4 Hour Bike + 15 Min Run. March 16, 2019. ~Mind over Body~

BRICK

4 hours holding 200 Watts + 15 min Run off bike

brick workout is any workout that combines swimming, biking and/or running into a single session. The most common example is the bike to run brick, where you go for a run immediately after finishing a bike ride.


Today I pushed myself above my physical limits.
Today my mind won over my body, forcing me give everything I had.
It’s all good Mental Training.
IRONMAN 70.3 Marbella


Warm-up:
15 min easy

Main set:
3.5 hours @ 200 watts
At the top of every hour, ride x 10 mins @ 275 watts with 3.5 min easy riding after each interval.

Cool-down:
15 min easy

Using the sweat rate and fueling data I’ve collected over the past few weeks My strategy is following:


Hydration

Goal: 
Prevent loosing more than 3% of weight through the fluid loss. In my case 68 kg (150 lb) = 2.1 kg

As I recently found out, Lionel Sanders has exactly same Sweat Rate as I do. We both sweat at approximately 1400 mL/hour. Another question is how much sodium each looses?

How?

Sweat Rate (SR): ~1400 mL/h
Liquids Required: Exercise Duration x SR = 4 hr * 1400 = 5600 mL x 1.06 (to convert in grams) = 5936 g
Carbohydrates Required:
(X g carbs / 5936 g) x 100%; X = 5936 x 0.05 = 296.8 g (5% Solution)
Sodium Requirements
: 0.5 x 5.936 = 2968 mg


What?

Electrolyte Solution:

Gatorade G2 (591 mL) x 5 bottles = 2955 mL x 1.06 = 3132 g
Bio Steel (500 mL) + Karma (532 mL) = 1032 mL
Coke x 2 (355 mL) = 710 mL
Aloe crap = 500 mL
Smoothie = 450 mL
Sodium: 1685 mg
Carbohydrates: 231 g (890 calories)
Total volume: 5647 mL x 1.06 = 5986 g


FUELING


Pre-Exercise: 30 min Before

As usual workout is done early at 6 AM. After the night fast.

Two bananas + cup of coffee. That’s it

50 g of Carbs = 192 calories


During Exercise


How?

Formula: 
Low End: 0.25 x 150 = 37.5 g/h x 4 hr = 150 g
High End: 0.33 x 150 = 49.4 g/h x 4 hr = 198 g

Fueling & Bonking Calculator

Calculator suggests I take in 60 g/h x 4 h = 240 g of carbs
It also predicts the calories burnt (from fat and glycogen), distance covered and training stress score (TSS). Let’s see how close those predictions are…

What?

As I mentioned before, I would like to experiment with liquid sources of carbs, so here we go. When thinking about sugar, the first thing that comes to mind is Coke. In addition I threw in a smoothie or “natural” juice plus “Dena Aloe” drink. All the carbs are coming from liquid sources today.

Carbohydrates: 166 grams (640 calories) / 4 hr = 41.5 g/h
Calories per hour: 640 / 4 hr = 160 cal/hour


Pepermint TUMS

Taking peppermint TUMS prior to hard efforts to decrease stomach irritation and diarrhea
Here’s how TUMS may help with your symptoms:
Calcium works with the neuromuscular contractions and muscle metabolism
Carbonate helps to coat the intestinal cells, reducing endotoxin release and the ensuing symptoms
Peppermint is a homeopathic remedy for GI disturbances


RESULTS


Pre-Weight: 68.1 kg
Post-Weight: 69.5 kg
Liquids Consumed: 5647 mL (5986 g)
Weight Lost: 4.6 kg
Sweat Rate: 1080 g/hr

Weight Loss: 6.6 % body weight

Bad job Sasha! That’s waaay too much…


BIKE


First hour felt ok holding 200 watts, however I sensed something’s not quite right, wasn’t feeling particularly strong. Shortly I understood why…

10 x 3 at 275 Watts Intervals:


#1

F*ck it hurts!
Can’t hold 275 Watts going down 10w.
Lasted 6 minutes, dropped down to 260 W.


#2

Lasted for about 2 minutes, then – BONK. Dammit I can’t believe it, again. Couldn’t hold 275 W any longer, gradually reducing power…
Went down to 240 W – it’s the maximum I can squeeze out of my body right now. SO MAD!
I am not going to give up! Slowly increasing wattage… Last two minutes of the interval ramping up to 260 Watts.
F*CK IT HURTS! HR stays low.
2 hours to go… not sure if I can do it. I might just drop out right here. No sense to continue after I hit the wall.

I continue. It is no longer physical training – now it’s a mental training. Let’s see how far can I push myself mentally.


Suddenly after I opened the second can of Coke I felt that strengths comes back. I thought, once you bonked, there is no way out of it…
Jogging down on soda. Feeling stronger.


#3

Held 276 W for the entire duration of the interval!!!
So damn HAPPY and PROUD of myself! I pushed above my limits here. My mind won over my body.
Sweat is so acidic, and it burns my eyes. My legs are hurting like bitch.
It took me enormous amount of effort to push through.
I left nothing in me…


RUN


My legs are numb and heavy. Really hard to keep up with that pace.


Distance Covered:
170 KM: 168 on bike + 2 by feet
Time Elapsed:
4 hours 15 minutes
Energy Expanded:
3106 Calories


Lessons Learned

  • I am not eating enough. With my current load I need to be eating more carbohydrates.
  • I prefer taking in solid carbohydrates, instead of liquid.
  • You CAN get out of bonking hole. It took me 2 cans of Coke (90 g of sugar). However don’t expect your performance to be the best.
  • Even consuming the right volume of fluids, I finished seriously dehydrated. Probably due to the low glycogen stores, as it holds the water in the body.
  • Fueling & Bonking Calculator suggested that I am in the very high risk of bonking. How right it was!
  • Sanders has very similar sweat rate. I might look into his sodium loss to guesstimate mine.

What will I do Differently?

  • Increase caloric intake few days before big training session. Make emphasis on carbs!
  • Take in fuel from solid sources.
  • Get the freaking new seat.