Nutrition! Great clinic today with LLV

I had the pleasure of speaking to women's cycling team members from Live Love Velo today about nutrition on and off the bike. There were a lot of great questions and I really enjoyed it. As a sports physiologist, it's part of my job to stay on top of nutrition as what you eat and drink on or off the bike (or running or swimming) can impact your performance. I am not a registered dietician. I do have a fantastic background in biochemistry and cell metabolism of which nutrients are the key players. I offered some general nutritional guidelines, tried to dispel some myths and talked a lot about what to eat and drink and when while training and racing. Here are the key points from today's meeting.

Regular food intake:
* Avoid processed foods as much as possible. We spoke a lot about soy and some of the potential dangers. Read your labels, 'soy protein isolate', 'partially hydrogenated soybean oil', soy milk, soy ice cream- these should be avoided. They are unfermented soy products. Unfermented soy products are showing a strong correlation with increased brain and breast cancer rates. Fermented soy products such as tempeh and soy sauce are good.

* Get rid of the starchy carbohydrates. White flour breads, rolls, bagels, pretzels!, "snack foods", should be limited or avoided all together. Whole grains are good: Steel cut oats, quinoa, organic brown rice pasta, long grain wild rice. If you are a high starchy carb eater currently and are thinking of switching to a lower carb based diet just keep in mind that when carbs are restricted the body changes from retaining water and salt to discarding them. When first making the switch, it is not uncommon for an athlete to drop 4-5 pounds in a week but half of that is easily water loss. Drink water to thirst :) We will talk about exercise and salt a little later.

* The "good" fats and good sources of Omega-3 fatty acids (eat more of these):
salmon
tuna
flax
canola oil
olive oil
coconut oil
palm oil
walnuts
almonds

eggs (eat the yolks!) are great

Butter and bacon in small amounts can be OK. Current research shows no association between dietary saturated fat intake and cardiovascular disease however there are consistent patterns for CVD and diabetes with the amount of saturated fat circulating in the blood. The key is that your intake doesn't determine your blood level! A lower carbohydrate diet tends to have you utilizing fats for energy at a much higher rate and the saturated fats found in animal fats can quickly be digested to yield energy with the normal byproducts of carbon dioxide and water from metabolism. Moderation people, I'm not saying eat bacon, butter, red meat everyday but used in moderation, they can be part of a normal healthy diet.

* Note: 2 oz of nuts per day is a good amount. Nuts to avoid: honey roasted, barbecued, candy coated. Natural peanut butter without added sugar is preferred. Almond or cashew butters are even better.

*Note: increasing omega-3 status leads to lower levels of inflammation as well as decreased triglyceride levels in the blood.

Limit/avoid altogether:
corn oil
peanut oil
soybean oil
cotton seed, safflower as well as margirines and mayonaisse made from these oils.
salad dressings
Processed marinades

Be wary of overconsuming protein: extra amino acids can be converted to glucose raising insulin levels and supressing fat burning. Aim for 0.6 to 1.0 grams of protein per pound of lean body mass (time to do some body comp measurements, I can give you this number!)

* Recommended veggies, the good complex carbs!:
Asparagus
Broccoli
Cucumber
Cauliflower
Chard
Eggplant
Endive
Green beans
Kale
Lettuce (all varieties)
Onions
Pea pods (snow and snap)
Peppers
Radish
Spinach
Zuccini

Organic fresh fruits are great. Eat up.

Other important nutrients: Potassium and magnesium. Lean meats and low starch veggies are excellent sources of potassium. Dark green veggies are excellent sources of magnesium. Magnesium is usually contained within cells so it doesn't show up in a serum blood test unless levels fall very low. If you experience twitchy muscles after a long duration or intense workout, up your dark green veggies that day. If cramping or twitchy muscles are a chronic problem, you may be a candidate for slow mag supplementation. 4 oz of meat has as much potassium as a medium banana or 8 oz of OJ. The key is how it's prepared. Overboiling meat and veggies leaves much of the potassium and magnesium and other essential nutrients in the broth. Make sauces from the broth and conserve those nutrients.

Training and racing:
Sugars in drinks and gels are not all the same. To see a breakdown of what's what, I will send you to this link to brush up on the types of sugars in your sport drinks/gels and bloks.
* Eat breakfast 2-3 hours before training or racing
* 8-12 oz of fluid within 30 minutes of the start of the workout.
* Consume fluids as directed by thirst. The environment will play a role. Cold weather doesn't require as much fluid intake, warm weather requires more. You shouldn't be able to replace all the fluid lost in sweat, this isn't the goal. Drink to thirst. This tends to be somewhere between 500 ml and 1 L an hour with slightly more in hot weather for some people.
* For rides longer than 2 hours, BCAA (branched chain amino acids) in a sports drink are great. Look into Hammer's perpetuem or sustained energy. Other companies also make something similar, you can try EFS or Infinit as well.
* The goal for calories is roughly 250-300 per hour but for some it may be less! Use the maltodextrine based drinks and gels. Drink water when taking a gel, gel every 45 minutes is a general guideline. You can get all of your calories through liquid nutrition as well and for those that don't like gels, shot bloks are a great alternative, 3 = 100 calories. You can also use real food on the bike too. Banana's, nuts work for some people.
* Long practice rides are great for hammering out what works and what doesn't. Note how you feel towards the end of a ride. Keep a log.
* Some people require electrolyte supplementation, some do not. Much of it depends upon your regular diet and fluid intake while exercising. In the hot weather, I am a fan of keeping endurolytes or saltsticks in a plastic tube. If you are spot on with your nutrition strategy, just took a gel and are feeling low or twitchy despite that, you may need the lytes, so take as needed. There are some that need a capsule or two every hour. More is not always better.  Remember, you can't drink salt water for a very good reason. You find the most amount of sodium in the blood, so if you run short there isn't much in reserve. You will excrete some through sweat, especially on a long ride. If your fluid intake is low your body will contrict the blood volume to conserve your blood sodium levels as much as possible. Overdrinking water can dilute your blood where the sodium content would be too low for the volume of fluid in your plasma. Think like Goldilocks, fluid intake has to be jusssst right. Not too much, not too little. Practice drinking to thirst and paying attention to your thirst mechanism. If you are not so great with the body awareness then you may have to time yourself on the computer to sip every 10-15 minutes at first and then do the gel on the 45 but this defeats the purpose of drinking to thirst.

* Post workout: coconut, almond or organic whole milk, greek yogurt with fresh organic fruit are good choices. Eat a meal within one hour of the workout if you can and you will not need any type of specialized recovery drink to replenish your muscle glycogen stores.

* Once or twice a week, if you are an early morning exerciser, you can wake up and workout without breakfast. This will cause you to burn more free fatty acids for energy so your pace/intensity won't be the same as working out after meals. A cup of coffee prior to this will accelerate the fatty acid mobilization. This is a good tactic for rides of 60-75 minutes in length, just don't expect to maintain higher intensity outputs as fat burning is generally sustainable as the primary fuel source for workouts under 65% intensity. You still burn fat at higher intensities but you burn more glucose to maintain the speed. As your lactate threshold improves with training, so does your ability to burn more fats for fuel conserving the glycogen. You have a higher ceiling.

There were a lot of great questions and we talked about much more than this. If you have a question or need some clarification, feel free to ask.
Keep me posted on how you feel on training rides and in races. Checking off the boxes to peak performance!

Transitioning

Transitions seem to be my theme for 2013 and I don't mean the swim to bike, bike to run kind.

I love PhD comics and honestly I've heard most of these from the chief Prof. They are pretty accurate! I'm accustomed to 'Easy enough'. I experienced, 'This might make a good thesis project' last year and 'Trivial' was last night's revision recommendations. In addition to 'trivial' changes I have to make to my methods section in the weekly ego crushing meeting last night was also "Hmmmm"... After I left and had my next few months and life pretty much mapped out for me for the next couple of years I said to myself on the drive home, "Uh-oh". 

When I first interviewed for a spot in the second cohort for this PhD I'm pursuing, one of the questions was, "So what will you give up?". I wasn't sure what the panel meant at first, but then they mentioned my racing long distance, just finished my first Boston marathon at the time and I figured they must have researched me. The first two years of the program were alot of work but nothing compared to what I have to do now and I finally understand the question. What will I give up?

The only thing I can, the long distance racing. 

I won't do something purely for 'fun', I can't enter a race not preparing for it properly. Success takes work and I don't see the point in racing a half iron or marathon (or ironman) if you can't take the time to dedicate training to cover the physical base as best as possible. Certain things need to be done in training and that takes volume and time, for what I want to do and for what I see as a successful race. I can train through some races. I'm doing that this weekend with a 25 k. This weekend is not the priority race so I will use it as a fast finish tempo effort, I don't mind that sacrifice. There are some that have to race full tilt every time they go out. For me, with long distance, that would limit my racing as full tilt takes quite a bit of recovery time for this masters athlete. I like the social component of a train through race, I like the idea of support and I know I will give the long run a harder effort in a race than simply doing it at home, but it still won't be full tilt and that's OK. Healthy I think. Race Sunday and then rest up for the NYC Half marathon with some sharpening work in the next couple of weeks.

I'm feeling the pressure of time though. I signed up for the new June Raleigh 70.3 with Dave and crew. It will be fun, I will get to visit my family but I have also been reminded that an early season half iron is difficult for me while working and going to school. The days are long fitting in training in the early am, training in the pm and long bikes and runs on the weekends. There is no down time. End of the summer/early fall half iron is definitely the way to go for me but since I am committed to early June, I will do what it takes to prepare myself as best as I can. The next time I say I'm signing up for a half iron this early though, smack me. Winters are rough, I'm ready to do some long riding outside. Waah- waah, enough complaing. I will get the work done, I just want to make sure I'm enjoying it. I've always loved the process of getting fit each year.

2013 has some new challenges though. I haven't scheduled any racing after June. I recently found out I will be teaching AP Biology next year which is great! I'm excited, it's not the content I worry about, I just have to learn the pace and the curriculum of the class. It will be a great class but it will also be a lot of preparation because I will make it a great class. That starts July 8th in a full week course to learn the new inquiry lab curriculum. 

The week after that class this summer, my district is having me write the new curriculum for Science Research. Also exciting. August 2nd through the 19th are my qualification exams for the PhD. Core classes done this spring, exams this summer and then I defend them six weeks after the 19th. A graduate physics class is required this fall, I've got a conference I attend in October to present my pilot study all the while writing my dissertation proposal which must include my Internal Review Board (IRB) approval from the university, equally grueling process. January 15th 2014 is the goal for the handing in of the proposal and then I officially collect the data for my study for the next six months followed by a 1-1.5 year period where I write a 300 page book in the form of a dissertation which I then have to defend. Oh, and in 2015, the Prof wants me to attend two national level conferences with my work to practice my arguing skills. I'm all for it, it's exciting, but after having this mapped out for me I finally understand, "What will you give up?". 

I will race locally, I will swim and bike, but I will also take the pressure off and keep it short and sweet. It's academic marathon time. I'm gunning for this PhD as quickly as possible and then I'm gunning for the dream job, the grand plan. Life is good! Thanks for reading, I hope you have some great goals this year that you are gunning for!

Primum non nocere

The title of this post in Latin means "First, do no harm". Primum non nocere is the creed used in the medical professions known as the basis of the Hippocratic oath. There is also a fairly recent proposal to include a Hippocratic oath for scientists to encourage rigor, honesty and integrity while minimizing potential adverse affects on people, animals or the natural environment. There is good science and unfortunately there is bad science and many people are not scientifically literate enough to know the difference. Controversy in science can be misleading for people that do not understand the complex principles behind a scientific disagreement and it can be difficult and frustrating for many to discern the truth behind what shows up in the headlines. What we should eat and how food can affect your health is one of those controversies with new information being released all the time. People become frustrated when 'science' says "eat this, not that" and then reverses that position. Science is not black and white, there is a process to it and interpretating the meaning of data is where the disagreements begin. There is a particularly interesting controversy occurring right now regarding what percentage of your diet should contain carbohydrate and fat and after following this controversy for awhile and after watching the debate between Professors Noakes and Rossouw, I would like to offer my take on the issue.
With a background in human physiology, I am completely fascinated by the response of the body when exposed to different environments. This has ranged from pathophysiology (hence my previous career in cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation) to the opposite end of the spectrum in mountaineering and sports physiology and the factors that may influence an athletes performance. I feel it's my duty to stay on top of current research and as a science educator, disseminate the information to students and athletes. I was asked some great questions this week concerning energy systems, nutrient intake and 'training the body to burn more fat for fuel', so the diet-heart hypothesis warrants some good attention as the great carbohydrate debate continues.

In one corner is Professor Tim Noakes, in the other is 'the rest of the world'. I offer that analogy as Dr. Noakes is known for looking at things from a different angle and asking extremely pertinent questions that get overlooked by the majority. He has challenged dogma before, most famously on the brains regulation of pace in the central governor theory and drinking water/salt intake and exercise and as it turns out he was right, but it took 20-25 years to get his point across and for marathon courses the world over to take his advice on the fluid needs of runners. As we do not have enough time to cover all of his research to date, he is well known in the world of sports science but his original training was as an M.D. and he spent his early years studying cardiovascular physiology so what he has to say has a lot of merit. Just as his opponent in the debate, Dr. Jaques Rossouw is also an expert in the field of cardiovascular physiology as the chief of the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) Branch in the Division of Cardiovascular Sciences at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The debate was extremely interesting, so much so that 90 minutes on the trainer flew by while I watched and took notes on what they said. I encourage you to watch it when you have time, the hyperlink is above but I will give you a brief recap on the opposing issues and the commonalities they also share.

Noakes contends that cholesterol is not an important risk factor for heart disease and current dietary recommendations do more harm than good. His five key points were:
1. Economic considerations drove the current dietary guidelines without proper scientific evaluation.
2. Within 5 years of the adoption of these guidelines, rates of diabetes and obesity exploded.
3. The presence of the genetic predisposing condition, carbohydrate-resistance, explains why large numbers of persons in predisposed populations become obese and diabetic when exposed to a high carbohydrate diet.
4. A high fat diet reverses all known coronary risk factors in persons with carbohydrate-resistance whereas a high carbohydrate diet worsens those factors.
5. The 48836-person Woman’s Health Initiative proves that the 1977 US Dietary Guidelines accelerate disease progression in persons with either known heart disease or diabetes.  Thus that landmark study provides the definitive evidence disproving Keys’ false diet-heart hypothesis.

The diet-heart hypothesis was conceived by Keys in 1953. Keys collected data from the WHO and graphed a linear relationship between incidence of cardiovascular disease vs. percentage of fat calories consumed by 6 countries. Noakes contends that what Keys failed to mention was that an association like this does not prove causation. For this type of study can never PROVE anything because it cannot ever exclude that some difference other than the one you measured causes the difference you have found. For example, Noakes asks, "Do we really believe that the the only important difference between the Japanese and the Americans is that the Americans eat more fat in the diet?" but Keys managed to convince the world that that was the case. Noakes contends that Keys was trying to fix a problem that did not need fixing. Heart disease was at an all time high in 1953 because of direct relationship between the increase in smoking, not fat consumption. In fact, in 1957, a paper was published(1) showing that 22 countries reported data, not just the 6 that Keys presented and when replotted the graph was not so linear. This lead them to the conclusion "….the evidence from 22 countries for which data are available indicates that the association between the percentage of fat calories available for consumption in the national diets and mortality from arteriosclerotic and degenerative heart disease is not valid". Association also does not mean causation, something I am learning repeatedly in my own doctoral research. Unfortunately, Keys acquired political support, this paper by Yerushalmy & Hilleboe (1957) went unnoticed and according to Noakes, along with the 1971 decision by the Secretary of Agriculture under Nixon, was to industrialize the production of corn and soy, the result of which changed what we have eaten as a population since.

For decades since, we have been taught that fat is bad for us, carbohydrates are better and that the key to maintaining a healthy weight is eat less and exercise more. Despite this advice, for the past 30 years we have seen an increase in obesity and diabetes not only in the American population but in any country that has adopted this western diet. Noakes argues that the problem lies in refined carbohydrates like white flour, and easily digested starches and sugars, particularly fructose. He goes on to point out that a diet high in refined carbohydrates leads to an increase in blood glucose, insulin, triglycerides, small LDL particles, uric acid, a fatty liver and decreased HDL backed by several meta-analytic studies, all of which contribute to metabolic syndrome, hypertension, obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease. The women's health initiative study, of which Dr. Rossouw is a chief author, concluded that the high carbohydrate/low fat diet did not significantly reduce cardiovascular disease or have a significant impact on risk factors for heart disease. Interesting. 
Also noted by Noakes was what the conclusions did not say but can be read in the data: women who had heart disease at the start of the trial were at significantly increased risk that their heart disease would worsen during the trial if they ate the so-called heart healthy diet (the high carb/low fat diet). So not only did the diet not help those without heart disease but it worsened the condition of those who had heart disease. Very interesting.

Rossouw's turn. His contention was that cholesterol is an important risk factor for heart disease and that the current dietary recommendations do more good than harm. The first 20 minutes was a discussion behind the physiology of serum cholesterol and heart disease risk. Dr. Rossouw briefly described the mechanism behind LDL as the "bad" cholesterol and HDL as the "good" cholesterol; decrease the bad, increase the good to decrease cardiovascular risk as well as the role triglycerides play as biomarkers. Rossouw discussed trends in mortality for heart disease tracking declining levels in the US and UK since 1977 along with declining levels of LDL cholesterol within these populations. While watching, I couldn't help thinking about what was being left out, sitting in the room like a large elephant, and that is that while death rates from heart disease may be on the decline, advances in medical technology cannot be ignored. People are living longer, but are they living longer and healthier? The answer to that is no.
Rossouw contends that cholesterol is the important, modifiable risk factor and that in mean and women of all ages:

• Cholesterol levels are associated with increased risk of CHD (even at normal levels of cholesterol)
• Biology supports causal role for LDL cholesterol
• Treatment of elevated levels reduces risk in individuals- the ultimate test of causality
• Population risk decreases with adoption of cholesterol lowering strategies

Rossouw also contends that the diet-heart hypothesis is alive and well and that LDL cholesterol is the main cause of CHD, not a high carbohydrate diet. Saturated fats, particularly palmitic (found in animal products and hydrogenated polyunsaturated fats like margirin that contain trans fatty acids) increase LDL and CHD risk and that it is the type of fat consumed and the quality of the carbohydrate taken in (substituting high glycemic carbohydrates) is what increases CHD risk.

Wait.... did Rossouw just agree with Noakes in that last sentence? The answer is YES, I had to re-watch and then re-read the presentation. He does agree that processed, high glycemic foods i.e. refined sugars, increase coronary heart disease risk. Also of note, Rossouw mentioned that saturated fat intake reduces triglycerides and increases HDL which backed Noakes. Rossouw stated that saturated fat didn't have much effect on the WHI study but that all saturated fats are not equal- polmitic saturated fat has most effect on LDL as well as trans fats, the main ingredients of processed foods! Rossouw referred to some of the meta-analytic studies that Noakes did citing inaccurate reporting of calories as a major limitation. This is no surprise to me as a weakness, working within Brookhaven National Labs LEARN study for the past four years, I directly observed that the majority of overweight/obese/diabetic people I worked with do not know what is in their food, not only the calories, but they do not know the difference among ingredients as well. After educating them for twelve weeks during once weekly nutritional and fitness educational sessions and closely monitoring their intake and exercise, we were very successful at decreasing body fat composition and BMI, with participants keeping the weight off as we tracked them over time. 

Both scientists agree that processed high glycemic carbohydrates increase CHD risk. What else increases CHD? Diabetes, smoking, family history, sedentary lifestyle, poor sleep, stress and overweight. 

Basically, anything on the right side of the graph increases BMI and CHD, anything on the left promotes a healthier weight and lifestyle although Noakes would disagree with the unprocessed red meats and the whole grains for the carbohydrate intolerant. Cheese, veggies, nuts, whole grains, fruits, yogurt, lean meats, whole milk are on the left decreasing CHD risk. Diet soda is on the left but should really be on the right with current findings that indicate that diet soda is a factor in weight gain. The key: NON-processed foods are healthier. It's not the calories in them, it's the ingredients. I point this out to people all the time. For example, a co-worker sat down with a non-fat blended fruit based yogurt commenting that she wanted to start eating healthier. I pointed out the label on the back: Sugars: 36 grams! I explained that the processed yogurt removed the fat but replaced the taste and consistency with sugar which would ultimately not help her lose weight. She threw the yogurt out. What kind of yogurt is best? Greek, plain, whole milk yogurts with real organic fruit that you bring with you and add. 

The best thing you can do is be aware of what is in your food. Increase your intake of the good fats rich in Omega 3's like fish (tuna, salmon and trout) and flax and pumpkin seeds, walnuts. Use olive or canola oil, these are the better fats for you. In my opinion, carbohydrates should be complex in nature, eat a lot of organic greens, colorful vegetables, organic fuits too. For athletes, you don't need as much carbohydrate as you may think or may have been lead to think (white flour breads and pastas) which is a topic for a future more in depth post. 

Each scientist had valid points and Noakes controversial ideas are worth a very close look at. If you haven't seen it, watch Super Size Me, a great documentry about the effects of a 30 day fast food only diet, it was only an N=1 experiment but the before and after comparison of his blood values and his liver status is something to be seen. I just started watching Food Inc., a documentry about the meat/food processing industry, high quanitity, cheap food for the masses seems to equal very poor quality "food" and we only need look at the rising levels of obesity, diabetes, gluten intolerance and metabolic syndrome to corraborate it. 

  

1. Yerushalmy J, Hilleboe HE. Fat in the diet and mortality from heart disease; a methodologic note. N Y State J Med 1957; 57: 2343-2354.

and that's a wrap....

My life is living up to the url of this blog! Whirlwind is right. Work, school, training, I should receive an A++ in time management lately. I've had an old reoccurant dream resurface: I'm standing on the beach or I'm swimming in the ocean and the tsunami wave is approaching, just as I am about to go under, I wake up. It's been that kind of two months. All positive stress though. PhD is clicking along, writing my literature review for my disseration, the next seven weeks just from that work alone will place me back into that dream again, a few times, I'm sure. I have two new preps this year for teaching. Fun, but lots of work creating new lessons and aquiring material then executing it like I've been teaching it for years. Then there is running, it keeps me sane, allows me to think. Fall running is my favorite. September was the marathn build up after a great summer of racing longer distance triathlon. I ran the Hamptons Half Marathon on September 29th and scored a huge PR finally breaking that 1:45 barrier.

I felt great the entire race too. Controlled the pace at 8's through mile 7 and then picked it up and dropped down to 7:30's for the remaining 6 miles. The fitness was there, time to focus on the marathon. The goal was to hit 3:40, based on this half marathon in the hills of East Hampton I was pretty sure I had it in me. We flew down to DC on Friday, the Marine Corps Marathon had always been on my to do list and it didn't disappoint. The only thing I had not counted on was having to outrun a hurricane. Marathon PR's require the perfect conditions in addition to the fitness. I had the fitness, just not the conditions. Watching the weather going in, I knew I was going to give it 100% of my 100%, that was never in question, the time spent running despite the fitness is affected by environmental conditions. Hello Sandy! Miles 1 through 8 had some really good hills, I had my pace controlled. A quick pit stop at a mile three porto-potty for a quick but necessary pee added a minute to my 5k split but I wasn't worried. I was there in 25 minutes, on pace. Miles 6 through 8 were beautiful rolling hills along the water, the wind was blowing the leaves down like crazy, it was a beautiful site. Running back twards the memorials I was feeling good, monitoring my systems and all systems were go, then we hit the headwinds right by the Lincoln memorial at mile 11 or 12. Holy headwind, steady 20-25 miles per hour blowing in our faces. Wall of wind. That lasted in the open area around the National Mall through mile 19. I tucked in where I could, stayed right behind the shoulders of three soldiers running for Team RWB for a good three miles for a nice draft when I could get it, I fought to hold onto 8:30-40 pace in the wind, it was hard. Cost me a lot of extra energy to do that where ordinarily in a flat section like that I would be cruising 8:10-8:15s no problem. At mile 19 I started doing some math, If I could just hang on to 8:30's I would break 3:45. Talking to myself, "come on, 7 miles at home sub 8:30's no problem!!". I felt the energy drain at mile 20. Had a boost from High School friend Stacey that lives down in DC, so nice to see her ride up on her bike! Running over the bridge back to Pentagon City I concentrated on holding my form and turning my feet over. Counted down the miles, 21, 22 with incredible crowds through Crystal City, mile 23 going up, up, uphill, 24 passed Dave and Van for a high 5! 2 miles to go, holy cow, the hardest two miles in a marathon ever. There is no such thing as an easy marathon, each has it's own hardships over the final miles. I could feel my form breaking down, I willed my legs to turn over as fast as possible, I was doing math in my head, I was trying to run faster, my legs were giving out, uphill we ran. When my garmin clicked over at 26.2 it was like my brain began the shutdown and the finish line was not in sight. Willing the finish line closer, lots of pain, willing my body to keep going when all I wanted to do was lay down right there. We hit "the hill" with hte Marines lining the sides of the road shouting at us "Take the Hill! No Walking! Go! GO! Go!". Finally I could see the finish, always a welcome sight. The splits:

Too bad I ran 26.67 instead of 26.2, I would have been under 3:45. Check out the full system shut down at mile 24 through 26, especially the last 0.67, my body was protesting, nothing left! That's how it's supposed to be though, all in, leave nothing left at the finish. That was the best I could do, in tropical storm conditions. Even though I didn't hit my goal time, I ran as hard as I could and that's all I can ask of myself. Mission accomplished in a big way for marathon number 10. Epic!
Congrats go out to friend and athlete Emi Berger for her spectacular performance, finishing a minute in front of me, as well as Debra Rothwell who originally signed on to have me train her to her first MCM to be sidelined by a stress fracture, overcame that, breast cancer diagnosis and treatment, overcame that and finished the MCM 10k yesterday with us in great time! Next year for the full Debra!
So now what?
Rest. For a little while.
A turkey trot for sure, some fun running, build a base and then full steam ahead for trail running and racing through the winter building towards the Raleigh 70.3 in June. After that I'm not sure, although I said I would take a break from marathon for awhile, I'm still itching for that sub 3:40 I know was in me. I think something local next fall, the Hamptons Marathon... no travel, local course I run well on, that may be it. :)

2 races in two weeks, what I learned at the end of my triathlon season

Van rode those waves shortly after this photo. Riding waves in a lake! Who would think?

Lake Michigan is beautiful.

Ventured to the Steelhead 70.3 on august 19th. Dave wanted to do something different this year so we went to Chicago for a couple of days and drove up to St. Joseph. The town is very cute, when I think of a beach town I think of the ocean but as you can see from the picture above, it was ocean like! The first day anyway. The waves are dependent on wind direction, luckily it changed and race day was fairly calm. I loved the race, would definitely do it again. You have to beach walk 1.2 miles to the start of the swim though, and it was chilly.... how quickly we had gotten used to 70+ degree early mornings here. 50 at the start, shivering in our wetsuits with jackets over them for the walk. They have a swim gear check in which they truck back to the transition area which I was thankful for because I did not want to give up my jacket until I had to! THe water was perfect: 67 degrees and so clear! The cleanest lake I've ever swam in. Beach start which has you running through the water what seems like 100 yards so it adds about a minute to your time. Buoy's on the right (groan, not a fan of the right!), long run up to transition. I took the time to put arm warmers on and I'm glad I did, it was overcast and chilly still and I don't do well with being cold. Swim: 41 :(

Heading out on the bike at Steelhead 70.3. I love arm warmer weather!

The bike course was great, a lot like the eastern end of LI out by Montauk. Lots of rolling hills, nothing flat and wind back in your face on the last 15 miles home. The roads were clean passing lots of farm land and very little traffic. My only downfall on the bike is that I had to pee so so badly but I just have so much trouble peeing on the bike. At mile 40, I was praying for a porto potty. Prayer answered a mile later so I took that as a sign to stop. Off the bike about 2 minutes, the relief was worth it but the time loss was not. I will not be stopping next time. Cycled conservatively, forcing myself to ease up at times. Bike: 2:54 :)

Sheesh, pick your feet up girl, something to work on!

Quick T and I was out, I was looking forward to the run especially because I felt I paced the bike really well. I was looking forward to being the hunter and that was my mindset. I focused on a quick cadence, first mile 7:45 whoops! Too fast, reigned it in and ran mid to low 8's for awhile through mile 5. I was comfortable so I didn't think it was too quick a pace and I was curious to see what I would hold. The last time I did a half iron was 2010 in the 95 degree heat, mid 70's on the run at Steelhead, no humidity (yay!) so I was feeling good. The run has two loops for the middle miles through a paved path in an industrial park. It was quite nice but I was relieved to get out and off the twists and turns. Hilly run! Coming out of the park you hook a right and there is a very short, very steep climb that you get to do twice. The bonus is that the second time once you finish it and make the next left you've got 2 miles to go. I always love the 11 mile sign in a half marathon! I felt like I was holding pace but looking at my splits I slowed the last three miles. Still, I ran 1:52 on a hilly course only 4 minutes off my stand alone half marathon PR so I was very very happy with that :) :)

Crossing the finish I saught out Dave. First half iron back after hip replacement surgery last August 28th of 2011 and he nailed it. 4th in his AG and a slot to 70.3 World's in 2013. I finished 12th and was excited by my highest ever finish in a half iron. Looking back on it, I was missing those two minutes on the bike after the fact. Had I not taken the time to pee I would have finished 9th, that's how tight it was. Slots for Worlds rolled down to sixth so I'm close. Goal setting for next year has begun .

L to R: Corey 2nd 35-39, Dejan 5th 30-34, me- first female masters, Marty third masters male, Dave 3rd 50-54. Not pictured but part of our crew: Matt 3rd 25-29, Kevin 6th 40-44, Bob 17th 55-59

Race 2 was today, the Runner's Edge Tobay Triathlon. It was the 25th edition today but the first time I had ever done the race. I loved it! The course is great, loved the hills on the bike and the run (did not love the hills on the swim lol) and a fantastic post race party. Racing is always more fun for me with friends and today was no exception. It was like a high school reunion for triathletes on LI. Very fun. Very proud of my athletes too, what a showing! Great way to end the triathlon season. Quick report: swim (horrific), good bike, good run. Second female 40-44 but they took me out of that and I ended up with first overall masters female 40+. :)

What I learned in this summer of racing:

• My swimming has taken a hit. It used to be a strength and now it is my weakness. I have to swim year round. I did a lot of swimming this past winter and spring, then I got to July..... swimming once or twice a week in open water is not enough to keep me on the top of my game. I must be in the pool 2 times per week, hitting the hard workouts in addition to the open water swimming. No excuses about driving next summer. I'm just doing what needs to be done.
• Buoy's on the left- great.... Buoy's on the right? Ouch. I can breathe every three but I am foremost a left side breather. I had a decent swim at Montauk Lighthouse Sprint. A good mile time (26 minutes) at the Riverhead triathlon on July 28th, despite getting clocked with a black eye in the canal. 41 at Steelhead, not happy with that. I should be swimming 35-37. Today??? Holy cow, I do not know what happened on the swim. I felt like I was swimming strong, I got out to the first buoy with the lead pack and even to the second, then I was all over the place. I must have fish tailed a ton because I had to course correct A LOT. Someone mentioned the last buoy was out of place and I did site on that but I didn't think it made that much of a difference (what was I doing?). That swim time was not good for me today at. all. So that needs to be fixed, I can't be sacrificing 4-5 minutes on a short race. That's not happening again as long as I can help it. Motivated to swim for sure. I had a great swim against the current this past wednesday night with my group at Lighthouse cove. Obviously swimming in rectangles like today is a problem!
• Biking is going well, I look forward to increasing my FTP even further next year. 
• Running is going well, looking forward to a bit more speed there as well. With Marine Corp Marathon coming up I'm excited to just focus on running again.

Up next:

September 23rd: timed 18 miler in Central Park with Sinead, Jill, and Lauren yay!

September 29th: Hamptons Half marathon

October 28th: Marine Corp Marathon

oh and PhD work starts back up after a short summer hiatus of just reading lots and racing lots. First class on Thursday this week, 2 new preps for teaching at work, glad I'm just running this fall (and swimming! hahaha).

Next year! We've decided on the Raleigh 70.3 in June and I think we've convinced Dejan, Marty, Kevin, Matt and Bob to join Dave and I. Who else? Come on... the more the merrier!!! So I will be focusing on triathlon in January throughout next year. Trail running still on the agenda though, too much fun. Back to Hyner and up to Bear Mtn! Let's go! Thanks for reading, good luck on any remaining races! You rock :) 

Part II Checking off the boxes to Ironman

The bags:

48-72 hours pre-race, you will register and receive the official Ironman gear bags. It can be a little overwhelming at first, let's go though what goes in them and when. You should have five bags in total: swim to bike, bike to run, (2) special needs bags and a pre-race gear bag. Lay the bags out on the floor or the bed and get your swim stuff together too. 

Swim:

Wetsuit

Cap

googles

Rash ointment (aquaphor is my favorite around the back of my neck up into my hairline)

Pre-race gel packet

Swim to Bike bag:

Shoes

Helmet

Socks

Sunglasses

Race belt with number attached

Plastic tube of endurolytes or saltsticks

Weather dependent (cool and/or rainy race): arm warmers, vest. Warm race: arm coolers if you wear them.

The morning of the race: Your gel's and race nutrition goes in this bag if you put the flasks or packets or whatever you eat in your tri jersey/shorts pockets. If you store your nutrition on the bike itself, then your bottles (frozen the night before) and your gel flasks are placed on your bike the morning of the race. 

Once you exit the swim and grab your bag, you will have the opportunity and some assistance from volunteers to dump out your bag, quickly put your gear on and out you go (get some sunscreen slapped on your back and shoulders by volunteers too). Your wetsuit, cap and googles will be put in the swim to bike bag and re-racked by a volunteer.

Bike to run:

Sneakers

Some people like to put on a dry pair of socks

Hat or visor

Gel flask/gel's/shot bloks (nutrition of choice if not using what is on the course)*

*If you have not used what Ironman provides than you better pack your run nutrition. Remember, nothing new to the body on race day.

Plastic tube of endurolytes/salt sticks

Special needs bike and run:

Whatever you think you may need. You will get these bags back post race. Things I store:

Pre-frozen bottle of Perpetuem for second half of the ride. 

Extra tube of endurolytes/salts. Bottle of coke in each. (Cola is provided on the run, not on the bike. I liked having my own. In one of my Ironmans they ran out of cola on the second half of the run, I was super glad to be carrying my own bottle so I could sip it as I needed. WIth more people than ever racing now, the aid stations are stocked so I wouldn't worry about not being able to get cola, but if you prefer a certain brand than it can't hurt to put it in your special needs bag for the run.

A couple of gel packets of a different flavor (caffienated)

For the bike, some like to throw an extra tube, CO2 cartridge in there. My bike pack holds 2 tubes, 2 CO2 canisters and a plastic tire iron so I never stored anything else besides my own pre-frozen second bottle of race nutrition and an extra tube of salts in my spec needs bag for the bike and two caffienated gel packets. If you ride tubulars and only carry one lightly pre-glued/pre-stretched spare, you may want an extra spare tire in your special needs bag. Better to be prepared. 

Pre-race/Post race clothing bag:

Whatever you wear to the swim start gets stored in here. For IMNYC, I would not be surprised if you have a seperate post race gear bag as the finish is away from the bike transition. You will want dry clothes post race, pack your change of clothes and flip flops in there (feels good to have the sneakers off, air those feet out!)

Once you have all your gear laid out on the top of each bag, you can make up your bottles and gel flasks and store them in the fridge in the 24 hours pre-race. Have a bag handy in the morning to carry these with you to transition so that you acn place your flasks in your transition bags and your bottles on your bike. You only need two bottles at most for the bike and these should have your practiced energy drink in them. You can pick up a bottle of water in the first ten miles of the bike so no need to carry the extra weight. 

Transitions:

Your transitions should be well rehearsed physically and mentally. Dave and I race in the same tri suit all day so we do not bother changing. You'll be wet from swimming and wet on the bike from sweating and peeing and dumping water over yourself lightly washing off pee so who cares? If you do want to change (some people prefer run shorts) then by all means, do what you are comfortable with but practice your transition including the change. Be calm in transition but do not be the person spending 10-12 minutes in transition. Get in, get out. I say this because you don't want to look back on your splits and see that you spent an extra 20-25 minutes in transition farting around which comprises your total race time. If you are like us and do not bother with changing. Lube up! We use aquaphor on all those private areas that are in contact with the bike, and along the seams of the shorts at the waist and on the arms. 

Tips for the days before:

T-minus 2 days to the race (Thursday for IMNYC) do your pre-race mini brick early in the morning to get it done. Then rest the rest of the day! Don't be overly walking around in the sun wasting energy. Rest. Remember to not overly drink water, hydrate, but don't overhydrate and have some drinks with electrolytes in them. Everything in moderation! No overdoing! Don't panic. Do what you've practiced for months which is the same daily routine.

Racking the bike 24 hours before: Swim to bike and bike to run bags are with you and your bike. Get there early. Rack your bike on the designated place for you and count the racks from the changing tent area to where your bike is so that you can identify where you need to be for a quick transition. I pump up my tires just prior to bringing my bike down so I don't have to worry about it race morning unless it's really hot and transition is in the full sun. Don't want a tire blowing so in that case I leave the tires a little lower on pressure and pump them up morning of the race. Identify spot, place transition bags on their own racks and note your spot there as well. Have a bottle of energy/electroyte drink (I'm a Heed fan) with you when you are doing this so that if you get thirsty you have something cold to drink. Don't spend a lot of time here. Rack, recsee, take your pictures and then get out. There will be a SUPER amount of excitement and a lot of talk from other nervous participants. Dave and I personally like to limit that amount of time so that we can focus on ourselves and keep the nerves to a minimum. You don't want to be walking around the transition area or the expo in the hot sun for too long of a time. That's wasted energy. Rest up at your hotel, go for an early dinner. We personally preferred eating dinner at 5-5:30 pm, this way we can be fully digested prior to early to bed at 8-8:30. I recommend this for IMNYC because you will be up even earlier than we ever had to be at IMLP or IMFL. Since you will be up very very early, eat breakfast but realize that you are not racing until 7am! Pack a snack (banana/energy bar) for transition to be eaten at 4:00-5 am. You can't eat breakfast at 2:30-3:00 am and then eat nothing after that. A gel 20-30 minutes before the start is still recommended but it won't be enough if the last time you ate was 4-5 hours ago! Don't bonk the swim. Pack a snack.

On sleep:

The night before the night before the race is very important for a good night's sleep. Trying to sleep the night before the biggest race of the year, and for many, a first Ironman tends to be difficult. Butterflies will be there. As you are lying in bed the night before trying to get to sleep, use this time to mentally rehearse your race from start to finish including pre-morning routine. See yourself going through your pre-race motions. See yourself remaining calm in transition the morning of. See your self having that gel, pulling your wetsuit on and adjusting cap and goggles. Here's a great tip on cap and goggles: 2 caps. The over the hair cap. Goggles on. Ironman cap over the goggles. Protects the goggles and keeps them on your head. Check the water temp though. If it's really warm, this double cap technique can make you warmer. I'm always chilly unless the water is over 80 so it's never been an issue for me. Try it in a pre-race open water swim this week to make sure you are comfortable (nothing new on race day!).

Continue your visualization of how you envision the swim to go, visualize the steps of swim to bike transition, how you feel on the bike, timing out your nutrition and hydration. If something negative creeps in (Oh No! A flat! Oh no! A dropped bottle) see yourself handling he situation quickly and efficiently. While lying in bed the night before, if I ever had a negative thought, I used this visual: Tying up the negative thought in a garbage bag and throwing it out of my ear. Works for me! I would then start from the beginning pre-race and go through my visualization with nothing but positives. I saw myself embracing the sufferning on the run and working through it, I saw myself finishing strong. It may take a few run throughs to get all the negative nervous thoughts out and by that time, I was usually sleeping. Certainly beats lying in bed driving yourself crazy with "What if? What if?" besides, you should have all those what if's taken care of already. 

Ironman is a long day that you have worked very hard for. Enjoy the whole entire experience. Thank the volunteers, smile and thank the spectators cheering you on. Positive energy like this goes a very long way towards having a successful race. Chip away at the day. Think about swimming form while swimming and staying calm in the mass start. As you come up to the final 100 meters of the swim, then start thinking about transition. Take the bike one loop at a time. Only start thinking about the run as you get into the final 10-15 miles of the bike. Stand and stretch a few times. Take the run one loop at a time too. Know that no matter what happens as you chip away at the day that you will give 100% of your 100%. Enjoy the high's, correct the low's, embrace the pain of fatigue (it's coming) and have a GREAT race! Dave and I look forward to being out there cheering everyone on!

Checking off the boxes to Ironman. Part I

The big day is approaching! Your Ironman! This will be part I- focusing on some taper issues and planning for/troubleshooting nutritional issues. In other installments, I'll focus on transitions, setting up the bags, tips for the day before and mental visualization. Lots to talk about!

I liken the Ironman to planning a wedding in a way, all the build up, months of preparation for that single day. You spend so much time thinking about it, training for it,  and then BOOM, it's here!
I've decided to put together some pointers about what to expect during a taper over the last couple of weeks and a checklist to make sure you have everything you need to excise control of the things you can.

• Phantom pains: Don't panic, little muscular tweaks can surface in the couple of weeks before an A race. You had months and months of volume build up and some deep tissue fatigue/microscpic damage. You are accustomed to feeling very tired after workouts. With the volume drop during taper it's very normal to feel weird "pains" as your muscles recover and repair. Don't fret, you'll be fine on race day. Massage would be very helpful within this second week out of the race to facilitate that recovery so if you can get one, go for it! Have a stretch, use the foam roller, or do some light yoga. I have a favorite go to 30 minute routine that helps to gently and dynamically stretch my muscles while calming my mind. Relax!
• The one thing you can't control on race day is the weather but you can be prepared for it so start getting things together that you may need for any conditions. By all means, continue obsessively checking the weather online for the latest predictions but rather than worry about it, use the forecast as a positive thing to start mentally rehearsing how you will handle the day whether it be hot and humid, cool and rainy, hot and rainy etc.. Cool day? Arm warmers for the bike, maybe a vest. Warm day? Environmental conditions affect nutrition and hydration so you need to be prepared for anything. Let's go over those.
• Water- an essential nutrient. DO NOT OVERDRINK WATER IN THE DAYS LEADING UP TO THE RACE. Note the emphasis. The best things you can eat and drink in the week or two before a major race are the same things/quantities that you always drink and eat on a regular basis. Nothing new! That includes adding water. Here's the deal, a normal level of fluid intake is somewhere on the average of 32 oz per day and that includes fluids from foods as well. If you are walking around with a water bottle constantly filled, or drinking 5-6 extra water bottles in a day above and beyond what you normally do, you risk overhydrating yourself and that is very bad. There is more of a detriment to performance from overhydration than dehydration. It is very normal to be slightly dehydrated during an endurance competition. The average sweat rate is 500 mL per hour to 1 Liter and hour, in hot conditions some can sweat 1.5 L. The bottle per hour rule typically applies. If it's hot, you will most likely need more fluid, so you have your energy drink and then ten miles into the bike, pick up some water. If it's cool out, you will need much less fluid so don't use your hot day hydration plan on a cool day! The best thing you can do is drink to thirst. If you are thirsty, listen to it and drink! Don't ignore the thirst, slake it. No sloshy bellies, that's a sure sign you are overdrinking. When racing, Heart rate goes up and digestion rate drops as your heart pumps more blood to the muscles for work and to the skin for heat loss. Listen to your body's cues. 
• Listening to your bodies cues: Thirst is one. Pay attention to your thirst levels in the days before the race and don't be guessing. If you are thirsty, you'll know it. No hyperhydrating. It is good to be properly hydrated however so in the day or two before the race certainly drink water as you need. The day immediately prior to the race Dave and I like to drink a bottle (or two if it's a little warmer) of Heed so that I have some electrolyte mixed in. The thing with overdrinking water is that you can dilute your electrolytes diminishing performance before you even get to race! For some, this can result in cramping. Don't do that to yourself. Listen to your bodies cues during the race as well. Nauseous from the swim? Settle into the bike and get drinking your energy drink about 15 minutes in. If it's a fresh water swim you'll want the energy drink. If its a salt water swim you'll need water! So prepare beforehand to accomodate either. There is so much water on the course you don't have to carry it so if its a salt water swim, you may want a bottle of water in your swim to bike bag so that you can have a few swigs in transition before you set off to ride. If its a fresh water swim you'll want your energy drink, so settle into the bike and get some energy drink and a gel in within that first 15-20 minutes. More cues, let's break this down.
• Sloshy belly- you are overdrinking and you need to absorb the fluids first before you try and drink more. 
• Rumbly/distressed belly- drink coke, the carbonation will help to settle your stomach. Put a bottle of coke in your special needs bag on the bike and the run. Even if you feel good, the coke can add a boost. It's has very simple sugars and the caffeine and give you a mental boost too.
• Vomiting- You aren't aborbing a thing so stop trying to force fluid yourself. If you are vomiting something up, that is your body's way of expelling something that could cause it harm so the last thing you want to do is to continue taking in more of the same thing! This can be more of a problem on the run. Use what's on the course to correct: coke and chicken broth (in small sips!), pretzels. Allow your HR to come down so you may need to slow your pace (which will happen naturally if you are puking anyway!). 
• White streaks on your shorts, taste of salt in your sweat and feeling "hot". If it's a hot day and you are taking the fluids in, have a back up of endurolytes capsules or salt sticks at the ready. You should already know if you are a person who needs to take one-two caps per hour throughout the day. If you learn to listen to your cues, you shouldn't need the extra salt but I find they come in handy in a pinch on a warm day. If you've fueled correctly, got the fluids in and still aren't feeling quite right, maybe a crampy twinge here or there, then a pop the flip top on on the endurolytes and take an 3-5 caps with some water. The flip top container is easy to carry in a pocket. Take the time to have the volunteers put sunscreen on your shoulders, neck and arms. Wear a full hat on the run that you can put ice in, ice in the crotch is a fantastic way to keep the core temp down. Use the sponges- stick them in your top by your chest and on your back over your kidneys. Those little tips can really help you tolerate the heat better on the run. If you have trouble in the heat, arm coolers or "wings" can be a fantastic thing for you to squirt water on in the effort to remain cooler.
• Urinating.... a lot: Means you overdrank the fluids. Back off. Your kidneys are trying to excrete the excess fluid from your blood plasma that you don't need so cut it out and stop overdrinking. Frequent urination during a long race wherein urine output is supposed to decrease as a natural response to conserving water in the body means that you have too much water on board. Eat instead and when its time to drink in this instance, make it a few sips of your energy drink. Are you thirsty? No? Carry on then and wait! 
• Dry mouth- if you had too much of your energy drink, too much salt, and it's a warm day, dry mouth can be a sign of thirst. Those small epithelial cells in your cheeks and throat shrink, triggering the thirst/dry mouth feeling. So drink some water or swish some water around and swallow a little bit, it shold help the dry mouth feeling. 
• Diarrhea- can be a sign of more severe dehydration if it occurs later on in the race. If you are taking a lot of gel, your drinks are concentrated and you haven't had enough water while sweating, your body may not absorb all the gel/concentrated drinks you've taken in. This has a tendency to occur with more fructose based gels and once again, you should have practiced with everything ahead of time. Sometimes though, the race effort at a higher intensity slows the digestion and absorption more than normal training days. Use the aid stations, get some fluids in, chicken broth is fantastic and a little carbonation can go a long way. 
• Cramping- on the swim? You most likely overkicked towards the end. If you feel something coming on during the swim in your calves, feet or toes. Flex your feet and stop kicking for a little bit. relax the tension from your body. If you are cramping on the bike or run it can be from depletion, fatigue or both. Correct it with the endurolytes/saltsticks that you thoughtfully brought with you. Slow your pace under cramp threshold, and get your fluids in. Stand up on the bike and stretch the muscle, it will often relieve the cramp. On the run, get some 'lytes in, which can also come in the form of salty pretzels and chicken broth. Stretch the muscles and start back off slowly. Don't panic, you'll get through it and on with your day.

Finally, the biggest tip I have for you is more is not always better.

Seriously, everything in moderation applies to Ironman prep and racing too. I'll do a seperate post on salt intake and Ironman but on the whole I find that people take in too much. I do remind people to take in water in addition to energy drink but this doesn't mean that you should completely abandon what you have practiced and to be drinking full bottles of water within each hour of the race! You need your energy drink, you need your gels, you may need some electrolyte, you may need coke, or chicken broth, you need water but don't overdo anything in the days leading up and don't over do anything on race day either. Your plan should be set, you should have been practicing it for months. Go over it in your head and have a plan for one of the troubling situations above. If you really listen to your body's cues you can make small constant corrections throughout the day to avoid major disasters. Postive thinking and preparation go a long way in these next couple of weeks!