Big Brick

Yesterday was big brick day. Plan was 50/6. Ended up being 60/60min. I am not sure how far I went. Google maps doesn't have the road I ran on, so I ran 30 minutes out, and 30 minutes back. Exactly a straight split, which is weird. Legs felt like 1000 lbs on the run.
First 40 of the bike, my heart rate stayed at 120. I kept an average of 18+ mph. As the wind picked up, one way got slower, and the other way got faster. At 40 miles on the bike, my hr started to increase. 130's for 40-50 miles, and 140's for 50-60. I am thinking this is cardio creep that I have to keep under control. Most likely I had to take in more water during the first 40. I went through 3 24 oz bottles during that time, and I had a PB&H at about 35-40 miles in. That could be a factor, where it COULD be that cardio creep was a result of solid food on the bike. Hypothesis #2 would be that rather than cardio creep being caused by not enough fluid in the first half,it could be that digestion of solid food pulled water into digestion rather than used for blood pumping and keeping cool. I am going to have to change one thing for next time, so if i am able to get some liquid energy for next week then i will remove solid food for the bike and see how the cardio goes. If not, then I will add a bottle and force myself to drink it in the first 15.
Run, as i mentioned was heavy. I didn't feel quite right until 30 minutes in, which is not so good, and it was mostly muscular. Possibly I need to prime the potassium pump, and get more electrolytes in at the end of the bike. couple that with more fluid and I should be better. I also need to plan a pee break in T2. This time, pee break was about 20 minutes in, and as I was walking out of the ditch, I saw a REALLY BIG GATOR. He was really big because he was about 15 yards from where I was peeing and I was still walking out of the ditch when I saw him. At that point, he looked to be 10 feet long... but on the return trip I figured he was more like 6. Adrenaline added some height to him. I would have laid down next to him to measure, but eh...not so much...
So, before my race, I need at least two more huge bricks like this one, and I likely need a couple more which are about half of this one that I can do during the week. This way I can get my nutrition down, work on my endurance, and work on my transition running. Then after the race, I can work on my speed and more on form for my next A race in October.