Last night, Coach Wayne gave a lecture on nutrition and it was really helpful. He talked about what you need to sustain your energy over several hours during an endurance event and what you should avoid (mostly eating at every aid station during century rides... just because there are PB&J sandwiched and boiled/salted potatoes at every aid station does not mean you should be eating them every time). He stressed the importance of trying your fuel plan several times before race day and making sure that it is enough of what your body needs. That got me thinking about what I really need - am I getting enough electrolytes? enough carbs and protein? enough fat? Too much fat???? I haven't yet discovered what my minimum energy needs are but I think that I know what works for me. I can usually get by on just gatorade for about 3 hours and then I crash and if I mix in some PowerGels, I can make it a bit longer. Wayne was saying that if this works for me, just keep doing it, but in his experience, Gatorade has too much sugar and not enough electrolytes. He was really promoting electrolyte tabs, such as Enduralytes, because you can easily adjust your intake. The only problem that I was seeing with that was that you had to take 3-6 tabs EVERY HOUR!! That's crazy! I can't imagine having to pop a pill and wash it down with water every 10-20 min AND eat on a regular schedule AND still cycle... Wayne said that when he was doing Ironman Arizona he ate an entire bottle of Enduralytes on the bike... Thats like 100 tablets!!!!!
But the nutrition talk was useful and got me thinking... am I getting enough electrolytes? I dont really want to have to take a whole bottle of tablets but at the same time, Gatorade does not have all the critial components (like magnesium) needed to help your body absorb the fuel you are putting in. So first things first, I need to determine my minimum calorie/carb/protein/electrolyte needs and then build my nutrition plan from the ground up. I am also thinking of switching from my current Gatorade and PowerGel regimine to Perpetuem and Hammer Gel for my longer distance trainings. Perpetuem is a complete fuel formula designed for endurance activities lasting longer than 3 hours and each "scoop" of the unflavored powder has 135 cal, 110mg sodium, 28.5g of carbs, 3.5 gram of protein, and 2.25g fat. It also has other electrolytes in it, but no real flavor, so I also got some Espresso flavored Hammer Gel to flavor the Pertpetuem and give me a boost of caffine :). I can't wait to try it out!!
After I got home from Walnut Creek I hopped on my bike hoping to spin for an hour. I only made it 45 min, but thats better than last time. My foot fell asleep early on and after 45 min I couldn't take it anymore. O well. I still would like areo-bars for my bike, but then I think I would have to move the seat more forward and that might affect how it rides as a road bike.
This morning I got up (late) and decided I would swim before I had to be at work at 1. When I got to the pool, it was pretty empty, but as soon as 10 rolled around everybody and their brother showed up. It was really weird... The swim was supposed to be 3500m, but I think I only made it ~2000m before I felt like I was starving, even though I had oatmeal for breakfast. That is at least the second time that has happened, so I think I'm taking oatmeal off my pre-workout foods list. I got out of the pool and went home to do some core strength and conditioning. I wish I had been thinking ahead and brought gym shorts and a sports bra with me so I could have done strength and conditioning there, but I didn't. Live and learn I guess.
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