OK, WTF happened?
I’m dictating this to Cheryl. For now, I’ll make it brief and factual; maybe when I regain my strength, I’ll write something more complete and lyrical.
The swim was crowded but smooth and I finished in 1 hour 18 minutes with a T1 of 3:45 minutes. Both were as good or better as I had planned and I felt great. I had one nagging little problem. I had tucked the strap of my speed suit under the shoulder and the hard plastic end of the lace rubbed my skin raw just about the clavicle. Not much fun in salt water.
I started the bike smooth and strong, trying to hold myself in check. But a little over 10 miles into the race, less than 5 miles out of town, I got a drafting penalty. “They said” I stayed too close to somebody after he passed me. It was crowded and we were going uphill, but technically, they were probably right. In retrospect, I then made my key mistake.
I had 20 miles to go before the penalty tent where I would stand down for 4 minutes. I decided to push my effort level a little extra figuring I would have 4 minutes to rest and regain my strength. In the tent, I was able to get extra fluids, salt pills, and Hammer gel AND, I took the first of two 200 mg caffeine pills. I don’t know if the caffeine or slightly increased pace contributed to my problems. Leaving the tent, I ratcheted down my effort level and what I thought was my power wattage to Ironman pace. For some reason, my heart rate monitor wasn’t working, but I don’t think that was an issue.
I thought I was taking enough fluids; every 10 minutes, I was taking at least 6 ounces. And I took all of my planned calories on the bike, about 250 an hour.
I took it easy up to Hawi and got there on schedule at 11:45 am. We had a downhill tailwind and I had no problems with that potentially treacherous section of the course. The rollers also went well. I took it easy up the steep hill out of Kawaihae and made the right turn onto the Queen K (that’s about 75 miles into the ride). All of a sudden, the interior muscles of my thighs began to cramp, first one side and then the other. For the remainder of the bike, I had periods of being able to bike effectively and periods when I had to slow down or stretch or even stop.
I spent 11 minutes in transition with a PT trying to work out my cramps. Oh, and did I say it was blazing hot and sunny?
The run did not start well and got worse from there. I was walking and running for the first 8 miles, about 14 minutes a mile. And then, I stopped drinking (I wasn’t sure why at the time, but now I know.)
At mile 10+, I made the right turn and started up the Palani hill. I had been walking for the last 2 miles. About 30 yards into the climb, I didn’t feel right, so I sat down on the curb, and then I laid down in the grass of the median. I won’t go into all the details now, but I had basically collapsed and was taken to the Medical Tent. I had lost about 10 pounds or nearly 7% of my body weight. At that point, things begin to stop working, like my brain, muscles, and gut.
Long story short, I spent a couple of hours there getting partially rehydrated and met a lot of great people.
I still feel like crap.
You can draw your own conclusions. Here are mine: I never should have upped my pace after the penalty and I should have taken more fluids on the bike.