Beating the BONK!

"Diet and training are so closely intertwined, they can't be separated," ~Chris Carmichael - Olympic Trainer and Competitive Cyclist

So you’re running or swimming or biking and everything is going pretty well and then suddenly you start to feel really tired.  There’s a heaviness in your arms or legs, your breathing quickens and you have a hard time getting it under control, or you have that totally empty feeling in your stomach.  Unless you have some other medical condition, you are suffering from my friends and I call the “bonk.”  It’s that moment in training where you have nothing left.  You’re running on empty and there’s really only one cure.  Fuel. 

In the last couple of weeks you have probably increased your levels of exercise.  You are either working out longer or more often and perhaps you have felt the “bonk.” In recent weeks I have had a lot more opportunities to train with Tri triBE members in several forums.  We have done group swims and rides in particular, and I have heard the same refrain over and over.  “I really should have eaten something before this.”  And occasionally, “I was exhausted for the rest of the day after that session.”  In both cases, fueling your training adequately would go a long way toward alleviating that training “bonk.”

Mostly I hear this excuse:  “I don’t eat in the morning.”  Occasionally I hear, “I got busy and forgot to eat.”  No matter your excuse, if you want to avoid the “bonk” during training or complete exhaustion after, you need to eat.

Widespread research teaches us that eating breakfast is a great way to maintain a healthy weight, rev your metabolism, and feel better all day.  Workout or not, eating in the morning is just a good idea.  In addition, experts suggest that you provide fuel before workouts and after to improve performance during and recovery afterward.  As the temperatures rise this will become increasingly important.  We will talk about fuel for race day later, but now is a great time to try out various foods and decide what works best for you in terms of before and after training fuel.

Assuming you are planning to exercise 60 minutes or even longer, the suggested routine is that an hour before exercise you eat approximately 150-200 calories of carbohydrates and protein and drink 12-20 ounces of water.  This gives the body time to process the fuel and make it ready for use by the muscles.  For those of you that run first thing in the morning, this can be pretty hard as you get up, get dressed, and go out for a run.  At least drink some water before you go out to stretch and warm up.  The sports drinks or gels might be a good choice for you, as they are processed easily.  And even if you don’t eat before, that fuel you take in afterwards is vital. 

As soon as you are able, and hopefully within 15-30 minutes after you exercise, take in 100-200 more calories depending on how long and intense your workout was.  This speeds muscular recovery and helps you maintain energy levels and eliminate post-workout soreness.

I know that some of you were hoping that doing all this exercise would help you lose weight.  If it does, then great!  But for most folks, training for a triathlon actually makes them really, REALLY hungry.  So if you’re trying to lose weight, I think you’re in the wrong program.  If you’re in it to improve your strength and cardio fitness and overcome physical and mental challenges, the stick around for this incredible ride.

So what should you eat?  Below I list my five favorite training foods.  I hope others reading this will use the comment section to list theirs.  I feel confident that between us all we can find things you really love to eat.

Before training:

·         Peanut butter and honey on toast or a bagel. (Half a sandwich is about 150 calories)

·         Oatmeal with dried fruit and nuts.  (A single serving is 200-250 calories)

·         Fruit smoothie with yogurt and/or protein power.  (200+ calories)

·         Protein bars like Clif or Luna bars (150-250 calories.  Read the labels)

·         Sports drinks (Calories depend on how much you drink.  I cut mine 50-50 with water)

After training:

·         Flavored milk.  This is the #1 recommended post training fuel.  Seriously!  It’s the perfect combination of simple carbohydrates, protein, nutrients, and fluid replacement.  NOTHING brings me back faster than chocolate milk after a hard workout.

·         Cereal, granola or other bars.  (Clif makes a 100 calorie mini that is perfect for me.)

·         Banana or apple

·         Sports drinks

·         Raisins and almonds (I eat trail mix a lot after weight training especially)

Here are a couple of links that you might read to find out more about fueling exercise properly: 

·         http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/02/eating-to-fuel-exercise/

·         http://www.active.com/nutrition/Articles/Top-10-Super-Foods-for-Endurance-Athletes.htm

Please share your favorites for fueling your training and try something new to see if you feel stronger during your training and recover faster!  What are you eating? 

Train safely, stretch, sleep, hydrate, EAT WELL!

Safe journey.  Wind at your back. 

Waiting on the World to Change

“Patience is waiting. Not passively waiting. That is laziness. But to keep going when the going is hard and slow - that is patience.” ~unknown

I believe that some things name themselves. 

My red Jeep Patriot mirrors the first car I ever bought on my own, part of this long mid-life crisis that has me determined to seize my own destiny, Scarlett O’Hara style.  Driving Scarlett is freedom and a little bit of my mischievous, reckless youth.

The first moment I rode my black Specialized bike I knew her name was Spunky, for that’s how she made me feel.  She is all speed and my way of throwing off the bounds of gravity and coming as close as I can to flying under my own power.  She is all mischief and spunk.

My beautiful black lab Lucy came to us as a pup, and it took her a few days to earn her name.  One afternoon when we came home to chewed shoes, I knew she was trouble just as Peanuts character Lucy van Pelt has been right from the start.  Years later she has mellowed but she still shows the mischief in her heart when we play catch, and she demands I chase her to get her ball.

And this week, after a long 10 year wait, I am convinced my triathlon team has named itself.  A single pair of words from the thousands I have written over the years has led to the fabulous Rachel Gardiner and Nicki Drumb designing the logo you see.  The logo represents us so well… strong, beautiful, a little wild.  Much to my delight there is mischief in their design, a quality I find in all the important things in my life.  Our Tri triBE is official and soon this website will permanently carry this design.

I am so grateful for Nicki and Rachel’s efforts to help me with this dream.  Their ability to see both the “tri” in tribe and the “BE” is what makes this design so special, for it is this continual journey, this endless becoming, that makes what we are doing so powerful and transformative. 

Their efforts have also reminded me of an important lesson.  It was because of patience that this Tri triBE, this name, has come to be. I did not see what they saw in all these years, and I cannot create what they have made.  It has taken me 10 years to meet these amazing women, and I am blessed to know them. 

But this journey also reminds me to treat each challenge with patience.  In dealing with my current injury, I must be patient.  In improving my fitness and stamina, I must be patient.  In raising my sons, in teaching my students, in loving my friends, in building my character, I must be patient.  Nothing worth doing, nothing worth being seems to come easy. It is through a patient and determined struggle that the best things in my life have come to me.  This team and the women I have met are truly some of the best parts of my life.  I am so grateful for patience.

Patience is the companion of wisdom.  ~Saint Augustine

Train safely, eat well, hydrate, sleep, stretch.

Safe journey.  Wind at your back.

Mission Possible

Three things to make you think.

1. This week I stumbled across a blog called the "Blog of Impossible Things." The host is a triathlete who was inspired to quit his job and start the blog and his own business. I haven’t come near reading everything that he wrote, but here is my favorite post I stumbled on thus far. It’ll just take a minute.

The Complete List of Convincing, Unique, and Legitimate Excuses

2. Then I went to a party where I met some new friends that might be interested in our triathlon and talked to others who are on the fence. Seems they were all so worried about all those hills in Clermont. I spent some time trying to convince them not to worry because I think it comes down to this… The worst that happens is you get off your bike and walk it up the hill. Yep, the WORST that happens is you walk...

So a little 2:42 second video that solves this problem. Just Do It

3. And finally two longtime friends ran their first half marathon this weekend. Christine had never run more than 10 miles in her life and had only run that far once, last weekend. She texted me at the 10 mile mark stating, "From here it’s uncharted territory." And then she finished. Running.

Karen posted this on her facebook page one week ago: "Wiped out on wet tile at Pei Wei...wearing heels...really fell hard...graceful not! Knee is black and purple but swelling is way down. Have a splint on my ankle. Doesn't hurt as much as it did. Thanks for asking!" And then she finished. Running.

So for all of you still out there wondering, contemplating, worried, here are some deep, important, and terrifying questions for you to consider at this post: 40 Questions to Refocus your Mind.

In my 7 years of doing the Danskin Triathlon, I have been faster and slower, fatter and thinner, better prepared and worse, largely alone, surrounded by friends, injured, healthy, tired, sweaty, exhausted, frustrated, tearful and joyful. The race has been longer and shorter, hilly and flat, hot and cool, crazy crowded and blissfully open. But not once, not even one time, did I start a race without being at least a little afraid. Even now, after all these years I worry. That’s the nature of this thing. Yes they changed the course. There will be hills and an unfamiliar lake. At the start my heart will be racing, and I will be worried. And then it will start, and I will have a thousand other things to think about. And whether I am my fastest or not, whether I walk up those hills or run, at the end of that race I will have answers to a lot of those 40 questions.
I may have something I am proud of. Or I will have learned something about myself (I learn in every race). I will be sure, in that moment, that I can do a triathlon. I will have once again overcome my fears.

It’s up to you. There are 11 weeks. You still have time to make this happen, but this week is the last week I will ask. So decide for yourself once and for all. Will you make this Mission POSSIBLE?