Vineman Ironman Triathlon

Several weeks have passed since I completed Ironman #2: the Full Vineman.  This race was marked by major GI distress on the second loop of the bike course and during the marathon.  Here is what happened: 


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.

2 years after ACL Reconstruction: Vineman 70.3 PR and Full Vineman Ironman Next

Wow, so much has happened in the last month.  Training.  Racing.  Work.  Nutrition.  Sleep.  Repeat...
Vineman 70.3 was a great success.  I set a PR.  I completed my Half Ironman almost 20 minutes better than my Best Case Scenario Goal Time.  I was expecting temperature in 80s, but we had the best race conditions possible with temp in 60s and low 70s.  This allowed me to push it a little harder on the bike and still have a great half marathon time.  Now if I can only have those conditions again for my Full Vineman ( 140.6 miles) this weekend.  I am once again in taper mode this week.  I need to catch up on a few things, tie up some loose ends, and then start packing and trek up to Northern California again.  It seems like I was just there last week... Oh yeah, I was there last weekend for 70.3

Having a great time cruising up Chalk Hill.


With everything going on with Ironteam, finishing up my fundraising, and my work responsibilities, I almost forgot my 2 year anniversary of my ACL Reconstruction.  That's a good thing.  My knee use to remind me on a daily basis that I had surgery.  Now I usually don't think about my reconstructed ACL even after a Half-Ironman!  I was ready to PARTY after Vineman 70.3 and thanks to teammate Jazzy, we had a great celebratory get together that evening.
I am setting new PRs in triathlon.  Earlier this year I set a marathon PR.  I am about a minute off from my 5K PR ( and I don't run very many 5Ks since I've been training for Ironman).  So once again, my thanks to my great Orthopedic Surgeon: Dr. Raffy Mirzayan at Baldwin Park Kaiser.  Thanks again to my Physical Therapist: Nazly Behnia at South Bay Kaiser for pushing me and encouraging me during those tough months immediately after the surgery.  It was literally learning to walk again, jump again, and run again.  Tearing an ACL is never a good thing, but with the right surgical / medical team, a supportive social network, and one's own "will power" and determination, those of you about to undergo ACL reconstruction will once again be doing the things you enjoy most and resume your active lifestyle.  Good luck to all.

San Diego Ride, Piuma, and Vineman Training Weekend

The last 3 weeks have been a blur.  First was the San Diego 100 miler.  We rode from Anaheim to Del Mar and up past Torrey Pines to UCSD.  It was my first time and I enjoyed the ride especially through Camp Pendleton.  The next day, we had a nice long run and then returned to Anaheim via car or Amtrak.  I rode back up with some bikes in Louis' car.
The following week was a big Brick workout; we started in Westlake Village and rode up and down Piuma, followed by an out and back around Westlake Village.  Then it was a 12 mile run.
Finally this past weekend we drove up to Santa Rosa and had Vineman training weekend.  Saturday was the 2.4 mile swim in Guerneville river, followed by 112 mile bike ride on the actual Vineman course.  The swim was so pleasant.  I ended up with my fastest open water swim to date 1 hour 20 min.  Then after a quick T1, it was off on the 112 mile ride.  Unfortunately my legs immediately felt tired and heavy.  It took a good hour for the lead in my legs to fall off.  I then started getting into a groove, but as the day progressed, it got hotter and hotter.  By the second loop, I had to cool off at the aid stations by dumping water over my head and onto my cooling arm sleeves.  The second time up Chalk Hill was tough.  I just kept pedaling and finally, I sped back to Windsor High School for T2 and a quick 2.5 mile run.
The following day, it was back to Windsor High for a 21 mile run.  The morning was very pleasant and I enjoyed the scenery very much.  But after 10 miles, it started to get warm.  I just wanted to finish ASAP, before the day got too hot.  So I probably ended up running at marathon pace.  I finished the 21 miler in a little over 3 hours.  Not bad on tired legs!
The worst part of the weekend was the 8 hour drive back home to LA.  Sore butt, sore legs, sore back... Yikes!  I had to go to work on Monday and I felt like I was half asleep.  Tuesday after work, I ran 3 miles, but then I was too tired for my Tuesday swim; I ended up going to bed early after dinner.
Today, Wednesday, I finally feel recovered from Vineman Training Weekend.  I had a nice bike ride up and down the hills of PV.  I will hit the pool tomorrow.  Stay tuned for more training updates...

Vineman Training Weekend

A Hot Weekend in Sonoma Wine Country.  Great training weekend for Vineman.  The drive was a "Bear"; 10+ hours due to  Friday afternoon traffic in LA.  Arkady and I got in after midnight.  It's always nice to return to my old "neck of the woods".  I spent 2 months living in Santa Rosa during my family practice rotation in med school.  Even then I enjoyed going on bike rides after finishing up in the clinic.  Well on Saturday I got to ride for 112 miles ( 2 loops of the actual Full Vineman course.) The course was beautiful.  We must have passed over a hundred different vineyards.  Watching the people going in for their wine-tastings at these wineries, while I was baking in the hot sun was real tough.  I told myself I'll return another day for a more leisurely wine country experience.

I finished the ride in about 6.5 hrs.  Not bad.  This was my longest ride to date.  I even had to deal with a water bottle falling off, and my chain fell off 3 times during the first loop.  Amazing but it didn't fall during the second loop.  Perhaps I anticipated my gear shifts better.  (I better drop by the bike shop and get a full tune-up.)  Afterwards we had a nice dinner at one of the rental homes.  Then it was off to bed for the Sunday swim and run.

Sunday was a much hotter day than Saturday.  Temperatures approached 90 degrees.  We started with a nice swim in the Russian River.  Then I ran 1 loop of the actual Vineman Course.  ( 3 loops on Full Vineman )  I thought Arkady and I would return to LA immediately after the run so I stopped after 1 loop.  But I probably could have and should have run a 2nd loop.  It turns out that as an Ironteam, we waited until the last runner came in after their 2 loops on the course.  So I waited for 2.5 hours!  But it was fun.  I had a coke, some recovery stuff, and even a couple ice cold beers!  Yummy.  After everyone returned from the run, it was off to lunch.  I was starving and had a real craving for MEAT!  So I ordered the "I Love Animals Burger."  I finished the whole plate!!! See photos below.