It’s true that endurance athletes require more protein than their sedentary counterparts. And while many athletes meet or exceed the recommended daily protein requirement, they may not be distributing their protein intake appropriately. Consuming too much protein can be as risky as not having enough. Excess protein increases the production of ammonia (as a waste product), which the body eliminates via urine and sweat. As a result, ridding the body of ammonia requires adequate hydration to process the waste. Alternatively, inadequate protein intake can negatively affect the formation of hormones and enzymes and hinder muscle recovery/repair post workout.
Ironman Bike Fueling 101 – All About Eating and Drinking During Ironman Bike Leg
Whether you’re a seasoned athlete or new to the 140.6 scene, nailing your IRONMAN bike fueling/hydration plan can be tricky, with a lot riding on getting it right. With the numerous sports nutrition products on the market today, figuring out how to fuel for 5-7 hours can be daunting, and there’s no one-size-fits-all solution. What works for one athlete doesn’t necessarily work for another, and no matter how appealing it might sound, the “rolling buffet” approach—eating and drinking everything in sight along the race route—will do more harm than good.
Reduce Inflammation with Foods, Not Pills — A Guide for Athletes
There’s no denying that endurance triathletes put themselves through intense training loads—all for a good cause, of course, but at what health cost? The purpose of a heavy training load is to improve aerobic endurance, muscle adaptation, and strength, but it also increases oxidative stress, better known as inflammation. Many people don’t realize how much they can reduce inflammation with food!
Inflammation is a bit of a buzzword in health these days but in reality, [Read more…]
How to Eat, Train, and Stay Sane in the Last 2 Weeks Before Your First Half or Full Marathon
With the long months of training behind you, it can be hard to manage the emotional roller coaster before your first marathon. You’ve made it this far so hang tough since navigating this part is critical to your race day performance. Let’s dive into the details of your training, nutrition, and mental tactics so you are ready to toe the starting line with confidence and ease.
Avoiding GI Distress in Endurance Triathlons
It’s race day, and you are ready to cash in on your hard-earned fitness after hundreds of hours devoted to swimming, biking, and running. During the race, all goes as planned in the swim and bike—only for a plethora of gastrointestinal issues to hit you on the run: nausea, bloating, reflux, stomach pain, cramping, diarrhea, and vomiting. Heaven forbid, you might even be at risk of a DNF!
If this is your story, you are not alone. GI problems are the most common cause of underperformance in endurance events. [Read more…]
Lessons from Triathlon Camp
It’s ironic but the word, “camp” is a bit misleading here. Camp implies, sailing boats, riding zip lines and making smores by the camp fire. This camp included none of that. We swam, rode our bikes (180 miles with a total of 17,000 ft elevation gain) and ran off the bike, on hills, and at the track. This camp was a deep dive immersion into the art of triathlon. The focus was not on how to get faster but how to swim, bike and ride —- WELL. If you don’t know how to do something well, then how will you have the skills to go fast? So the intent on the 4.5-day full immersion – was [Read more…]
Breaking 4 Bad Run Habits in Triathlon
Whether you come to triathlon as an experienced runner or are new to running, triathlon is not about how well you run but how well you swim, bike and run off the bike. Since running is the last of the three sports on race day, it happens to be where many race day disasters occur such as cramping, GI distress, and exhaustion. Naturally, athletes blame their run fitness on an unfavorable outcome and vow to place a greater emphasis on run training. However, a triathlete’s run performance is directly influenced by [Read more…]
Beating the Mid-Season Slump
Most triathletes kick off the year with clear goals and a spring race or two to shake off the post-season cobwebs. By mid-season, however, many triathletes struggle to maintain their motivation as training starts to feel less exciting and more routine–the mid-season slump. If you feel like you’re stuck in a rut, here are a few tips to stay focused on your goals and fired up about reaching them.