Thanks AJ. I’ll follow-up a few items. On the bike I did not really push. I truly wanted to just get through the bike and get out on the run. So I tried to keep it dialed back and close to what I’d been training. The bike was my only worry so I was willing to ride easy, keep in similar gears, and maintain a high cadence (88 for the entire bike).
As for nutrition, I drank 2 bottles of Skratch and 1 of Gatorade endurance while eating 2 Clif bars (and a few shot blocks over the final 15 miles). I intended to eat a 3rd bar but got sick of them (need to vary flavors), so lost a few hundred calories there.
In terms of cramping, I have only had real issues in the pool and in my legs. I drink roughly 4-5 liters of water most days and thought this was an electrolyte imbalance so I started drinking a lot more Gatorade and taking a daily magnesium pill (still doing that even today). Since those adjustments I’ve had no swim leg cramps. But I only ever felt remotely like this late in my first marathon. And that was nothing compared to this 1/2.
On Friday and Saturday I drank several bottles of Gatorade as well as water and iced tea.
In future I would probably need to add salt tabs and more food on the bike. And possibly work on pre-race nutrition so I am fully primed on race day.
I am happy I finished. I did get there. Just not the way I intended and the Mallory challenge was not what I expected.
