Nutrition an Ongoing Battle

Another part of training for a long course endurance event is nutrition.   The training is important of course, but the nutrition can also make or break a race.  I know many an athelete that killed the training but then on race day had difficulty with the nutrition portion, completely bonked, and any thoughts of a PR quickly died.  Questions to ask:  How long is the race?  How much do you sweat?   What is your race weight?   Can you keep down solid foods when you race?   Just to mention a few.   Figuring out what to do race day comes with practice, like everything else.    Not only during training, but also before and after.   What you put in your body all the time really does effect performance.   Recovery and what you are doing after a tough workout, sets you up for your next workout, and so on and so forth.    This to me is an ongoing artform.

One of the steps I took last year was to meet with a dietician with a background in endurance athletes.  I met with Dawn Daniels out of Max Sports Medicine.   She helped me to determine that I need about 60 g of carbohydrate during any training that is longer than 60 minutes.   A few other things she assisted me with was the importance of post workout recovery (for any workout longer than 90 minutes), and daily how much calcium, protein, carbs, fats, etc. that are important for me.   We met about 3 times and also had some email chats and I found the information to be really helpful.    I was surprised to find out that I actually need to eat alot more protein during the day than I had been.   So this is an area I have been working to improve.   Difficult for me intitially because I am not a big meat or egg eater.   I am not vegetarian or vegan but I have dabbled with some different eating styles in the past year,  including,  the  E2 or Engine 2 Diet.    IT was a challenge for me to follow this diet - I tried for about 28 days.   I liked that it forced me to try some new things, which I now incorporate regularly into my diet, but it was too restrictive for me.   So I have kept some of the basic principles of the diet, but I don't adhere to it.   I also regularly use the website for some of the recipes.    As I have mentioned before, I am not a big meat eater.   I have never really liked the taste, plus I don't cook it well.   So when I eat at home, which is alot, I really don't eat it.   But, I do like fish, and bacon.  I don't think I could ever give these up completely!   I have also found that I really like greek yogurt as a protein source.   It satiates me, especially on days when I have to work.  I add it to fresh fruit and granola and it seems to keep me full for a much longer time than any other breakfast type item I have tried, and I have tried alot of different things!   Another thing I tried more of on this diet was quinoa.   I love it now! It is a great source of protein and can fixed alot of different ways!  The following is a nice summer recipe I just tried:

Citrus-Quinoa Salad
1 cup quinoa
1 cup diced unpeeled cucumber
1/2 cup diced dried figs or dried apricots
1/2 cup drained canned mandarin orange sections, halved
1/4 cup toasted sunflower seeds or toasted almonds
2 green onions, diced
2 TBS chopped fresh corriander or parsley
1 tsp grated lemon or lime rind
3 TBS lemon or lime juice
1 TBS sesame oil
1 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp ground coriander.

1. Rinse quinoa under cold runningg water, drain.  In saucepan, bring 2 cups water or broth to boil, stir in quinoa.  Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes or until water is absorbed and quinoa is transparent.   Drain and let cool.
2. In a large serving bowl, combine, quinoa, cucumber, figs, orange sections, sunflower seeds, green onions and chopped coriander. 
3.  In a small bowl, mix lemon rind, lemon juice, sesame oil, sugar, cumin and ground coriander.  Pour over sald and toss to mix.  Serve immediately.  Can be covered and refrigerated up to 3 days.

One other thing I have been using alot this year is a product called Infinit Nutrition.   It is a company that allows you to custom blend a sports blend mix that you can add to water and use during or after training.   You buy it in bulk and it comes in a powder form.   The nice thing about it is that you can change things like the amount of carbs, the amount of calories, the electrolyte content, etc.    So far I have been using a blend I created for the run and a different one for the bike and I seem to be doing well with them.   Much better than trying to use gatorade/gu, etc.   Using this product I really don't have to use anything else, although I have found a protein bar or granola bar here and there is nice for variety!