firstoffthebike.com - Interviews

What happens when it all goes south - Tim Beardall

The week was one of great expectation and excitement. Anyone who has raced and prepared in Kona knows how the days leading up to the big race get louder, bigger and busier. A few weeks out and the town is quiet and in business mode. Then all of a sudden signs are plastered on walls and people arrive.

My time in Kona leading up to the race was well planned. I became acclimatised to the heat and by race day was back to feeling as if the weather was normal. Coming from a cooler climate such as Melbourne can be difficult for some but it was no problem. The training days leading up were varied from winds that kept you nervous when riding and made you ride on an angle on calm days which could give a false sense of what may be coming.

Race Morning

On race morning I had my usual small meal and drink as I had thought I had suitably loaded with electrolytes, water, glycogen and salt the previous days. This may or may not have been the truth as Kona finds ways of making any plan seem just a little unresearched. Through talking with many people such as Mitch Anderson, I had in my mind to run a fairly basic but strong nutrition plan for the day. I relied on PowerBar gels, water and Gatorade to give me the right calories while I also had a PowerBar on the bike to keep something in my stomach.

Swim

The swim was as it should be. Uncomfortable and tough. If you are not getting hit, pulled, grabbed or scratched then you are either leading the bunch and will be having a ripper of a swim or not going for your best swim. I was shaken up earlier with the good morning of an elbow into the nose which made a super crunch as my nose went right. I got out in 1.05 which is not what I wanted at all and began to immediately think - Got to make up time.

This was wrong and I had to remove any such negative thinking. I found later everyone had a slow swim but even considering this I was not happy and on reflection found it really hard to find a set of legs to sit on.

Bike

On the bike I was into things well but because of a slow swim you have to pass a lot of people to find any spare room. I started my nutrition with a gel a few minutes after leaving transition and allowed the blood to flow from my arms, through my body and into my stomach.

Out on the Queen K I immediately found my rhythm only to again find trouble. A female pro sat up and pulled out as I was going to pass. In these early stages it is busy and in order to stop what I thought would be a rear crash I passed. I did however pass on the right and who was sitting out looking at me but an umpire. Stop go penalty!

I know they are the rules but when a crash is stopped and no time gained I find it hard to believe penalties are given for this when there are groups riding the whole course.

I pulled into the stop and go tent but before I had unclipped and still rolling the umpire pushed me and I landed on my shoulder. This resulted in every stroke I took up to highway feeling like I had a pain in my shoulder - like a knife being turned.

The day was not going as I liked but who races as they like? I decided to up the ante on the hill so as to not be caught on the back of someone going up hay wee.
But hang on this is Kona and things happen.

I continued on with controlled efforts knowing a faster time was there but you need some reserves for the run in Kona. I thought the winds were low for the race and so I could have gained more time on the bike.

On the way back to transition a competitor over took me as I entered the drinks station. I pulled up to not to sit on their back but failed in time to pull back the required distance because I was gathering bottles and food. A minute after I left the aid station an umpire said I had drafted through the aid station. I got a draft penalty and was sitting in the penalty box at transition.

I will say I have no problem with this although when you see packs riding it seems like the people trying to ride a single no drafting race get picked up for advancing their rate than staying in a pack.

Run - Kaboom!

When I finally got on the run I was slightly worried about any rule which could stop my race.
I got onto the run and was doing well. I ran between 6.30 and 7 minute kms early before I decided to sit on 7. All through the run I could not feel my hands. This did not bother me as I thought I had enough calories, and salt. As well as hydration. It also meant my shoulder was not hurting which was a change from the ascent of ha way and the ride back to transition.

I got to just outside the energy lab and my face had gone tingly. A leg also stopped working and I was hopping and running 8.30min kms. I then lost all feeling in my arms, legs, face and went down onto the road. I was lying there thinking I can’t feel anything but If I keep moving someone might bonk ahead and a podium may still be on. With a little time I got up after the medical people spoke to me my I started to move through the energy lab. This was at a speed of just under 9min kms.

I came to a quick conclusion that although I did not know what was going on, a conservative few miles while still moving would keep me in the race. I went through the exit back to the highway and was still in a position to podium. I saw a competitor I was racing stopping to walk and thought- just stay moving and he may bonk. If he looked at me he would have thought I was no real issue.

My face had blown up, I could not even speak clearly, I mumbled and I was staggering. My hands were going into spasm and my arm had a cut on it from where I had hit the road. At this time my thoughts about the race were a little less on the time and more on moving.

Luke Bell and his wife were great. They had a motor bike and got a medic to check on me.

I kept moving at a real slow pace and tried to figure what had happened. The medical people and umpire regularly checked I was good and could say my details.

It was not a bonk in terms of not eating enough calories and it was not that I had not drunk enough. It was I had drunken too much. I had diluted all the salt in my system. I was in spasms and could just keep looking forward and moving.

This is one of the worst but best things that has ever happened to me. If I learn from this surely I will come back stronger in the next race and beyond. Also it does fabulous things for the mind. Seeing people fly past you and you looking at them thinking I know what I have to do but I cannot move really puts into your head an idea of being patient.

About one mile out from the finish I managed to straighten my legs and wade from side to side, gathering momentum down the hills towards the line.

AS I got to the line I was looked at and straight away was taken to medical to be assessed. I was over-weight which proved the over-hydration. I could not feel my hands and face.

Race - Post Mortum

I returned to my hotel after being told to eat salty foods. Later that night I went back down to the medical because my legs were tingly and I still could not feel my hands and face. The same things were said so I made my way back to my hotel room had some more salty snacks and went to bed. The thing that really got me interested was that the Gatorade on course is high in salt and I also take salt tablets.

When I got home realised I needed to be checked out so had bloods taken. These resulted in me being told I had lost a lot of potassium. I am now recovering and upping banana, tomato and cereal in my food.

I would in the future read my body better but this is all easy to say when you are on such a fine nutritional and hydration edge. I was not feeling bloated on the bike but should have heeded the advice my body was giving me when I continued to drink sufficient but not unusual amounts of fluid, (mostly Gatorade) without having the need to pass urine.

This also happened on the run but my fluid intake was reduced as it is a little difficult to get enough fluid while running. Salt tables are another interesting issue as I use them and have had not issue with them before. I find it hard to believe that with a high salt Gatorade, salt tablets and not excessive drinking I could flush so much from my body but the blood test proves I did as did the spasms, swelling and fatigue.

I will continue to seek advice from people on salt as there are many opinions out in the medical world. What is successful for one person may not be for others. But I do know salt and mineral balances and hydration are important with events in heat.

Mitch Anderson was fantastic in his explanation and hopefully I have learnt when the symptoms are occurring and reverse the effects before I suffer a bonk and have to walk. It has been shown in some of the top performances that to stop, regather and then go is often a wise decision when your nutrition or fluid plan has become flawed.

I have looked at my race and it was not as I wanted. I did get many things out of it which later can be put into place. It probably was better to learn some lessons from the race or smash it rather than just have a bad day.

I look forward to getting the lessons into place and taking on my next race with aggressive attacking racing.

Tim didn't write this but he finished in a time of 10:18 to finish 14th in the 20-24 age group. A great effort considering his day.