Sports Nutrition 101 - Part 1

Tara - Thanks for your question on nutrition for endurance sports. I'd like to answer your question in a general manner (below), then post another blog about my preferences...

When thinking about your diet, it’s important to remember that there are no absolutes. You are unique, and your nutritional needs change daily. On some days you will require more protein and some days, more fat. Listen to what your body needs—this takes some time and experimenting. Are you craving protein or vegetables? Eat them! While there is no shortage of people claiming to have the perfect formula for what to eat when, you need to find the formula for you and that means experimenting and learning about your own body’s needs. When race day comes, you will have your unique perfect formula dialed in.

What follows are A FEW guidelines that will help you to experiment effectively with your diet (this is a very complex topic and I am only scratching the surface). I will focus on the general diet for an athlete-in-training and, during the workout or race. Unfortunately, it is tough to make objective measurements of how our diets work vis a vis our racing/training, but experience and intuition go a long way. Don’t forget that these are guidelines, and the most important expert, in this case, is you.

GENERAL GUIDELINES:

Most of us respond really well to a diet consisting of 65% carbohydrate (carbs), 20% protein, and 15% fat. Just make sure that they are predominately complex carbohydrates, complete proteins, and quality fats.

If you want to experiment with a particular diet, allow your body to adjust for about a week before deciding if it is working for you.

DURING EXERCISE NUTRITION NEEDS:

Research indicates that endurance athletes need 200-400 calories per hour. Although experts generally agree that consuming these calories during endurance workouts or on race day increases an athlete’s endurance, it is important to consider other factors such as exercise intensity, fitness, and body size when determining how many calories are needed for an individual on a given day.

General rules of thumb: the higher intensity the race the more carbs you’ll use – these carbs should come primarily from glucose. It doesn't matter how you get the carbs—from drinks, gels, or bars. But you must consume the right amount of both carbs and fluids. (See Fluid Consumption Needs.)

Races over about 10 hours to several days will require you to use more fats and proteins—slower pace, slower burning fuels. These can come in any form—make sure you like what you are eating and it sits well in your stomach (easier said than done).

In addition, take the carbs and fluids from the beginning of the exercise. Don't wait. Protein, fat, and fiber may slow the absorption of the carbs a bit but are necessary in ultra endurance events. They also provide a mix to what you are eating making it more palatable.

Electrolyte tablets with potassium and sodium are known to aid in electrolyte balancing during prolonged exercise. Use electrolyte products as recommended on the purchase package.

Keep gel products in your mouth a bit before swallowing it. Digestion begins in the mouth and can reduce strain on the gut.

Experiment, experiment, experiment... your body is unique and it takes some time and mistakes to figure out what works for us...

Terri's Training: Mixing it Up

As per Kim’s question:

So then at your level, how much time and intensity do you put into your personal training regiment? Whats a day in the life of Terri's training schedule...

I suspect that a lot of this stuff will come out in my Blog as we go, but the short answer is—it depends. It depends on the length and type of event for which I’m training, and which part of my training cycle I’m executing (hard week/easy week etc).

Right now I’m focusing on ultra running events and with a June 100 miler as an A race for me this year (important race). So I’m doing; weights/core strength training, plyometrics, deep water running, mountain biking (because I like it and because cross training is so great for your body), swimming (see mtnbiking reasons), and lots of running (virtually all trails).

I’m currently in a building phase (gradually increasing weekly mileage). April and May will be large months for running, but I’ll continue to do all activities to some degree. I generally train every day—but do take days off when I feel I need it—usually every couple weeks, sometimes once a week.

I plan my training each week, just like I do for people I coach. The weekly plan fits into a larger plan and all are adjusted as needed as I go. One of my main goals in training is to keep it diverse and fun. I like change, so I like to mix up terrain, trails, run in new places, create interesting adventures out of it all to keep it spicy.
More to come… stay tuned.


Racing in Costa Rica...

Look Above and Below for ITB Problems

Mike, I’ll answer your question about an IT band (iliotibial) injury by first saying that the pain you get in your knee is a symptom of other issues. The keys are to: 1) try and eliminate the pain, and 2) find the root of the problem and address it—simultaneously.

The IT band is a long, flat, tendon that originates on the lateral aspect of your hip bone, runs down the outside thigh, crosses the knee joint, and inserts on the lateral aspect of your tibia. When the tendon is torqued or strained in some dysfunctional manner, the insertion may become aggravated due to friction from movement of tendon over bone. It will show up as knee pain at the insertion point or just above.

Treatments of the symptom are ice, stretching, and active or passive rest (use pain as an indicator of what you can and can’t do). BUT the key to the ITB issue is finding out why it flared up on you in the first place. For that we have to look above and below the injury (feet, hips, brain [training practices]).

Here are some things to look at:
How old are your shoes?
Do your shoes support you adequately, and are they sufficient for your activity type and level? Do you need orthodics?
If the foot strikes the ground in a dysfunctional manner, something has to give, it may cause torque in the knee and hip area—and show up as pain the ITB insertion point.

Are your hips out of balance in strength and flexibility? Are you tight/strong in certain places and not in others? Are your hip bones in alignment? (Note: Most peoples hips are not perfectly in alignment—tough to achieve 100% of the time. But we can try and keep them as close as possible).

The most common reason I see ITB issues is a too rapid increase in training, or, doing an event for which you are not adequately trained.

Look to your feet, hips and training practices for the answers. Stretch, stretch, stretch, both well—especially the outer hip area (this should feel really yummy as long as the insertion point isn't too inflammed). Seek help from a PT or Sports Medicine doc for this issue if it persists (don’t bother with your general practitioner).
Get on it—good luck!

The Adventure Race Training Puzzle

Let’s take a look at Brian’s posted questions:

So tell me what is a good basic training regiment to prepare for an adventure race? I imagine its pretty intense so how do I mitigate the risk of injury?

First I gotta say, there’s some serious girth to those baby’s but I’ll try and catch the gist…

Adventure racing events generally involve running/hiking, mountain biking and paddling of some sort, with other stuff thrown in to keep it spicy (ropes, special tests etc). So the crux of your training will involve these three sports. Since paddling is the most logistically difficult for most folks, getting in a paddle once or twice a week is golden—the type of boat and paddle you use will be dependant on what you are going to use in a race. Run/hiking and biking will make up the bulk of your training. As well as strength training (key) and flexibility “training”.

All distances/time that you devote to training will depend on: 1) the distance of your event, 2) your athletic background and current fitness level, 3) the time you have in your personal schedule to devote to your training, and, 4) how much you desire to train.

Your training program needs to be: 1) consistent, 2) diverse, (no, not an oxymoron), 3) periodized, 4) fun. Adventure racers need to be adaptable. Change your training up to force your adaptable self to kick in (hopefully you have glimpses of being adaptable).

If you execute all of the above keenly, you will do a solid job at eliminating injury. Some keys to injury prevention are periodizing your training, building it slowly (distance), using proper gear, and consistently doing strength and flexibility training. These help MAINTAIN the body (as well as do massage and other modalities).

Our bodies are like high performance cars. They need attention constantly. They do break down and wear out, and can most of the time be repaired. If we give them tune-ups REGULARLY they will run better and longer. They do depreciate as we get older so do everything you can to slow down that process. And remember- for better or worse we can't trade our bodies in like we can our car. This is the only one you get this time around.

Now for my shameless plug: Creating detail personal and online training programs is part of my profession! So check out my website for more info on an optimal training program for you… www.terrischneider.net.


Schneider ascending a cave in Borneo...

Finding Comfort in Discomfort

On Saturday morning I decided to do hill repeats in my favorite State Park—Nisene Marks—redwood forest nirvana. I woke at 5:00 am to rain pummeling my roof and noticed that yummy agitated sort of feeling in my gut. Not only would the time of day allow for my training partner and I to have the place to ourselves but the weather would keep those who choose conventional comfort snug at home.

I came to the realization many years ago that the genre of life in which many find discomfort—dirt, sweat, the pain of prolonged physical duress, weather, remote spaces, and difficult mental negotiations—to me feel like home base. When I’m physically/mentally throwing it down is when I feel most in balance with my little universe. I find a familiar sense of comfort in the discomfort.

One obvious reason this might be is that I’ve continued to up the ante in my endurance life since age 10. That’s a lot of time to ponder an assortment of uncomfortable predicaments repeatedly. Right, wrong, healthy, unhealthy, soothing, painful, comfortable, or uncomfortable—do anything long enough and it starts to grow on you.

A less transparent reason involves the medium in which I resonate in day-to-day life. When I go to a mall, for instance, I often feel disconcerted. Not because I dislike shopping—quite the contrary. The surroundings at the mall including visual advertising, food, sales people, and written messages all reach out and work hard to place me in a socially constructed box. I can choose to participate in that box but it tends to feel disjointed and distant. The antithesis of the mall is the connection I get with nature and self in whichever way I desire to assemble my play time. The latter offers no preconceived voices or messages. What I create is purely authentic. Ahhh.

On my second 4-mile hill repeat, the silence of the forest was vociferous. It required me to sink deeper into that womb of breath and aching muscles and battling mind because there was no other presenting stimulus. That realization brought me an unparalleled sense of ease. It was simply me. Among the rain and wind and mud, I found comfort in the discomfort.


Schneider at Telluride...

Stayin' in the Black

Racing is like putting money in the bank. Each reason I race and each race experience is a deposit offered up to the Bank of Self—highest possible interest rates compounded annually. The quality of each Self-account-deposit can vary, but any and all are accepted and coveted because future interest rates are guaranteed to be huge and deep. Some of the reasons I race that offer the highest returns look like this: because I'm afraid, wanting to face the unknown, wanting to hang with my familiar friend: pain, testing my ability to be "in my head" for the duration, looking for the newest, biggest, and most foreign course. All yield huge earnings.

The above average yields also add up even if they offer only the occasional laugh or smile. Some of the modest ones might include: to look at the scenery, have fun with friends, get in a hard workout, break out of the mold of training.

If I don't feel like a race will present me a profit then I won't partake. This is very rare, but it happened this past weekend. I was signed up for a 50K trail race in Cool, CA and at the last minute I bagged out. Due to stresses and needing to attend to other life stuff, even the thought of the race felt like a big ugly withdrawal. If I do a race and take money out of the bank it sets me up to have a bad feeling about self. And that is something a dedicated cash hoard disciple doesn’t choose. If a race return isn't guaranteed, then I'll stay home, do a trot or mtbike through the redwoods, listen to Prairie Home Companion on NPR and crack open one of my best bottles of Zin.

That said it's important to differentiate between a deposit paralleling what we define as a "good" race experience, and, a brutal, heinous, race experience. Though they rank high, "good" races don't necessarily give us the highest yields. Some of my most noteworthy investments have come from events in which I literally and/or metaphorically face planted. You want some serious live lessons and personal growth? - go out and really blow it in a race. Then make out the mile long list of stuff you learned, and watch your Bank of Self account multiply.

But then there are the times when we need to opt out of the race because staying home, doing laundry, vacuuming dog hair, and organizing the books that have been multiplying on the living room floor, offer the highest returns to the Bank of Self. So that’s what I did. Opting out gave me the return I craved most; the desire once again to step into the bank of pain and see what kind of return I can draw...maybe this coming weekend...


Schneider takes this race to the bank...