IM70.3 SA

[Klippe]

Thanx for all the advice and inputs. Seems like the 70.3 will be full of sick and injured athletes. I have a calf injury and have been nursing. Down scaled my running and hoping to last the 21km run. Hopefully the rush of participating will pull me through. Also upped my vitamin intake due to a sore throught which I hope I have stopped in time. Good luck to all out there, have a super race.

[MDW]

Thanx for all the advice and inputs. Seems like the 70.3 will be full of sick and injured athletes. I have a calf injury and have been nursing. Down scaled my running and hoping to last the 21km run. Hopefully the rush of participating will pull me through. Also upped my vitamin intake due to a sore throught which I hope I have stopped in time. Good luck to all out there, have a super race.

If you have a scratchy throat go and get a neurobian injection asap,(dis-chem nurse can give u one) its a B1,6,12, it will boost your immunity and assist in getting u there in good shape, make sure also get some good sleep. ;-)

[Henley]

I am ready for this race – especially for the swim. Pity it’s a wetsuit swim though. I prefer a wetsuit illegal tri, cos I am a hot swimmer in any sea, any temperature

[Zula]

Almost seems that the best part of the race is getting up on race day knowing you not ill or injured.

 

GD speed to all over the next 2 weeks.

[MDW]

The next tip for you guys taken off the 32Gi FB site :-)

 

 

IM 70.3 NUTRITION TIP - PRE-RACE AND RACE DAY HYDRATION

Every athlete is fully aware of how important it is to hydrate oneself during an endurance event, but what about pre-race hydration, in other words leading up to the event. Recently composition scales manufacturer Tanita did some testing on over 5700 participants in Ironman events and how their pre-race hydration levels impacted their performance. Pre-race check in hydration levels were taken in the participants over a 3 year period, and it turned out there was overwhelming evidence to demonstrate that finishing times of properly hydrated participants were faster than those who were not properly hydrated. Proper hydration levels needed to measure around 55%-65% to be considered adequate. This hydration factor measured is an indication of body fluid, which could be stored at either intra or extra cellular, or in the muscles. Fluid in the bladder of course is a waste, as it will be excreted at some stage, meaning its not being absorbed.

These results clearly show that is important to hydrate yourself properly pre-race and this does not mean hydrating yourself the morning of or the day before the event. You should be hydrating yourself consistently leading up to the event to ensure that the fluid intake is properly absorbed by the body. Ensure you consume at least 2litres of liquid a day and if you are training even more. This does not mean stimulants such as coffee or tea, it means good old fashioned water and herbal teas such as rooibos. Caffeine can act as a diuretic and dehydrate as opposed to hydrate.

 

Hydration is also a factor of electrolyte levels not just water intake. When drinking during an event you should ensure you take in an electrolytic drink. Consuming water alone without any electrolytes can lead to electrolytic dilution which can extend to over-hydration and of course, the terrible symptoms of hyponatremia being cramp and nausea. One should ensure that a drink being consumed contains sufficient sodium to assist with electrolytic balance. Another important factor to take into account is that the body can absorb more liquid when it contains a glucose forming carbohydrate, water on its own is least absorbed and this is not desirable at all during an endurance event. Ideal concentrations are around 5-8% carbohydrate to liquid. Highly concentrated carbohydrate solutions such as gels, can lead to GI problems meaning digestive distress, so if taking in something like a gel ensure you consume sufficient liquid (average around 300ml's depending on concentration) with it in order to give a better ratio of carbohydrate to liquid to aid absorption, and mitigate GI distress.

 

Be smart on race day, drink frequently as opposed to large amounts at once, this will keep the body hydrated and make it easier for the system to absorb the liquid, by not overloading it. Do not wait until you are extremely thirsty to drink, remember the body takes time to absorb the liquid intake and waiting until the last minute, may well see you landing up in trouble soon after, due to the liquid not being adsorbed on time. This can lead to stomach distress because you over consumed liquid and its just sloshing around in the stomach and your body is not able to cope with and absorb the excessive amount. Remember if you feel a full bladder you are over consuming, there is no need at all to have to empty the bladder during the event.

 

Another consideration which I stress at all times, is that when it comes to mixing your energy drinks, remember one very important factor. Always separate your energy requirements from your hydration requirements. A simple example is that if you have a serving of energy drink which needs to be consumed in an hour for example, and its mixed with 500ml's of water according to recommendation, well 500ml's of liquid in an hour can be fine on a fairly decent temperature day. However on a very cold day, chances are you might only consume half of that if not less, meaning that you are taking in far less carbohydrates than required meaning your energy system is going to suffer and you might go hypoglycemic. It is important to know how much liquid you will usually consume on a cold, warm or hot day as your body sweats differently on those days and fluid loss will differ. On a cold day I usually keep my energy requirements in a concentrate separate to my water requirements, to ensure I get the desired amount of liquid and carbohydrate intake. On a hot day, I could possibly have the normal serving or a slightly diluted serving in order to balance fluid and energy intake.

 

We hope this helps to serve you as a guide. You must give hydration very careful thought before the event and ensure its planned for so that you go in knowing exactly what you need to do to stay hydrated, fuelled up and able to perform.

 

All the best

The 32Gi Team

 

The next tip will be on the caffeine or no caffeine debate ;-)

[Garfield2010]

I am ready for this race – especially for the swim. Pity it’s a wetsuit swim though. I prefer a wetsuit illegal tri, cos I am a hot swimmer in any sea, any temperature

 

Henly did you do East London last year? Without a wetsuit?

[bclark]

 

The next tip will be on the caffeine or no caffeine debate ;-)

 

 

Hiya

 

Will you include Teas.

 

What are your thoughts on ginger, camomile, rooiboos etc teas.

 

Thanks for help and advice you provide.

 

Brent

[SwissVan]

I am ready for this race – especially for the swim. Pity it’s a wetsuit swim though. I prefer a wetsuit illegal tri, cos I am a hot swimmer in any sea, any temperature

 

 

Thats the spirit, now you just need to believe it's possible!

[MDW]

Hi All

 

Norrie Williamson, formidable endurance athlete, renowned coach and commentator contributed this on the 32Gi Facebook site, it provides some more insight into hydration and carbo-loading which we have not covered yet, but its valuable so thought to share it, all the best M

 

By Norrie Williamson:

One aspect often overlooked in the pre hydration consideration is that of Carbo-loading phase. If you are carbo-loading (and particularly if doing it incorrectly) then there is a greater risk of being under hydrated. remember every gram of carbohydrate (stored as glycogen) requires 3ml of fluid to be stored in the muscles - without this your muscles have a greater risk of cramping and you go into the event under hydrated. one of the best ways to check your hydration levels is to pee over a hydration stick. these are available from chemists at reasonable prices and well worth the investment for major events. As a rule of thumb expect to put on around 1.5-2.0 kg when cargo loading compared with pre carboloading phase - this is primarily fluid so don't worry about the extra weight and in hot weather this will be an early advantage at the start of the race - best to those doing the 70.3 in East London lets hope the wind plays the game for the hilly cycle

[Henley]

Compliment for your product, MDW:

Before long endurance events I have the habit of freezing my water bottles days upfront. I then drink it as it melts to fluid (happens quickly on a bike), consequently enjoying the benefit of a faster gastric emptying rate because of the very low temperature. However, most powders of drinks dissolved in water will make nasty sediment when returning back to liquid state. These clog up the water bottle nozzle and you end up with needing an extra hand to unscrew the top in order to drink. On a bike that is a schlep, in a canoe it is impossible without letting go of the paddle.

I experimented with 32Gi and found it to return to complete state of liquid – no sediments.

Will use it on the bike (as well as the chews on the run) in 70.3

[Garfield2010]

Compliment for your product, MDW:

Before long endurance events I have the habit of freezing my water bottles days upfront. I then drink it as it melts to fluid (happens quickly on a bike), consequently enjoying the benefit of a faster gastric emptying rate because of the very low temperature. However, most powders of drinks dissolved in water will make nasty sediment when returning back to liquid state. These clog up the water bottle nozzle and you end up with needing an extra hand to unscrew the top in order to drink. On a bike that is a schlep, in a canoe it is impossible without letting go of the paddle.

I experimented with 32Gi and found it to return to complete state of liquid – no sediments.

Will use it on the bike (as well as the chews on the run) in 70.3

 

Just be careful because if it is a cold day then you will end up riding with frozen bottles the whole way!!

[Zula]

Dunno about all of you, but tapering really makes me cranky!

 

Anyways, cant wait for next Sunday. Its such a good vibe and an awesome experience!

 

Thanks MDW, keep em tips coming and GD bless 32GI

[MDW]

LATEST 70.3 NUTRITION PREP ARTICLE FROM THE 32Gi SITE

 

 

IM 70.3 NUTRITION TIP - THE CAFFEINE FACTOR

Caffeine or no caffeine that is the question. It certainly does have its benefits and this highly debatable subject has done its rounds a number of times, even to being considered a banned substance on the IOC list when exceeding a certain amount.

Caffeine is of course a stimulant and looked at in a negative way by some but it certainly has its benefits. Caffeine in itself has the ability to mobilize the fat stores and push more free fatty acids into the blood stream for use as fuel. Next to glycogen fat is an excellent source of fuel, and the more you can mobilize and use the more you can spare your glycogen levels.

 

However wonderful this sounds, there is another factor that comes into play, and this is the rate of performance at which fat is accessible as a source of fuel. If you are performing at a very high intensity, using breathing as an example where you can barely speak, utilizing fat would be extremely difficult due to the fact that fat requires a certain amount of oxygen to be converted into energy and when there is not a sufficient amount, then your body will rely on its glycogen stores. So with this in mind, would caffeine provide a performance benefit in a short high intensity event, such as 2 hours. The answer is no, you would barely use your fat stores in an event of this nature and you would do more justice to ensure your glycogen levels are topped up to help cope with the effort. Endurance events are where it would be more useful, when you are performing at a manageable pace where the fat conversion process to energy is more doable due to there being a decent supply of oxygen, of course the fitter you are the more efficient you are at utilising your fat stores, and could probably convert at a higher performance rate than the average person.

 

Testing that has been done on athletes has shown that in order to maximize the endurance benefit from caffeine, one should actually be caffeine intolerant. What does this mean? simple it means you should not be consuming caffeine for at least 7-10 days before the day of the event. Then timing is the next issue. Its been shown that taking in as much as 1/2mg of caffeine per a kg of body weight is desirable, BUT at least 3-4 hours before the event, in order to allow the mobilization to take place and to reduce the risk of dehydration and stomach irritability, as caffeine does increase acid production in the stomach. So this is the benefit but what negatives are there. Well firstly if you are a regular coffee drinker and caffeine is your fix, becoming caffeine intolerant is a mighty task. Withdrawal symptoms such as caffeine headaches and even fatigue could start within a day after stopping the caffeine intake. Not everyone suffers from this, but its not something that should be tried if not done before. Remember its very important to have tried and tested anything way before race day in training sessions which would simulate like conditions in order to be properly prepared, don't make sudden changes before race day just because you think it will give you an added advantage. You might land up in more trouble, so stick with your game plan. The other use of caffeine can be during an event, but preferably towards the finish line when you need that little bit of mental wake up. Caffeine of course can create more mental alertness, but remember its short lived. Again this is not something to be tested on race day, but only during training to see if this actually does provide you a benefit or not. Good luck with the preparations.

The next discussion will be around Carbo Loading................:-)

 

The 32Gi Team

[Garfield2010]

I have something to add with regards to carbo loading.

 

I read Macca's book and he believes that carbo loading should be done for a week instead of only 2 - 3 days. He always used to cramp in Kona until he did the beforementioned and the rest is history.

 

But I also guess in a 70.3 you are less likely to cramp especially if it is a rainy day..

[majestic]

I am ready for this race – especially for the swim. Pity it’s a wetsuit swim though. I prefer a wetsuit illegal tri, cos I am a hot swimmer in any sea, any temperature

If you did it last year without a wetsuit ,were you not one of the many that got hypothermia.I believe 8 swimmers were treated in the medical tent.

[pastapouch]

Some advice for the bike leg:

 

The course has 600m of climbing which is tougher than most 70.3 distance events but it not as tough as 94.7 (1000m+ of climbing.)

 

The course is mostly undulating meaning that the hills are not particularly steep. The one hill past the Hemingway shopping centre is quite tough.

 

On the return trip, you can go really fast. Your return time can be a lot faster than your out time.

 

I recommend practicing fast descending. There is technique to being able to crest a hill at a sensible heart rate and to immediately be able to put on the power and accelerate up to 60+ kmh, tuck really low and free wheel up most of the next hill.

Can't agree, the wind tends to be against you coming back...so you have to work. Makes it a bit difficult. 94.7 = WALK IN THE PARK.