Well I was going to write another summer update and talk about getting the most out of your training through things like nutrition, bike fit etc. But sometimes plans have to change!
It's been a month since MSC Welland but it seems like I've let the whole summer go by before toeing another start line. The week after Welland I was a little low on energy and motivation, so I took the opportunity to have a bit of an unscheduled mid-season break. The plan was to race Belwood the following week and start the second half of the season fresh and hungry for series points.
Unfortunately on the weekend between the two races I developed some mysterious knee pain during a long-ish Kingston simulation workout. I was optimistic that it was just a small niggle that would work itself out, but to be safe I decided to skip Belwood and volunteer instead. Side note - I think every triathlete should volunteer or work race crew once in a while. Not only are you doing your part to help out but it's a great way to remind yourself that racing is FUN!!
Anyway, two week after Belwood I still hadn't run 30 minutes pain free and accepted that I should get an assessment...actually I was kicking myself for being naive and not going two weeks sooner. I just kept thinking, "well I'm doing my core and rolling, how could I get injured?" After a thorough assessment my strength and stability is in fact pretty good, but a few minor points of tightness and inflammation were adding up to the discomfort I was feeling.
So unfortunately for the first time in about six years I've caught the injury bug and I'll be missing out on some of my goal races. I was very disappointed to accept that I won't be racing K-Town this weekend which carries bonus series points and is also one of my favourite races in Ontario. And with other life/work commitments I may not be able to fit in my four MSC races to stay in the running for series points.
That was a tough thing to accept given that it was my main goal for the season. The biggest challenge in chasing points is staying healthy and consistent the entire season, which historically I have struggled with when focusing on short course, and obviously I still have lots to learn. And of course it's been frustrating at times when recovery is far from a linear path. But like I said...triathlon is still supposed to be fun! So rather than throw a pity party I'm staying positive and learning as much as I can about my weaknesses and how to prevent these issues in the future.
In all honesty there have been a few things that have been years in the making, and up until now I've managed to do just enough prehab to keep them from putting me out. I'm actually happy that I'm addressing some deeply rooted strength and range of motion concerns that over the last two years I had basically accepted as something I'd have to live with as an athlete. I will also take it as a good lesson that I am being forced to address these things now, in a year that doesn't have an Ironman or World Champs looming.
I've managed to stay pretty consistent with my swim and bike training over the last four weeks and I know that once I'm healthy my run fitness is good. I've been avoiding "testing" my running and have focused only on what I know I can do pain-free, but I can tell that things are slowly progressing. So I am setting some new goals for the rest of the season focusing on shorter distances and I'm looking forward to seeing what I can do.
Depending on how the next 10 days go I am tentatively planning on racing Orillia in the Subaru series - an event that I haven't done before and have always wanted to check out. But I've changed my focus from targeting a late season 70.3 and my new goal race will be back in Welland for some fast and furious racing at the new Age Group Draft Legal Championships.
Thanks for the read and I'll do my best to keep things updated throughout the rest of the season. Happy training!
Saturday, July 30, 2016
Monday, July 4, 2016
Dialing In: Race Nutrition
Is it seriously July already?? For a while there it seemed like summer would never arrive, now we're already deep into race season and I'm wondering where May and June went!
And for me, the week after the Welland Long Course race was a bit of an unplanned mid-season reset. Work was busy and that only added to some pretty significant physical and mental fatigue after the race. At first I couldn't really understand why considering I only had two tri's under my belt for the year - not including Clermont Draft-Legal which felt more like part of training camp than anything else.
I did however put a lot of energy into my pre-season cycling and running races. I knew I had been training well but I surprised myself with the new PB's I was hitting in all three sports. It got me even more motivated for the tri season as I wanted to see how I'd stack up against the big boys after a few years of going "old and slow" :)
I certainly didn't have bad races in Woodstock or Welland - I was very happy to get a top-5 in both events which currently puts me in second place in the series points. But I also didn't truly race to my potential in either event. To be completely honest, I had a bit of a pity party for a couple days after digging into my data for both events and comparing it to my early season benchmarks. Based on how well I was rolling in the spring I'd classify both results as pretty average.
Fortunately it didn't take long for me to have a more positive and productive outlook on things. I decided to make the best of a week of lower motivation and energy levels and take the opportunity to assess some of the finer details of my training and racing. Overall it's already been an amazing season and if it ended tomorrow I'd be happy with what I've accomplished. But with the bulk of my racing still left it was a good time to take stock of how things have gone so far and what I can improve upon.
We have an amazing resource in teamLPC with Coach Mark Linseman and his expertise in race day nutrition. I seriously wonder sometimes how anyone gets through long course racing without the knowledge and experience that Mark can provide our team. It's not like nutrition is something I've neglected...I've always been extremely detailed with my race day nutrition plan. But over the past year it seems that it's becoming more than just a fluke once-in-a-while thing to have stomach issues on the run.
In fact the last long course run that I'd say I actually felt good in was Rev3 Knoxville over two years ago. Last year at Muncie 70.3 I managed to run decently well but had absorption issues after 7-8k of the run. And in Louisville last year it ended my race after running/walking 30k through severe cramping and vomiting. Then last week in Welland I was motivated to throw down a big run in the oppressive heat, only to get stomach cramping 4k in and be reduced to my goal Ironman pace for the remaining 11k.
The only reason I hadn't looked at my nutrition strategy earlier was because it seemed to be working so well for my long workouts. Last year for my Ironman training I had my carbohydate, fat, protein, mL of fluid and mg of caffeine literally dialled in to the minute for an entire 10 hour race. I tried dozens of combinations of gels, chews, bars, waffles, "real" food and various sport drinks and ultimately I ended up with this (run data above, bike in grey below):
With the help of Coaches Mark and James' expertise, two things jumped out to me when I took a fresh look at my long course nutrition plan.
1. CHO Intake: I'm basically right at the maximum of human ability to absorb carbohydrate. This was by design as I knew that anything less than 80g CHO per hour for a 4+ hour ride left me depleted starting the run. What we deduced from Louisville was that one (or more) outside variables - a larger than usual pre-race breakfast, adrenaline from the race, and possibly poor water quality that irritated my stomach - may have put me from "on the edge" of maximum absorption rate, to over the edge causing a backup. Most of those variables are virtually impossible to experience in training unless I'm purposely trying to sabotage a workout. So it would make sense that the only times I've experienced issues were in a 70.3 in crazy heat off a PB bike split, and during my first Ironman.
2. Sodium: I'm certainly not an expert on the role electrolytes and electrolyte replacement play in exercise. I can tell you that it would be naive to assume that specific muscular cramping is directly related to sodium levels. However, in my case when I really dug into the exact nutrition products that I had been using - even including the fact that I ordered Gatorade Endurance from the US so I could train with it last year - my sodium intake was only 300-450mg per hour which was far too low. In the near future I'll be doing a "sweat test" with Coach Mark to determine my exact sweat rate and sodium concentration, but for now I am experimenting a bit to find what works for me.
Now sodium is a trickier one to dial in than you might think. I've based my overall nutrition plan around CHO intake and up until now the sodium content has been a consequence of the products I'm using. Only certain products have high sodium content, and with that I have to be careful that I'm not affecting CHO, protein/fat or caffeine levels at the same time. Trying to adjust based on what's on course at any given race is a whole new ballgame.
I don't necessarily feel that a custom solution would work for me either. I'm by no means discrediting those products, in fact I've used some extensively and wouldn't hesitate to recommend it. I'm looking at it more from the practical side of Ironman racing. I don't want to have to carry 2-4L of custom blend on my bike, then somehow find room for water as well. And what happens if I drop a bottle? It might work out just fine for pro athletes who can grab their special needs bag on the fly, but as an age grouper I could easily waste 2-5 minutes waiting in line for my bag at special needs. I need a nutrition plan that is logistically feasable, repeatable AND adaptable.
For now this is what I've come up with, and so far very early indications look good. I almost couldn't believe how much better I felt after some long rides this past weekend, like my body was actually using the fuel that I was consuming for the first time ever. I'm sure it will continue to be tweaked but for comparison's sake this is my new nutrition schedule on the bike:
I'm still fairly happy with my run nutrition strategy, with the addition of adding 150-300mg of sodium per hour to the current plan. I prefer chews on the run over gels, but the only weakness of my strategy was that virtually all of my sodium intake before was contingent upon getting sport drink from aid stations. If my stomach stopped agreeing with me, I was basically stuck with chews and maybe some coke if I was lucky. So that will still be a bit of a work in progress, but at least I'll be minimizing the chance of getting off the bike with my stomach already shutting off.
For now this new strategy has got me excited and motivated to race long course again rather than dread how I might feel on the run course. I'm looking forward to applying it to the remainder of my season with K-Town and hopefully a Half Iron on the horizon.
I was going to write about another topic entirely that I've been working on throughout the season but this is already getting way too long! Stay tuned for Part 2 of a more "tech" themed post, everyone's favourite subject...bike fits!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)