I went to a Chinese restaurant in Santa Rosa with my family on Friday night. I woke up early Saturday at 3am and had a normal bowel movement. I drank about 20 oz Zico coconut water. Had a couple bananas, one FRS energy chew, and a Hawaiian bread roll. ( I was fine with this for Vineman 70.3)
I got ice from the ice machine and mixed it with bottled water and my usual Cytomax powder. ( ? ice is not my usual routine, but I did not have a fridge and I was expecting a warm / hot day)
Pre-swim I had Gatorade G1 and my usual energy bar, along with about 4 oz gatorade at T1 aid station.
I used the Port-a-Potty and had a soft BM ( not diarrhea) ( no soap / hand sanitizer ? contamination)
Swim 1:21:52 which is a great swim time for me since I'm not a very good swimmer. No GI issues. ( ? Swallowed a little river water)
T1 8:14
Bike 6:20:24 which is a pretty good ride, but considering that my first 56 mile loop was just under 3 hours, the second loop was slower than I would have preferred.
I was feeling good to great through the first bike loop. Then on my second loop I started to feel very "gassy" and whenever I got into the Aero position, I felt abdominal pressure and the sensation that I wanted to have a bowel movement. So not being Aero and the fatigued legs probably contributed to the slower 2nd loop on the bike. I just tried to suck it up until I could hit the Port-a-Pottie in T2.
I had 2 bottles of Cytomax and 1 of Gatorade from the aid station, along with 1 pack Clif Shot Blok Margarita flavor and 1 or 2 energy bars during the first loop. I also took 1 salt tablet around hour 3.
Second loop I had 1 bottle of Cytomax, 1 bottle of water, 1 bottle of Monster Maize which I took in last 45 minutes of ride. I had 1 pack Clif Shot Blok Margarita, 1 pack Shot Blok Tropical Punch, 1 pack Power-bar gel blasts, and 1 salt tablet around hour 6.
T2 6:43 I had a slow T2 because I had to use the Port-a-Pottie and as I had feared it was diarrhea. I couldn't eliminate completely because I wanted to get out of T2 ASAP. ( Again no soap / no sanitizer)
Run 4:49:58 which is not good for me, since running is my strength.
I started the marathon and the first 9 miles I was OK, although I felt gassy and I could hear the fluid sloshing around in my bowels. I wanted to "fart" but was afraid I would have a diarrhea accident, so I tried to hold the gas in, which led to cramping and a lot of abdominal discomfort. I didn't drink or eat as much because I didn't want to contribute to the "gassy", fullness sensation. I skipped the first couple aid stations and then had a small cup of cola or water at the other aid stations. I carried a pack of Powerbar Gel Blasts and I ate them sometime during the first or second run loop.
As I passed the port-a-potty at each aid station, I debated whether to stop or not, I ended up holding it in until the bitter end.
I ended up alternating between walking and jogging. By mile 16, I hit the "wall", I felt behind in my hydration and nutrition, but didn't think my GI system could handle anything. But I forced myself to drink some Gatorade and water and I started eating grapes at the aid station. ( I stopped the cola because I thought it might be making the gassiness worse)
I had to "slow down" and walk, so that hopefully I could recover and go faster in the end. By this point I had gone over 130 miles and been out for over 11 hours, quitting was not an option.
Fortunately this worked. By mile 20, I was able to pick up my pace and start run / jog again.
After 12:47:11, I became an Ironman ( for 2nd time and set a PR)
Post-race I had diarrhea. I was able to tolerate some soup, but I couldn't even look at solid food without causing some GI discomfort. (This is very different from IM Louisville, where I was so hungry after the Ironman that I ate 3 or 4 slices of pizza and a sandwich shortly after the race and then after the L'ville course closed I went out and had drinks and more food at a 4th Street Live restaurant.)
I returned to cheer on my Ironteammates until past 10pm, but due to additional GI distress, I returned to the hotel and had several more episodes of diarrhea that night / Sunday morning.
Lessons learned:
1) Avoid new restaurants the night before Ironman
2) carry sanitizer pre-race for Port-a-Potty
3) Avoid ice from hotel ice machine
4) Try not to drink murky river water
5) Re-examine each component of my race day nutrition and make sure they are not the culprit.
