RACE REPORT: 2012 Blue Lake Olympic Triathlon

[roo4]

Wait. Donuts?

Sorry, forgot what I was going to say.

[sgf726]

Susan,
Sounds like overall you had a good race. One of my challenges on the run had always been eating enough since I can't eat solid food on the run.
My runs have been much better this year and I changed two things - focused speed work 1x per week and eating more.

I did a seminar a couple of years ago with Dave Scott and one of the things he mentioned was not to eat in transition but to wait until 10 minutes into the bike or a mile into the run. He stated that allowing your body to get used to the next sport, helped with taking in the calories. Based on his advise what I know do, is instead of eating in transition I wait until 2 miles in on the bike and 1 mile in on the run and then have 100 calories.

It worked for me, not sure if it would helped for others.

Sharon

[Susan Otcenas]

Based on his advise what I know do, is instead of eating in transition I wait until 2 miles in on the bike and 1 mile in on the run and then have 100 calories.

Interesting idea. Part of the reason I've usually taken calories in during transition is that I'm not the most coordinated person on the planet. It's always a bit of a juggle for me to consume while moving, so I've used the opportunity in T1 & T2 to take in calories while I'm putting on my shoes or whatever. I've found that while running, it takes me a good 5 minutes to get through a gel, as I have to take it in little by little to avoid choking on it.

[colby]

I did a seminar a couple of years ago with Dave Scott and one of the things he mentioned was not to eat in transition but to wait until 10 minutes into the bike or a mile into the run. He stated that allowing your body to get used to the next sport, helped with taking in the calories. Based on his advise what I know do, is instead of eating in transition I wait until 2 miles in on the bike and 1 mile in on the run and then have 100 calories.

It worked for me, not sure if it would helped for others.

I follow a pretty similar principle. During a sprint, if I eat, I eat after a couple miles on the bike when I'm settled into a rhythm, and usually skip it on the run. During an Olympic distance, I eat a couple times on the bike, then well into the run. During Half/Ironman, I don't eat until a few miles (~15min) into the bike, and I'll only take in liquid on the second mile on the run at soonest (depends on where I am time/calorie-wise, I eat on the clock on the bike).

The shorter the race, the less fatal a mistake on this kind of stuff is, but I always wonder.

And I, too, am not a talented or natural runner. I'm thinking about setting a lofty goal of trying to qualify for Boston as a way to focus on running. (That's scary to say out loud.) When I focus on running, I improve, but then I lose it quickly. I don't feel like that happens as much with the bike. At this point I've built up so much running and general endurance I feel like I'm not figuring out how to run, I'm just spinning my wheels and not getting faster. I guess even if I ever qualify for Boston I still have to find a way to maintain it.