...don't exercise to eat.
This is what Beth Mansfield taught me yesterday when I went to her Powerfuel Nutrition workshop.
Of course we all know that. And I felt silly when I realized I was doing just the opposite. But apparently many athletes (and especially women) fall into this trap. It doesn't mean that I only ride so I can eat a lot, I ride of course because I love to ride.
What it means is that the timing of what I am eating is wrong.
Normally I eating a lot in quantity but the calories and carbs are lighter during the day and heavier at supper time after I ride. The types of food I like to eat for breakfast, lunch and snacks aren't quite carb-y enough.
Instead Beth taught us to spread our carbs out throughout the day so that we are always topped up and have enough energy when it comes time to ride and for the duration of the ride. And then my meal after the ride might be smaller (and therefore less carbs) then I have been doing.
So with the tools she gave me, I planned out what a few days worth of meals and snacks should look like using foods I often eat. I did this for a rest day, a recovery ride day and a few different types of training days.
From all this I also decided to try to incorporate eload into my training rides this season. Normally in the past it hasn't really worked for me but with my new improved stomach, I'm going to give it another go. Its an easy way to get carbs into me during a ride without having to chew on something.
I'm off to do a 5-6 hour ride today. So I'll be putting this carb-ful action plan to work immediately!
Sunday, April 5, 2009
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6 comments:
how was your ride today??? Great idea to skip the icebreaker
Funny, a very fast local racer and friend was just telling me how he eats much more at breakfast and lunch, and small dinners..could be something to that..
Hope you don't mind my two cents!
Agree totally with more carbs. Carbs carbs carbs. I think the 80/10/10 ratio is great for athletes like us. (Ensure quality fats tho, esp. flax.)
Smaller meal is good - esp. if it's easier to absorb - gets into the system MUCH faster than a big meal. I'll eat several small meals (allowing them to leave the stomach) after a harder training sessions.
eload looks mighty suspicious to me.
First, there is virtually zero research linking cramps to electrolyte imbalances. I found a series of papers online about cramping, and it seems the main culprit is over-working muscles. Simply pushing harder than they can handle or are accustomed to. For whatever reason, i almost never cramp. Maybe barely once a year. (I get occasional ones in bed, esp. in the calf, but it after bending my foot a particular way.)
If you're eating well, you'll have 'enough' electrolytes for most rides/races. I guess the 12hr+ events might start to cause trouble, but unless you have a condition, they're not really needed, imo.
The dextrose claim is sorta moot too, since you should be utilizing the electrolytes you already have....i'd stick to sugars that are closer to glucose. I like sucrose and fructose myself.
What is 'heat illness' and 'heat stress'?? Sounds like 'heat' is the real issue..
Lactic acid is your *friend*, and it does NOT cause 'muscle burning' - quite the contrary -- it helps prevent it. Have you read the piece i wrote on this on my blog? It's in the top box.
Hope you don't mind me posting all this...you know how critical i am of these things. =)
Matt - agreed! totally glad I didn't race. am curious how it was though. look forward to BR's report.
hi Dave, no I don't mind your two cents and in fact I fully expected it although I figured it would come in an email ;) This is fine too.
I appreciate your comments and actually agree with all of them. Especially muscle cramping.
However, I'm not taking the e-load for all of the reasons you talked about...I'm only trying it for two reasons. The carbs and because I have big ol bucket of it from when our team was sponsored that would otherwise go to waste. Ha. I guess I could give it away but I'm also cheap ;) might as well try it.
But when its gone, I won't get another... I'll probably go back to making a homemade energy drink like I have in the past.
If the eload doesn't work to well you need to check out this stuff.
http://www.infinitnutrition.ca
Carbs, protien, etc it's all there and adjustable.
k, cool, glad you appreciated this! I was on the blog, so figured i'd post here. =)
Yeah, i actually use the Clif Shot electrolyte drink myself, but i'm really mainly looking for some decent and convenient flavoring, and Clif at least has it down in this department (ie, semi-natural.)
What i do is basically dilute it - a bottle takes 5 scoops, so i use 2 scoops of Clif Shot, and then the other 3 scoops are a mix of organic cane sugar and fructose.
Vega has a new energy drink - you might have seen mention in the last email from them? Details here:
http://sequelnaturals.com/en/vega/products/vega-sport-performance-optimizer/features-benefits
The ingredients are interesting...tho they haven't posted a nutrition label (ie, showing carbs/fats/protein/etc) - i'm very curious to see how much coconut oil is in there. There's chatter about how medium-chain fatty acids are supposed to be 'absorbed and used like carbs', but i've only read that in ads...for coconut oil. So i'm a little suspicious. I'm half tempted to go for a 3hr ride, and only pack coconut oil to eat..haha..
Otherwise it looks pretty neat!
Today on CBC i read that the reason caffeine is helpful is because it helps release calcium, which aids in muscle contractions. Not too much tho!
I'm a chatty one today. =)
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