a test of will. Make it a test of science. Stumble on.

Garden Variety Triathlon Podcast

http://www.gardenvarietytri.com/

Bulletproof Executive Website

http://www.bulletproofexec.com/

How to Make ‘Bulletproof Coffee’

http://well.bradrourke.com/2012/12/how-i-make-bulletproof-coffee/

Gary Taubes Website

http://garytaubes.com/

The Bitter Truth about Sugar on youtube.com

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM

Change Your Swim: Change Your Triathlon

I have a love/hate relationship with swimming. OK I lied. Swimming and I have had a troubled relationship from the beginning. Partially because I am an adult onset swimmer. I learned to swim in college and then went back for lessons in the mid 1990s when I decided to try my luck at triathlons. As you know being a poor swimmer with a dread of open water is a problem in this sport. Until recently I was convinced that there wasn’t much I could do.

I have been known to pick triathlons based on the length of the swim leg, the shorter the better. So what if the bike course is vertical and the run takes you through the city dump. Performance was also an issue. Years ago, when I signed up for my first pool swim sprint, I had to submit my projected swim time for 100 yards. I received an e-mail back from the organizers asking me to check my math. The time I supplied was so slow that they wanted to make sure it was not an error. Their attention to detail was commendable but it stung a bit.

Day 2: Videotaping participants to determine stroke improvements.

Over time, I have made many halfhearted attempts to improve my swim. I have bought several swimming and triathlon swimming books and a couple DVDs. I’m guessing you may have a few on your bookshelf as well. I have read plenty of magazine articles looking for tips to improve. After each reading or viewing I would head to the pool to make changes. Then after a week or two I would check my lap times or stroke count. Significant improvement eluded me and my times and stroke counts didn’t really change. If anything I seemed to be going backward and my dread of the water increased.

I was too intimidated to join a masters swim group, and never found a local instructor that taught swimming for triathlon or open water. A few months ago a friend from the nearby Rocky Top Multisport Club looked at some videos of my technique and gave me some drills. I began to make some progress. Thanks Iron John! So when the Tri-Cities Triathlon Club Facebook page mentioned a weekend swim clinic, I RSVP’d immediately.

I drove to the clinic early Saturday morning with a mixture of hope and unease. Maybe I could crack the code on this whole swimming thing. On the other hand, could I really handle a multi-hour swim clinic? What if I embarrassed myself? One way to find out.

Let the Improvement Begin

Day One: When I get to the clinic, the first thing the coach asks is does anyone feel like they can’t get enough air when they swim. I raise my hand, and I’m not the only one. If so, he says then you are not exhaling enough under the water. When the time comes to warm up in the pool I concentrate on exhaling more and exhaling more forcefully into the water. It helps. So 15 minutes into the clinic and things are already improving. This might actually go well.

Now it’s time to shoot the “before” video. Each of us swims a lap freestyle while being taped by the coach walking beside the pool and by his wife standing on one of the starting blocks. It’s a little nerve racking. You know they can’t fix your stroke if they don’t know what’s broken. At the same time, you feel like you are confessing on video, in two views, to swimming like an addled otter.

Next we break into groups, pick a lane and get to work learning to swim like triathletes. We swim, do drills, hear explanations, get corrections. Looking back the scope of the material covered in just five hours on the first day is immense. Concepts, techniques and mnemonics included: center of buoyancy, pull the string, paint the bottom of the pool, climb the ladder, accelerate through the stroke, hinge the wrist, put your hand through the mail slot. I could go on for paragraphs.

Drills: I think we did every swim drill I have ever heard mentioned. This is where being at a clinic with an experienced coach really makes a difference. The coach can see how you perform the drill and make adjustments and corrections. You can see others doing the drill. You can ask questions. You benefit when someone else ask a question that wouldn’t have occurred to you. It’s something that even the best book or DVD just cannot deliver. We wrap up, eat lunch and view our before videos on a widescreen TV. End day one.

Day 2: Drafting, Sighting, Melee

Day Two: Sunday morning, I’m up before the dawn and driving to the swim clinic. Today we shoot the “after” video, and I’m worried about how I’ll do. So I turn off my iPod and start thinking about how I’ll use what I learned yesterday. I really want to see improvement in the after video. I decide to concentrate on exhaling into the water, not picking up my head when I rotate to breathe and breathing when the string is pulled, that is, breathing when I’m in the best position to breathe. A couple miles pass and I decide to add accelerating through the stroke, climbing the ladder and pointing my toes. A couple more miles pass and then I remember who I’m dealing with here. I could overcomplicate tying my shoes. I drop back to the original list.

I arrive, warmup and have my after lap taped. Day one was mostly about swimming fundamentals and improving our strokes. Day two is mostly about triathlon swimming. The lane lines have been removed to better simulate open water. We discuss and practice drafting, pack swimming, sighting (gater eyes), and swimming around buoys.

The session winds down, and we are about to go round the buoys in a race simulation for the last time. I find myself doing something that would have been unthinkable before the clinic. I position myself so that I will be in the center of the pack.

The coach whistles, and we are off. As we near the buoy I am no longer swimming in water: I’m swimming in people. I get kicked in the head, veer to the side and bounce off a man larger than myself. I have to say this is a novel experience. I’m a big guy. A heartbeat later someone collides with me and the big guy. I know not who. Rounding the buoy we are kicking, thrashing and splashing like a school of tuna evading a shark attack.

We clear the buoy and manage to disentangle. I’m winded and cannot catch my breath. I sight the second buoy and swim toward it. My arms are rubber. My form is out the window. My legs are barely kicking. As I weakly pull for the side of the pool, time slows and it hits me like that first rain drop from a summer cloudburst. During that entire manic lap round the buoys, I was not afraid or agitated or nervous or rattled. Not even the least little bit. How did that happen?

If poor swimming is holding you back, you can benefit immensely from attending a swim clinic. After seeing the benefits firsthand, I suggest you find one even if you have to travel overnight. If your triathlon club is thinking about doing a clinic, why not make it a swim clinic. If you are looking for a coach to teach a swim clinic or want to hire a coach to improve your triathlon training overall, I know a really good one. His name is John Hanna. He is an USAT certified coach, US Swimming coach and triathlete. You can reach him at www.e3tri.com or jhannatriathlete@gmail.com. He is based in Birmingham, AL. I attended his clinic in Eastern TN. Until next time, stumble on.

Inspiration, Serenity, Sweat and Carbs

Yes I’m predicting the title of Deepak Chopra’s next book. Actually I’m acknowledging that this particular post is all over the parking lot. Basically we have a book review, some new resources for the two-month focus on mindfulness, a training update and some thoughts about nutrition. Spoiler alert, carbs are not your friend.

Can’t Swim, Can’t Ride, Can’t Run: From Common Man to Ironman by Andy Holgate

I give this book four stars. I place it in the triathlon inspiration category. As the subtitle indicates it is the story of a fairly ordinary guy named Andy Holgate, a British librarian and lapsed runner. With some gentle prodding from friends and coworkers he finds himself entered in a local sprint triathlon. He has a blast. Then practically before he has worked the soreness out of his muscles, he signs up for an iron distance race called believe it or not, The Big Woody, held in southern England. At that time he didn’t even own a road bike. Given the author’s history of health problems and dodgy knees, I couldn’t help but wonder where he found that kind of courage. I also wondered if I would ever find the courage to go long.

His race reports are a delight. He manages to convey panic, pain and satisfaction as the situation warrants. I particularly liked the descriptions of running and cycling through the English countryside. I enjoyed hearing about triathlons and marathons in Europe including Ironman Germany as well as the London and Hamburg marathons. There is a nice variety of events from cycling to triathlons, marathons and mud runs. He even crossed the Atlantic for a triathlon at Disney World. His family and friends give him tremendous support throughout his journey. Several are people he met through the local thread of Runner’s World forums. Community is at the core of his story and it made me aware that I need to reach out and meet more of my fellow triathletes.

British slang may be a stumbling block for some American readers. I could follow it pretty well having met quite a few Brits in my magazine work. I had to Google “malt loaf.” It looks a bit like fruitcake. He took slices of it on bike rides. Toward the end of the book the narrative drags a bit. It is a memoir. You won’t find training tips or core exercises.

He has written a second book: Can’t Sleep, Can’t Train, Can’t Stop: More Misadventures in Triathlon. He blogs at http://ironholgs.wordpress.com/.

More Mindfulness Resources

I hope the podcasts and guided meditations links in Upgrade Your Mental Software were helpful and got some of you started working on learning to tuning out some of mental noise of modern life. A reminder, the goal is to meditate each day and approach at least one of your workouts mindfully each week for two months. My personal favorite mindfulness podcast from that post was Meditation for Health Podcast #103 (a) Meditation – Silencing the Commentary with Meditation.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/meditation-for-health-podcast/id290478854

I thought Dr. Puff’s description of our inner narration distracting us from our lives like the commentary track running on a DVD interrupting and interfering with watching the movie to be most appropriate. I became aware some time ago that I never really stopped thinking. It was several years later that I found out that this was not a good thing and only served to make me ever more “nervous and jerky.”

More mindfulness resources are listed below.

Guided Mindfulness Practices – University of Missouri System

http://www.umsystem.edu/curators/mindfulness/guided

Podcasts from the UK-based Mental Health foundation

http://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/help-information/podcasts/ or https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/wellbeing-podcasts/id491920404

A third resource I would like to recommend is The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment by Eckhart Tolle. You can pick up a used paperback copy very cheap online or download the audio version to your iPod or MP3 for convenient listening. The audio book version is read by the author. I’m told by multiple sources that it is quite good. I read this book last year. I can’t promise you enlightenment but I can promise that after reading the book you will view many of your thoughts and feelings quite differently.

Training Update

My training is going very well this year. This is my fourth week of regular workouts targeted at a sprint triathlon in May. There are rumors of a 5K on St. Paddy’s Day. Every fourth week I ease back on my training to give my body a chance to consolidate gains. That’s the plan for this week. Last week I racked up 65 minutes on the bike trainer, 120 minutes in the pool, and 63 minutes on elliptical, treadmill and track. In addition, I got in three weight workouts. I’m well on my way.

I just started with a new medical group. If you come in for your first visit weighing north of 240 pounds and tell your new physician’s assistant that you got four hours of aerobic exercise last week, she will look at you like you have just grown an appendage not currently fashionable on this planet. Now one of my goals for the new year is to lose enough weight that people will believe me when I tell them I work out.

Training Tweak of the Week: If you’re over the age of 35, plan to lift weights year round to maintain your muscle mass. I like to break my weight workouts into thirds: legs, chest and shoulders, and back and biceps. This way you aren’t spending a hour on each weight workout and each of these muscle groups gets 72 hours to recover. Theoretically you could hit each group twice in one week. Most weeks I only get one workout in for each group. That’s life on swim-bike-stumble island.

New Thoughts On Nutrition

A recent program on NPR really captured my attention. On The Diane Rehm Show, Diane interviewed Dr. Robert Lustig about his book: Fat Chance: Beating The Odds Against Sugar, Processed Food, Obesity, and Disease: http://goo.gl/ajrNQ

I direct your attention to a call from a dietitian from Dallas, TX, about 47 minutes into the program. The good doctor slam dunked this woman and completely discredited her calories in/calories out approach to diet. Please listen to the entire program, especially the part where Lustig describes some of the things we don’t know about nutrition and why. We have to completely change our thinking on diet and nutrition in the USA. First rule of holes: when you find yourself in one, stop digging.

My current plan for the the next couple of blog posts include relating my adventures at a weekend swim clinic and some useful information about salads.

Adjusting Hydration to the Situation

Getting ready to go long at my first marathon.

Lets start out with a few scenarios. You are a runner and decide to enter the West Wyoming marathon. You are a cyclist and decide to enter a local metric century. You are a triathlete and decide to move up to an Olympic distance event.

You show up at the marathon and weather conditions are cooler and less humid than the average for your training runs. Plus its overcast and windy. Not surprising considering that Wyoming is drier and windier than most of the United States. You get to the metric century and weather conditions are way hotter than your average training rides, and the sun is beating down like a blacksmith pounding out a horseshoe. You arrive at the triathlon to find that the weather is nice, much like your average training conditions but you haven’t been feeling well the last week or so and haven’t been eating or drinking quite as much as normal. Also aid stations have a different sports drink than you were expecting.

Now a few questions. How would the above scenarios affect your hydration plan? How did you come up with your hydration plan? How will you evaluate your hydration plan during the race/event? Does your hydration plan match your race outfit?

Now let’s talk about you for a minute. Do you sweat a lot, a little, about average? Have you ever weighed yourself before and after exercise to gauge your sweat rate? Do you prefer sports drinks or are you a water purist? How would you know if you were becoming dehydrated? Do you worry about hyponatremia?

I know what you are thinking. Gee that’s a lot of questions big guy, any chance there will be answers at some point. Let me reply to that in the form of a weather forecast: guidelines and resources with a chance of occasional answers.

What I’m getting at is that hydration is a tricky subject. There are many myths and misconceptions and even the experts are not in close agreement. If you check the hydration position statements at the end of this post you will find two groups advocating drinking set amounts of fluid during set amounts of time if possible. The third group suggest using thirst as a guide to when to take on more fluid. All seem to agree that a fluid loss equal to 2% or more of body weight is what we are trying to avoid.

While our first priority is to avoid dehydration, we also need to be aware of hyponatremia or an abnormally low level of sodium in the blood. The most common cause of exercise-associated hyponatremia (EAH) is excessive fluid intake. Hyponatremia is a growing concern because more people are doing marathons and triathlons. Back of the pack athletes like myself need to be especially aware of hyponatremia given our long time out on the course.

I found the quote below from a paper on exercise-associated hyponatremia particularly chilling. A link to the full paper is in the resources section.

“For example, in the 2002 Boston Marathon, Almond et al found that 13% of 488 runners (63 runners) studied had hyponatremia (defined as a serum sodium concentration of 135 mmol/L or less) and 0.6% (3 runners) had critical hyponatremia (serum sodium concentration of 120 mmol/L or less).”

Lessons From Little Rock and Chicago Marathons

I found two studies on PubMed that illustrate current attitudes and knowledge base about hydration among recreational athletes. Both are surveys of marathoners and were published in 2011. So let’s get started with the first in our science cited series with a look at highlights from each study.

Half-Marathon and Full-Marathon Runners’ Hydration Practices and Perceptions

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3418934/

The authors surveyed runners participating in the 2010 Little Rock, Arkansas, Half-Marathon and Marathon. They spent a lot of time and effort in developing their 23 question survey and gathered a lot of useful data. They separated the runners into three groups – low, mod, high – based on running volume, expected race completion time, and racing experience. A total of 146 men and 130 women were included in the final sample. Both half marathoners and marathoners were included.

The authors felt that their most important finding was that during training 70% of survey participants reported “decreases in running performance thought to have been caused by dehydration.” Further 45% reported suffering heat-related illness symptoms that they thought were caused by dehydration.

Only 20% of survey participants reported monitoring their hydration status. The methods runners said they used to monitor hydration status included urine color, pre-planning amount of fluid to be consumed or intervals at which to drink, frequency or volume of urination, thirst and listening to body, dehydration-induced symptoms (e.g., “lack of sweating,” “calf cramps,” dry skin, chapped lips, “hand moisture”), sweat rate, skin turgor test (pinch test), change in body weight, and total body water measurement predictor tool.

The authors noted three key points in their report:

1. Most runners had experienced performance decrements that they attributed to dehydration. Almost half the runners had sustained heat-related illness symptoms that they related to dehydration.

2. Despite these adverse events, few participants monitored their hydration levels or used specific hydration plans.

3. Better dissemination of accurate scientific information about appropriate hydration practices may increase runners’ safety.

Lack of Awareness of Fluid Needs Among Participants at a Midwest Marathon

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3445216/

The authors of this study like those above surveyed marathon runners. In this case at the 2007 LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon. In this survey runners were asked about injuries as well as hydration. They were also asked if they had ever been treated in the medical tent during or after a marathon. A total of 419 runners completed the survey: 211 women and 208 men. Below are three paragraphs that I think reveal most of the information most important to the topic of discussion today.

“Of the 278 survey participants who had completed a marathon, 54 (19.0%) had been a patient in a medical tent: 17 (31.5%) for dehydration, 10 (18.5%) for cramping, 9 (16.7%) for dizziness or passing out, 6 (11.1%) for musculoskeletal issues, 5 (9.3%) for vomiting, 3 (5.6%) for bleeding, 3 (5.6%) for heat or cold related illnesses, and 1 (1.9%) for hyponatremia.”

“Most runners reported no knowledge of their sweat rate (n = 370, 88.7%), and the majority did not weigh themselves to assess hydration status (n = 284, 67.8%). Furthermore, 335 (81.3%) did not address hydration status; 77 (18.7%) used other methods; and 38 (49.3%) used urine color. The other methods of hydration assessment were thirst (n = 9, 11.7%), distance (n = 3, 3.9%), past experience (n = 3, 3.9%), “scale” (n = 2, 2.6%), general feeling (n = 2, 2.6%), and frequency of urination (n = 2, 2.6%); pulse, cramping, amount drank, “sweat,” and “pinch test” were all listed once (1.3%). Finally, 265 runners (60.1%) supplemented their fluids with carbohydrate, 86 (19.5%) with electrolytes or salt tablets, 68 (15.4%) with caffeine, and 22 (5.0%) with supplements.”

“An athlete should replace 50% to 80% of their sweat losses to maintain an adequate blood volume and appropriate core temperature during endurance exercise. On average, marathon runners complete the race with 3% to 4% dehydration and replace less than 50% of their sweat losses. Self-weighing may be most useful in determining when individuals have hydrated too much. It is a worrisome sign to maintain or gain weight during a marathon, owing to the potential for exercise-associated hyponatremia.”

The authors concluded:

“The majority of runners (in their survey) were inexperienced marathoners, lacked concern about musculoskeletal injury or hyponatremia, and did not use methods to assess their hydration status.”

My conclusions from reading both studies:

1. Weigh yourself. Go exercise. Weigh yourself again. Calculate fluid loss. There I said it. Repeat periodically and for different weather conditions. Keep a record of your findings.
2. You need to have a method or methods to evaluate your hydration status during training and events. You need to practice them and refine them over time.
3. Hydration needs vary with the individual, conditions and exercise intensity. Your hydration strategy should take these factors into account.
4. Both surveys had quite large sample sizes which supports the conclusions reached. At the same time, both surveys rely on self reporting which cannot be considered as reliable as double blind testing.

A few closing notes. I have hidden an Easter egg (hidden message) in this post. The first person to find it and post a comment about it wins a prize. Also I would love to hear comments from anyone who is trying mindfulness meditation for the first time. Finally let me encourage you to follow me on twitter @swimbikestumble.

Resources:

Hyponatremia

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001431/

Exercise-Associated Hyponatremia

http://cjasn.asnjournals.org/content/2/1/151.long

American College of Sports Medicine position stand. Exercise and fluid replacement

http://journals.lww.com/acsm-msse/Fulltext/2007/02000/Exercise_and_Fluid_Replacement.22.aspx

National Athletic Trainers’ Association Position Statement: Fluid Replacement for Athletes

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1323420/pdf/jathtrain00002-0094.pdf

Updated Fluid Recommendation: Position Statement from International Marathon Medical Directors Association (2006)

http://aimsworldrunning.org/articles/IMMDA_Updated_Fluid_Recommendation.pdf

Skin Turgor: One indication of hydration status

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/imagepages/17223.htm