Not sure if this is a daft question. For context I dabble a bit in Triathlons and keep coming a bit unstuck on the run. Today for example my run was 30mins slower over a half marathon than I can run, as I ended up walking a lot.

When I’m running my pace is only slightly slower but I feel an overwhelming urge to walk. It’s not and pain/aching in my legs making me stop, and I feel like I’m not able to work hard enough to get out of breath, so I assume I’m just lacking in stamina over the full distance.

Is this a mental issue and I need to MTFU and push past the urge to stop, or is there a physical aspect; or is that just general fitness?

how well do you eat & drink during these races ?

I think there’s probably only so much manning up that you can do

IANA(Tri)Athlete

… and don’t they say something about spinning a really low gear at the end of the bike leg to help you get running ?

Your predicament can be solved by adhering to #42

Not a triathlete by any means, however I do believe that a proportion of it is mental toughness. It’s amazing how much your body can give you when you think it’s empty. Even a slightly overweight one like mine 🙂

Stamina itself is physical.
Training to improve that stamina is mental AND physical.

So, both.

I’d say lack of food/energy. I recently ran an ultra and struggled for the last 20K, the only solids i could eat was wet fruit ie berrys n watermelon. I think if i was able to take on proper solids i would of felt better and kept it moving.

Ultimately its a physical thing, you can hold 160bpm for an hour etc.
However there are variables, how well are you, how much sleep have you had?
Then after that you have your frame of mind when somone significant overtakes you or you are just distracted by a bad partner etc.

Numerous stuff IMO.

Best bet just get your excuses in early then smash it the best you can!

In the OP’s case it sounds fully like a mental thing. If it were a case of lacking physical stamina then either muscles would give way (which he says is not the case) or glycogen stores would run out (bonk). And the latter results in you being very out of breath (whilst going no-where fast).

Both.
As long as you are fit, put in the right energy sources then the only thing left is mental endurance. All three are equally important.

Thanks for the input all. I guess nutrition could have been a factor yesterday. I probably drank about 1.5-2litres on the bike along with energy bars. Not sure I could take on more without wanting to puke. On the run I maybe only got in another litre at the aid stations, which doesn’t seem like much for 5-6hours effort on a hot day.

Maybe slow down a bitfor the first coyof miles on the run?

Was it a half IM? If so I wouldn’t compare your stand alone half marathon time with the run. Also did you overcook the bike a bit? Get your results for each split, have you run a steady race? Nutrition is definitely a factor for this duration, what was your strategy? Were you only taking in calories via drinks? Did you ride a tribike? Or do much brick training?

Edit: just saw your second post regarding energy bars.

Was it the Cotswold Classic yesterday ?

If you have done the hours training then its almost definitely. Nutrition and hydration.

It makes your legs feel heavy and generally like your not fit enough.

How much did you eat on the bike ? I generally aim for a gel every 20mins on the bike.

Yeah it was the Cotswold Classic – did you do it?

Could always to more training. Ironically I probably worked harder in training to improve my run times this year, but have neglected my cycling too much, and definitely need to do more brick work.

I don’t get on well with gels so was eating a mouthful of energy bar roughly every 15-20mins on the bike. The more I think about it I was definitely dehydrated so need to work on getting more fluids in next time.

Would be interested to hear the logic behind people thinking its nutrition/hydration?
OP has mentioned he took on 2.5-3l over 5-6hrs which is in the correct ballpark. And he also mentioned he felt he couldn’t go hard enough to get out of breath – but when you’ve run out of carbs, you can get out of breath at more or less walking pace.

I did 170 miles on the road 2 days ago at 19.1 average. It’s not all mental, my heart rate was a lot higher in the second half to maintain pace. You get tired and have to work harder, part of it is dehydration but part fatigue. If you can run a marathon in 3 hours when fresh then there is no way you are going to do it in the same time after a big swim and 5-6 hours on a bike.

No I didn’t do it but was supporting a friend. I did Malorca 70.3 and Ironman Austria this year. Having bit of a break now after 3 years of it.

I actually want to get out and have some fun on my bikes instead of staring at a power meter.

Its practice with the gels and also finding ones that agree with you. Though 10hrs into a race I am not convinced any of them agree with you 🙂

Most people who struggle on the run think they need to run more. However if there is a big difference between your standalone time, its probably nutrition or you need to do more work on your bike.

@fifeandy One reason for saying hydration was it was a very hot and humid day and even if you came off the bike hydrated, it would not take long to lose fluid. Its also harder to drink on the run without throwing a cup of water all over yourself.

Also were you doing anything to keep cool ? Did you throw a load of water over yourself at the aid stations ?

Plenty of water over the head and thankfully a nice hose down at the start of each lap. I think I had actually stopped sweating so guess thats a good sign I wasn’t well hydrated.

Plenty of stuff to work on for next year it seems!

Nutrition. You’ve done the training (I hope). The combination of pacing and feeding are what’s important. You can store about 3hrs of energy, and then you have to put it in at about the rate you are burning it.

I did 12hrs on Saturday – nearly 270 miles. Just cycling, but I planned my pacing and feeding very carefully – drank about five litres but ate a huge amount (of liquid-based foods not solid bars). You probably just didn’t eat enough, and I think this is under thought. Fluids is easy to measure and consume, especially when running. But you need something more substantial.

It can be mental. I did quite a few Polaris challenges, which were two day events and if you weren’t back on the second day before your allotted finish time you started losing tons of your hard earned points. On the Brecon one I struggled all weekend feeling tired, but I rode the last hour of thirteen at flat out time trial pace for fear of losing my points.

I appreciate the MTFU sentiment, but a few years ago when I was at my fittest (still a big lump) I was pushing through my runs and found I was able to really pick up the pace – trouble was, my heart rate was peaking and I could feel sharp and painful pins and needles in my hands with each strike of my feet on the floor.
I assumed at the time that my heart was struggling to provide blood to my extremities as it struggled to shift my mass along at speed.
Moral, I think you can push too hard.

You can sometimes just have a bad race, I was 30 mins slower than my previous time on a MTB race last weekend (identical route).

Felt crap and unfit the whole way round and I know for a fact that I am a good bit fitter than last yer,