IM70.3 SA

[Garfield2010]

The past few years the wind was against you going out. Dave is right, going ou takes you twice as long.

[MDW]

IM 70.3 NUTRITION TIP - THE CARBO-LOADING FACTOR

The biggest point of debate before an event is the subject of carbo-loading. Pasta parties galore before major events such as Ironman or Comrades are common, and everyone is talking pasta, rice and noodles. So lets get straight to the point about carbo-loading before an event. Firstly there is a purpose or more accurately a definition of carbo-loading, which is the process involved in loading your glycogen stores. Glycogen is the carbohydrate stores which reside in our muscle.

Glycogen of course is the quickest and most easily accessible form of energy. At a fairly high intensity of exercise topped up glycogen stores could supply as much as 2 hours of fuel to the muscles. The next question is, but what if my event is many hours more than that, and the answer is, there are other sources of fuel. There are also ways of sparing the glycogen during an event for use when you really need it but that it is a separate topic which will discuss in the lead up to 70.3.

 

For now lets focus on the subject of carbo-loading. Going into an endurance event with topped up glycogen stores is not a nice to have, its a must have, and its crucial to how you will perform on the day. Its a fact that if your glycogen stores are depleted when starting an endurance event, you will hit a fatigue zone early on in the event and truly battle to get yourself to the finish. So first rule is that you must ensure your glycogen levels are topped up. The question is how do you ensure they are topped up and this is where the debate really begins.

 

Taking a look at most triathletes you will notice at least the serious ones are putting in 2 workouts a day, sometimes even more. This is where nutrition plays such a critical role in maintaining ones energy levels. Fuelling before, during and after a training session is crucial to maintaining good levels of glycogen to ensure that for every other training session your energy levels are high enough to give you a quality workout. If you fail to fuel properly from the time you wake up, train and recover, and go to sleep you will definitely notice lowered energy levels with and eventually a huge dip or fatigue zone where you just are not able to put in a decent training session. We had an athlete of ours last year doing a 4 day mountain bike stage race, on day one he was leading and on day 2, he was still up there, on day 3 he dropped significantly down the ladder and on the last day he barely made it to the finish line. After analyzing his nutrition we noticed he was not fuelling himself properly especially after his stage ended, and because of this he was not allowing his energy system to recover properly before the next stage. Eventually he hit the wall.

 

So the first aspect I would like to emphasize is eat consistently well, a balanced diet of carbs, proteins and healthy fats, and ensure your energy levels are kept topped up. If you follow this before an event and leading up to it you can ensure you will have a solid energy foundation on which to build for your event.

 

Scientific testing on total glycogen depletion before an event and then carbo-loading has shown to maximize glycogen loading, however not all athletes practice this as depleting your glycogen in the week leading up to the race can be a really daunting task and can put you on edge especially if you have never done this before.

The other types of athletes are less scientific they don't really stress on what they are doing leading up to the event except knowing that when they taper and they have the reduced their training load while they are consistently eating properly their glycogen levels will build and top up naturally.

The other kind of athlete is the one that loads significantly the week leading up to an event, they generally up their carbohydrate intake over the week and this is how they build for the event. I generally have a problem with this in that if you are eating consistent healthy meals with a good portion of carbs daily, then that's fine, but making a change to your diet in the week before and then upping the carb intake substantially can lead to some issues.

The two I have in mind are firstly digestive issues your body is not used to the type of foods and amount you are consuming and you might land up with digestive problems even falling ill to this. Secondly upping your carboydrate intake and eating more simple carbohydrates might assist in glyocgen gain however there is a good chance of unnecessary weight gain leading up to the event. Yes glycogen does have a weight factor and you will go into an event slightly heavier, but if you gain too much weight not only glycogen weight you will land up paying the price for it. Imagine training at one weight and then suddenly you are racing 3kg's heavier. The muscles will take strain and again it will be an uphill battle.

The most popular form of carbo-loading these days it to eat your normal healthy balanced meals which you are used to, and then throwing a carbohydrate drink into the mix or naturally upping your carb intake, usually starting 2-3 days before the event. This is also fine again, as long as you are not overdoing it. Panic sometimes tends to set in and most will overdo the carbo-loading totally.

 

With all the information above, what actually is the best route to take. Well that's what we are here for and the simple rules below should assist you in doing whats correct for your body.

 

- Reduce high GI product intake, and focus on low GI carbohydrates, they load the glycogen stores far better and provide a much better balance of energy on a daily basis.

- Reduce your sugar intake leading up to the event

- Eat plenty of fruit and vegetables

- Eat complex carbohydrates and things such as quinoa, rolled oats, wild or brown rice, rye pasta

- Reduce alcohol and caffeine intake in the week leading up to the event, definitely at least the 3 days before.

- Your carbohydrate % in the last 3 days should be around 70%, and during the rest of the week before around 50% of your intake (10-12grams carb per kg body weight in the 48 hours leading up to the event)

- DO NOT load a carb meal the night before the event, the last thing you want is a pasta meal sitting your stomach when racing, it wont load your glycogen anymore.

The best meal the night before is something light that sits well and allows you to sleep comfortably.

- 2 Nights before the race you can eat your pasta meal if its necessary, but not any closer to the event.

- Drink plenty of water, glycogen stores are also water stores, if you don't hydrate properly you wont fuel up properly.

- Do not eat any high fiber foods and foods that cause gas, such as beans, broccoli, bran cereals, If you are lactose intolerant, eliminate milk products, especially the 24-48 hours before the event.

- Avoid spicy foods.

- DO NOT OVER EAT

 

All the best

The 32Gi Team

Edited January 13, 2012 by MDW

[The Saint]

Thanks for the tips Mark

 

8 Days to go - tapering sucks and I'm getting nervous

[Zula]

Thanks for the tips Mark

 

8 Days to go - tapering sucks and I'm getting nervous

 

Tapering does suck!

 

Feeling withdrawals from training

 

Will go for a light spin on the bike tomorrow morning to cheer me up.

[bclark]

MDW Thank you so much for these postings.

 

With all the raw veggies and fruit im eating here at work and home, I think, people are beginning to think I turned vegetarian.

 

Reducing coffee, is my biggest challenge.

Edited January 13, 2012 by bclark

[The Saint]

Tapering makes me feel like I am going to get to race day unprepared. Feels like doing the little or nothing is making me more unfit than what I was.

[dracs]

 

<snippety snip>

- DO NOT load a carb meal the night before the event, the last thing you want is a pasta meal sitting your stomach when racing, it wont load your glycogen anymore.

The best meal the night before is something light that sits well and allows you to sleep comfortably.

- 2 Nights before the race you can eat your pasta meal if its necessary, but not any closer to the event.

 

 

that part very interesting to me as I have always had a HUGE pasta meal the night before every race... (and don't think I'm the only one)...

[bclark]

No you not the only one.

 

I also had / have a pasta meal, the night before.

[MDW]

It's the biggest mistake athletes make, the morning meal is important the night before focus on sleep no need to overdo it all :-)

Edited January 13, 2012 by MDW

[Garfield2010]

Again as MDW has said it is all in the preparation. Why is the "last meal" such a big issue? What do you normally eat before a big training session? Does it work? Why change it?

[Garfield2010]

Also make sure you get plenty of sleep this week as you probably wont the night before the big day!

[bclark]

Came across this

 

http://www.urban-ninja.co.za/index.php/2011/11/70-3-first-timer-tips/

 

HTH

[Garfield2010]

How big is the mens wave? I wonder how it will feel like when 1,700 guys all swim for the same beacon upfront??

[The Saint]

How big is the mens wave? I wonder how it will feel like when 1,700 guys all swim for the same beacon upfront??

 

You are divided according to age - its not a mass start

[mrmed]

It will feel like Jacob Zuma's nephew is sitting on you whilst getting punched by Gerrie Coetzee in his heyday.

[ADe]

How big is the mens wave? I wonder how it will feel like when 1,700 guys all swim for the same beacon upfront??

 

Here is a link to the wave start times and race numbers: http://www.ironman703.co.za/registration/race-numbers