This is great, give it a good read… I’ve read a few of her books, she is fantastic.

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Highlights From the Sports Nutrition Pros

By Nancy Clark, MS RD CSSD
For Active.com

Over 5,000 exercise scientists, sports dietitians, physicians and coaches gathered for the annual American College of Sports Medicine meeting in May 2008 to share their latest research in sports nutrition. Below are some of the sports nutrition highlights. Here are the 20 most significant highlights.

On Sports Snacks & Pre-exercise Foods

Eating an energy bar just 15 minutes before you exercise is as effective as eating it an hour before. Grabbing fuel as you rush to your workout is a good idea that gets put to use.

Natural sports snacks, like a granola bar or banana, offer a variety of sugars. But engineered foods might offer just one type of sugar. Because different sugars use different transporters to get into muscle cells, eating a variety of sugars enhances energy availability. In a 62-mile (100 km) time trial, cyclists who consumed two sugars (glucose + fructose) completed the course in 204 minutes; those who had just glucose took 16 additional minutes. The bottom line: eat a variety of foods with a variety of sugars during endurance exercise, such as sports drinks, tea with honey, gummi bears….

Salty pre-exercise foods such as chicken noodle soup can make you thirsty and encourage you to drink more. This can reduce the risk of becoming dehydrated during hot weather.

On Recovery Foods

A survey of 263 endurance athletes indicates they understand the importance of recovery after a hard workout. But they don’t know what to eat. They believe protein is the key to recovery. Wrong. Carbohydrate should really be the fundamental source of recovery fuel. Or better yet, enjoy a foundation of carbs with a little protein …Chocolate milk!

When exhausted cyclists were given a choice of recovery drinks, they all enjoyed and tolerated well the chocolate and vanilla milks, more so than water, sports drink or watery chocolate drink. Chocolate milk is familiar, readily available, and tastes good!

How long do elite soccer players need to recover from a game? In one study, they needed five days for sprinting ability to return to pre-game level. That’s four days longer than most athletes allow…

How Your Body Processes Food + Drink

How many calories does a triathlete burn during the Hawaii Ironman? Using labeled water, researchers determined a 173 lb (78.6 kg) man burned 9,290 calories. Body water turnover was about four gallons (16.5 L), and weight dropped 7.5 percent. Muscle glycogen dropped by 68 percent.

Fatigue is related to not only glycogen depletion and dehydration but also to body temperature higher than 104º F (40° C). Try to keep cool when exercising in hot weather!

Have you ever wondered how long it takes for the water you drink to end up as sweat? Only 10 minutes (in trained cyclists). Ingested fluid moves rapidly, so don’t hesitate to keep drinking even towards the end of an event.

This training has been quite amusing. It’s pretty funny that on almost every ride, something comical happens. The beauty of long distance cycling, I guess. LOL

As you know, Saturday I did the long brick (written previously). On Sunday, I was supposed to ride 2 hours. But first, I was supporting some of my athletes as they competed in a sprint distance triathlon. So the plan was to meet some of my other athletes after the sprint tri to ride the Danskin course and give them exposure to the course. I had planned on riding in twice to get in at least 1 1/2 hours. I felt OK with cutting the ride a little short since my legs were pretty tired from the previous day’s workout, and the 2 hours I was supposed to do was to be done on fairly flat, of which this course was not.

So, the sprint tri went great, the weather was nice and everything went according to plan. At 11am, I met up with the people I was going to ride with and off we went. Lap one was going great until we got to the steep downhill.  I felt a little prickle on my right shoulder.  As I continued after the sharp right turn, I felt another prickle, this one hurt more.  Finally, the stinging got worse and I felt another one.  I pulled over and asked one of the women I was riding with to check if something was in my shirt.  Lo and behold, a bee had flown into my shirt on the downhill and stung me three times!  Good thing I’m not allergic to bee stings….

Gretchen and I said good bye to the other 3 ladies and started on Lap 2.  Lap 2 started uneventfully, but this soon changed.  As we started up the third hill, the sky got really dark.  I stopped an waited for Gretchen at the top of the hill.  We decided it was probably best to turn around–the skies were THAT dark.  So, off we went down the three hills we just climbed—and then came the torrential downpour and severe winds.  If you recall Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, you can picture how we felt trying to stay on our bikes as the cross-winds were trying to lift us off the ground, and raindrops the size of stones.  I’m guessing hail was involved at some point.  If all of this isn’t eventful enough, the story continues.

So, I was not looking back, I was just biking as fast as I could to get back to the car.  I get to my car, throw everything in the car and wait for Gretchen.  5 minutes pass…10 minutes pass…I’m starting to freak out and think maybe she got knocked off her bike during one of the wind gusts.  So, I decide to drive a little of the course to see if I could find her.  I drive up the road, no Gretchen.  I drive back to the park, no Gretchen.  I look for her phone number in my cell, and of course it is not there.   NOW I’m panicked!

I see a policeman driving around the park and flag him down.  I tell him I’ve lost my friend and ask him to go drive the route to see if he can find her!  I told him I’d stay put in case she comes back.  Off he goes, and I sit in the car.  I’m now in full panic mode.  About 10 more minutes goes by (mind you it felt like HOURS) and  I see a car with one of the other riders in it.  I start to tell her I’ve lost Gretchen, and guess what, Gretchen was driving the car!!!!!   Little did I know, she parked in front of the restaurant, not in the park.  So when she got to her car, she waited there.  She went into the restaurant thinking maybe  I was inside looking for her.  She ran into the women we rode with, who were eating lunch, and asked for my cell number.   Of course, she was in a panic too and thought maybe I was hurt!  The woman who had my number had left her phone in her car at the park.  Thank goodness because that’s where I was waiting!  Anyways, all turned out well, but that was scary!!!

Oh, and of course I had to clean and lube my bike AGAIN!!  Boy, I am getting so good at this

OK, maybe I missing something, but is taking a shower with Gatorade coming from the splashes in your face (the handlebars, your legs, and everywhere else for that matter) from the Profile tri bottle, part of the benefit of having the bottle handy for hydration!?!?!

I mounted the new bracket I got, put my hydration bottle in the bracket, secured it with velcro and put the yellow little netting thing on top.  It was so funny, I kept getting splashed.  Drops were landing right in my eyes under my sunglasses!  Even when the bottle was only 2/3 full it would do it when going over bumps…

What’s the deal??

Can I just tell you how much I love my husband and my friends.  I’m telling you if it wasn’t for them all this training would be soooooo boring.

Saturday my day was planned to be as follows: Wake at 5am–follow exact nutrition plan from coach Jason (we’re still testing my half IM nutrition)–do email–meet Tracy at club at 6:30 (actually turned out to be at the lake- but that’s a different story) to help her with her swim stroke–be at club by 7:00 to coach Danskin swim workout–make sure I drink a G2 and have a Gu while coaching–go back to my house and get ready to do a 65 mile ride/ 4 mile run brick–starting the workout no later than 10am.

You see, my friends have coordinated with me breaking up the 65mile ride so I don’t have to do it alone…

Kristi and Tracy had first shift– the Berlin loop plus the industrial park (~17miles) –we left at 9:45am.

The second loop was the 32 miles around the reservoir starting at 11:00am.  I dropped off Tracy and Kristi and picked up Doug and Cary at my house.  Off we went…

Jim met us 3/4 of the way around the reservoir, and road the rest of the way back to my house where we dropped off Doug and Cary and finished the ride doing the Berlin loop again.

Jim dropped me off and I quickly changed into my running stuff and headed off on the 4 mile run.  Bruno was supposed to run with me, but he was riding with his son (a much more important activity).  Besides, he probably would have wanted to run a little faster than my legs wanted me to go

So, what a wonderful day.  The run ended up being really hot towards the end.  I hate that “cracked egg over head feeling..”

Nutritionally it was spot on.  I felt like a pig eating everything I was supposed to eat and drink, but it worked.  I felt great afterwards, and no cramping on the run.  The only thing I’m curious about is how do run a marathon when you’ve eaten like this all day.  I was feeling, I don’t want to say full, but something…on the run.  Like I wouldn’t have wanted to eat any more gels or cliff bars.

I guess I’ll find out ……. UGH, what was  I thinking !?!?!  I know this is crazy, but I really love the training aspect of going for an IM.  Just trying to figure out all of these nuances is so interesting.

How does one REALLY know they are bonking.  Let me give you a few hints:

1.  you want to kill your riding partner whom you usually like very much because they took you on a ride longer than you wanted to go on;

2.  ALL you can think about is that turkey sandwich on multigrain bread…..;

3.  your mind keeps repeating “I don’t want to play anymore” in your head–and sometimes out loud–and you can’t tell the difference;

4.  you think you are going really fast because all you can think about is going home, but when you look at your odometer it tells you you are going 14 MPH;

5.  when you stop to refill on fluids and possibly get food, but you say “no, I’m not hungry, I’ll just drink this water” while your friend is shoving a cinnamon raisin bagel down your throat;

6.  your quads feel like they are in a vice.

How do I know this, you ask?  Last Tuesday my very dear friend Bonnie and I went on a 50ish mile ride late afternoon.  This ride was one I was supposed to do on Sunday, but it was pouring and I was tired from Saturday’s workout, so I switched some things around and planned to do it Tues after work.

A few things happen to me when I don’t do long workouts first thing in the am.  Firstly, I have a hard time with the timing of my eating to sustain the workout.  Secondly, I underestimate the effort of what I’ve already done that day.  Third, I think 2 bottles of G2 (no carbs) is going to sustain a 3 hour ride (!?).  So I guess I don’t think straight.

Anyways, off we went.  I felt fine when we started.  I even commented on how it is amazing how 20miles seems so easy now.  Then about 40miles into the ride I was aggravated, whiny, and downright unhappy.  Not my usual personality (no comments please ).

And this, my friends, is the story of a bonk….

Need I say more ??!?!?!  Check out the pink socks!! Love those pig socks

The thing you’ve got to love about rest weeks is coming off of a rest week.  After the long brick last week, I was really ready to have some shorter workouts.  But now, I am SO ready to train hard and get more hours in this week.  I guess this is the sign of a good rest week!

It is crazy how much nutrition plays a role in long distance triathlons.

Last Sunday, I did a 52 mile hilly ride followed by a 6 mile run on the rail trail (VERY nice on the legs and hips not to run on pavement and pretty flat terrain). I only drank 1 1/2 bottles of accelerade on the bike—yes, I know, NOT ENOUGH, and then ate an entire cliff bar at one time at mile 38—yes, I know, WHY would I eat the whole thing at once? (Because–we don’t listen to ourselves, which is why I hired a coach!!). Anyways, I started the run in a dehydrated state and my intestines were still trying to digest the ENTIRE cliff bar I ate at one time. I had 2 fuel belt bottles of gatorade/water mix on the run, but it wasn’t enough….So, I cramped on the run….

This Sunday, I did a 65 mile rolling hill ride and ran 6 miles on the road (trying to find soft sides where ever I could). I drank 2 1/2 bottles of accelerade and one of diluted gatorade (much better), plus I ate 1/4 cliff bar every 15min. I was supposed to continue eating the cliff bars like this through the run, but about mile 40 I started to get a cramp. All I could think about was, how the heck was I going to run after this if I have a cramp already! So, I stopped eating cliff bars. When I dropped off my riding buddies at home before my last hour I ate a hammer gel pack and grabbed water instead of accelerade or gatorade. The cramping had eased by then. On my last hour biking (this was my 4th hour) I did pretty good, but the cramp was still there a little. I started running with my 2 fuel belt bottles of gatorade/water mix and ……….I cramped on the run….

My heart rate was great, I did this workout in 5hours at a 134 avg HR. So, that wasn’t the issue. The good news is that I felt great once I stopped exercising. I didn’t get that normal exhaustion you get after 5 hours of training.

So, now what??? Next week is a rest week, so I won’t be doing a long brick like this. But the following week I will try the following:

1. I am really sick of the taste of accelerade and I will just use Gatorade. I need to put my tri bottle on my bike so I can get 3 bottles worth.

2. I will do the cliff bar thing every 1/2 hour instead of every 15min. On the 3rd through 5th hour on the bike (I’m assuming my plan will call for 75 miles or so) I will switch to gels.

3. On the run I will stick to my plan of one fuel belt of gatorade mix every 10min run /1min walk

Stay tuned….the fun tests of IM training Actually I am having fun trying to figure this out!