What you eat on race day (hopefully tried and finessed in training sessions) can make a huge difference in your ability to maintain your pace near the end of your event and recover quickly afterwards. The training for your 100 km ride is the practice ground for you to determine which foods/fluids work best for you before, during and after training. It will also allow you to learn how much of what foods and fluids you will need to eat/drink to keep you energized. Use these tips in your training sessions NOW to determine your needs for this fall’s 100 km ride:

Experiment with the nutrition you need  before the event. This will boost your confidence in the choices you make BEFORE, DURING and AFTER you cycle hard. Eating carbohydrates during exercise has the potential to delay fatigue and enhance your performance. Remember that everyone is different. What works for you is not necessarily the best choice for one of your training buddies! Make a list of potential “winning” foods and fluids to try out during training to see what works best for you.

Practice Tips

* Focus on fluids and easily digestible carbohydrate-rich foods and beverages before and during every training session;
* Experiment with foods and drinks in training and “test” races (like a long time trial) to determine the best timing and your tolerance for pre-exercise foods and fluids;
* Refuel, rehydrate and rest-up post-workout to be stocked up and ready to go for your next training session;
* Eat foods full of protective nutrients for long-term health that will also fuel your body for optimal training and race day performance.  
 

Choose Smart Carbs

Carbohydrate rich foods (e.g. fruit, milk, yogurt, veggies, rice, pasta, breads, cereals, legumes, cookies, and sweet desserts) are vital for boosting pre-, during and post-workout energy levels and mood. Carbohydrate-rich foods are the body’s preferred source of fuel for higher intensity activity (race-pace cycling), plus they keep you in a positive frame of mind. Lack of carbs before and during a workout leads to whining, cranky cyclists who quickly run out of steam. But pay attention…not all carbs are the same! If you have trouble with wheat-based foods, choose rice, quinoa and potatoes as your starchy carbohydrates of choice. These are gluten-free/low-gluten alternatives to wheat-based products such as pasta, breads and wheat/oat-based cereals.

PRE-WORKOUT

The amount of muscle glycogen (the storage form of carbohydrate in muscle cells) you have on reserve reflects your eating and exercise habits over the past few days; however, the meals you eat right before a competition can also provide additional energy. A strategy for pre-event meals will help you prevent hunger or fatigue during your race and provide your body with adequate fuel to keep performing well. Larger meals should be consumed 3 to 4 hours before training sessions and competitions to ensure that you’ve digested the food you eat and you are ready to perform. Sometimes you may not have a lot of time to eat a meal, so eat a large snack 1 to 2 hours before your training/competition to get the energy you need. For training sessions and competitions lasting more then 60 minutes, a small snack 15 to 30 minutes beforehand is a good idea to ensure that you are topped up and ready to go! Use the examples below to help you plan your own pre-workout nutrition program.   Read complete article 

This article is from http://www.womenscycling.ca

photo by Maureen Lunn

Hirofumi Tanaka, an exercise physiologist at the University of Texas at Austin, bristles when he sees dirt paths carved out of the grass along paved bicycling or running routes. The paths are created by runners who think softer ground protects them from injuries.

Dr. Tanaka, a runner, once tried it himself. He was recovering from a knee injury, and an orthopedist told him to stay away from hard surfaces, like asphalt roads, and run instead on softer surfaces, like grass or dirt. So he ran on a dirt path runners had beaten into the grass along an asphalt bike path.

The result? “I twisted my ankle and aggravated my injury while running on the softer and irregular surface,” he said.

In the aftermath of his accident, Dr. Tanaka said he could not find any scientific evidence that a softer surface is beneficial to runners, nor could other experts he asked. In fact, it makes just as much sense to reason that runners are more likely to get injured on soft surfaces, which often are irregular, than on smooth, hard ones, he said.   (Read whole NYT article by  Gina Kolata)

image by lululemon athletica

The Athlete’s Guide to Recovery is the first and only comprehensive exploration of the art and science of athletic rest. Runners, triathletes, and cyclists will gain more fitness from every workout with this new book from Sage Rountree, an expert cycling, triathlon, and running coach and yoga instructor.

Endurance athletes plan their workouts carefully, yet it’s during the crucial recovery period between workouts that they become faster at their sports. Recovery is when the body repairs itself and adapts to become stronger than before. Those who neglect their recovery will gain little from training, risking injury, overtraining, and burnout.

Rountree’s book guides athletes to full recovery and improved performance. She explains how much rest athletes need, how to measure fatigue, and how to make the best use of recovery tools.

Drawing on her own experience and extensive interviews with coaches, trainers, and elite athletes, Rountree details daily recovery practices, demystifying common aids like compression apparel, supplements, and ice baths as well as more exotic technologies. Athletes will discover which methods work and how and when they are most effective.

Rountree offers recovery plans for a variety of events, from short distance bike races to ultramarathons, so athletes can rest assured that they are ready for the next phase of training and racing.

The Athlete’s Guide to Recovery is an invaluable resource that enables athletes to maintain the balance between hard training and rest so that they can feel great and compete at their highest capability.

Over the years, one of my best exercise motivators is to look ahead and pre-register for a road race.  Even though I’m pretty far back in the pack these days, looking forward to a race definitely improves the quality of my training.  I work a little harder, perhaps a little longer.  It’s probably the frugal Vermonter in me – “I sent my money in and damn it, I’m going to do that race.”

The roads and sidewalks in upstate Vermont have just recently got cleared and runners are out in force.  (Of course, die-hard folks training for Boston have been running in snow, sleet, and freezing rain all winter.)  As I start to get my legs accustomed to the pounding of running once again, I began to look ahead.  We are going to Massachusetts after Easter and perhaps I can coax my daughter into running a race with me.  (One of my joys is to be able to run in races with all three of our kids -- and hopefully before long, with our grandkids.)

I go to Cool Running for race schedules but also check local running clubs like the Merrimack Striders in MA.  I found a race that sounds too interesting to miss, a 5K in Ipswich called: Chase the Gorilla Down Argilla.  I’ve checked it out online and it may be my next race.

As an aside, one of the coolest races I ever did was a 5K in rural Gillett, Pennsylvania called “Monkey Run Down.”  It was all downhill on a road called Monkey Run Road.  There was a school bus ride to the start -- or you could jog up -- and it was by far, the fastest race I ever did.  The hand carved award has been lost in moves, but the memory of flying down the race course is a fond one.  We’ll see about the Gorilla course, somehow I think it will be tougher.

Of course, goals don’t have to be road races or don’t have to involve competition or money.  It can be “let’s hike to Lost Pond next month” or a walkathon, a charity bike tour, or a xc ski tourathon.   It’s good for most of us to have some sort of target up ahead to motivate us.  What works for you?

Finding Time for Fitness:   priority & planning      with a dog      keep a log

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Many now suggest using perceived exertion (listening to your body) to supplement heart rate monitor readings - the subject of another post.

Many of us have used heart rate monitors in gyms on treadmills, exercise bikes, and steppers.  The personal monitors, which sell for under a $100 to much more, usually have a chest strap sensor (although there are models that don’t) and a wrist or handlebar readout.  Most have alarms you can set to alert you when you are below or above your training zone.

I remember a run years ago on a trail in upstate New York where I was chugging along, just in the range I wanted with my heart rate, when suddenly the watch started beeping and the readings went haywire.  I thought I was having a heart attack but then it stopped and I walked for a bit -- and then remembered that I had just crossed under a major power line.  Well, since then we’ve heard of cows being hurt from electromagnetic radiation and I tell you, it was a vivid demonstration to me of what was emanating from those wires.  Radio towers, some exercise equipment, and microwaves are some of the other sources of interference.

So, why does a 69 year-old guy need a heart rate monitor?  Well, I don’t use it to do the high quality training workouts I once did.  For me, it’s more a case of monitoring effort -- to keep my workouts in the aerobic zone -- to back off when I’m tending to overdo it.  It’s also a great help when doing inside exercises, like rowing or cycling, when your heart isn’t really in it. (Sorry for the pun)  A monitor shows that you’re dogging it and is a reminder to crank it up a bit to get a good workout.  Lastly, a heart rate monitor shows you the exertion level of various exercises -- low for walking and paddling, higher for cycling, and higher yet for running or cross-country skiing.

There are heart rate monitors with GPS units and all sorts of data-collecting features.  For most exercisers, a basic model is fine.  Buy a quality unit from a sports shop and you’ll probably find that it will become an important part of your workouts.  Just remember to moisten the sensors before you head on out.  And avoid transmission lines.

In future posts, we'll talk about how to use heart rate monitors in your exercise program.  In the meantime, how do you gauge your workout intensity?

pushup photo by superfantastic        bike photo by davidlendrum

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From Bicycling Magazine:  New research shows that listening to upbeat music can help you burn an extra 40 calories per hour.

"Every gym-junkie already knows it, but listening to fast music helps you get a better workout, according to new research published in the Journal of Exercise Physiology-online. In a study that compared volunteers exercising to fast, slow, or no music, the fast-music group burned more calories..." 

(read more)

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