stevebradley's Mentor Group FULL (Page 23)

ERIC -

I have heard of raw cookie dough being used during iron distances, and if I remember correctly it was something recommended for the special needs bags - which are available about halfway through the bike.

I also seem to remember more than one person using raw cookie dough as a viable food option for long distance racing. (GRACE - are you tempted?)

Personally, I would not discount this. For each of my two irons, I had two peanut butter and grape jelly sandwiches in my special needs bags. At IMLP I ate both within the next six or so miles, whereas at my second iron, The Canadian, I could barely handle one.

It's a good thing dinner is close at hand - I'm getting hungry!

ERIC and TREVOR -

A former pro, known as Chuckie V, was disqualified from Kona one year for taking a slight detour off-course for a beer (or two?). I think the detour was fine, but bringing the beer back on course with him as against the rules. I think this is the basic gist of this story, but I will try to google it for the actual details. (One thing I question is whether it was Kona, or another iron that was a qualifier for Kona.)

Chuckie V was a real character, a throwback kind of guy, maybe a fetching combination of hippie, surfer, general all-purpose free-spirit. He lived in a small car for quite a while, sharing the space with his bike and gear. I think he was still active as a pro as recently as 3-4 years ago, but it's been a while since I heard anything about him. I believe the beer (and thinking a bit more about this, it might've been something harder) episode was in the mid- to late-90s. I'll try to ferret out the actual facts, and get back to you on this.

MINDY and TREVOR -

Would you two like to split the rolled-down 500th Post Award -- to the tune of about 8 gels each? I'm only mentioning a split, Mindy, as you seem kind of ambivalent about going the gel route. (Remember, for many people they ARE an acquired taste - although not those phenomenal chocolate AccelGel ones, which are as good as ambrosia from Valhalla!)

Either post your mailing address, or PM it to me if you don't want your whereabouts known to the general public. (Although, realistically, I don't think too many sketchy characters are lurking around this particular nook of the BT website.)

Splitting the gels is great.  Thank-you!  I'll send you a pm with my address!  I am guessing that people do not do well eating real food during a race?  I would think bananas would make a good snack!

MINDY -

Your swim approach is solid, and I'm glad to hear it is still going well in the pool. I love hearing all these swimming success stories!

The Silver Comet Trail, eh? Sounds gorgeous! How many miles is that, more or less? Well, if the weather prevents it this weekend, in your neck of the woods it won't be long before you can get out there for, oh, about 27 successive weekends!

I will post soemthing soon about the Spinervals DVDs, which are great ways to prevent the tedium of trainers and stat bikes. Troy Jacobson, the coach/drill sargeant of the Spinervals, also does a series called Runervals, designed to reduce treadmill tedium. I have not seen these, however. If you want to get a jump-start on what I will post, check out www.spinervals.com. Under the Fitness Series, look at 2.0 and 4.0. Under the Competition Series, try to find the info for 4.0, 8.0, 16.0, 17.0, 18.0, 21.0, and 25.0. (I say "try to", because for some of the Comp. Series you need to get to the title by going through another title, and as near as I can tell that is a pretty scatter-shot processs.) I'll post more about these in a day or two.

MINDY -

YES! Real food works! Not all real food (avoid fajitas with guacamole), but many real foods are very welcome respites from processed gels, bars, and drinks. I think I posted soemthing about this to Jess a day or two ago, and I'll go back and try to find whwre that is.

I will also add soemthing soon on the glycemic index, and which real foods might be good for various distances of races.

For me, I have had success with bananas, slices of apples, red licorice (is that a real food?), pretzels, Fig Newtons, and - especially in my first 8-10 half irons - baby potatoes that were previously gently boiled, and stored in a baggy that I had sprinkled inside with salt. I would leave T2 with the baggy in hand, and try to eat a wee spud or two within the first couple of miles of the run. Somewhere along the line, however, I either forgot this practice or weaned myself from it in favor of gels, and it's been a few years since I 'tatered my way through the first part of a HIM or IM run.

MINDY again -

Those trails................................Color me envious!

TREVOR -

Mindy is willing to sacrifice half of her thrice-rolled-down 500th Post Award to you, so if you want an octet of gels, PM me your mailing address.

How do you like me now, Steve?

LISA -

As fondly as always, of course! And you realize that my use of the "weasel" was (note past tense) was 1/3 endearment, 2/3 compliment, as weasels are fast, sleek, crafty, social, and proceed through life with a fierce determination. And, they run barefoot!

I think that Mindy and Trevor will each provide a fine home for the gels, for which I am thankful. So, bless you, my child, for your caring, sharing attitude in this matter!

So you're a GU gal, eh? Prior to this past season, I had never had success with GU in the sense that I didn't like their taste and consistency. But I sampled their newer product, Roctane, and had a good overall response to it. that led me back to the "basic" GU line, and most of those worked well, too. I also like that they come in the smallest packet of any of the gel products, and so I decided to use Gu and Roctane exclusively for about 4 or 5 races. While I ended up feeling that they are not my favorites, I at least learned that they are not only tolerable, but also actually quite effective.

Was today your doctor day about the hips? Is everything mostly okay? I'm hoping it's nothing more serious than maybe microtears of the gluteus medius or gluteus minimus (I think those are the two hip muscles). Any good therapies recommended for you?

THE CHUCKIE V. STORY (mentioned in 2nd post, this page)

It was at Kona '99, and Chuckie V. (his full last name is Veylupek) blew up on the run, got a beer, and continued walking towards the finish. He was disqualified from that race, and banned from the 2000 one as well. He appealed that decision, but I don't know how that turned out.

Had he turned in his race number and informed race officials that he was quitting the race, he could've drank whatever he wanted. But the governing body for IM races at the time felt that he did not uphold acceptable race-day standards, and also put himself and possibly other at risk.

And it's a wrap.

Steve! Thank you SO much for all the help earlier with your posts about race-nutrition. I will be answering more in depth tomorrow, but I just got home from school (I have 8-10pm classes on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, and then a group meeting after that tonight), so my bed is calling me. I just didn't want to go to bed without you knowing that those posts were amazing and I really appreciate it! More thoughts tomorrow when I'm more coherent.

JESS -

Oh, my, that's a tough schedule with three straight nights of such late classes. Please tell me that the rest of those three days are class-free! For how much longer are you with that schedule?

I guess you must take Friday as a general-purpose rest/recuperation day, and then come the weekend you're ready to hit the workouts with the intensity of a scarlet blither(??), yes?

I hope you're still deep in sleep (it's closing in on 8 a.m.), and that you find the time to breathe freely today! And I'm glad that the nutrition stuff is useful. Have a fine old day!

TREVOR and MINDY -

Okay, then! I have you both nicely addressified, and I will get the goods off to you within a day or two - maybe even today if I can get down to NY. It will move all that much faster if it gets mailed from within the U.S., and opposed to going through the mastodonian mail system we have here.

Bye for now!

FOR ALL --

NUTRITION.....REAL FOODS.....GLYCEMIC INDEX.....CARBOHYDRATES


This comes out of the general nutrition talk, but specifically some questions/comments that Mindy and Grace had about using real foods during races. I gave Mindy a quick list of real foods (as opposed to formulated energy gels, bars, and drinks) that I rely on during longer races, but that got me thinking about the Glycemic Index and its potential usefulness to planning "real food" eating before, during, and after races.

Probably most of you have heard of the GI, as it is important for diabetics, and has been the cornerstone of some diets (South Beach? Atkins? [no, I don't think Atkins]). There has also been a lot of discussion of it in endurance-focused books and magazines, and the studies of how it influences performance are quite varied, and often volatile.

Anyhow, in a nutshell:

The GI is a measurement of the rate at which blood glucose levels rise after a partciular food has been eaten. The index is on a 100-point scale, and is measured against pure glucose, which rates at 100. Most published lists of foods and their GI rating are based on low, medium, and high values, and as the GI is a ranking system for carbohydrates, you can see its potential importance for endurance athletes.

A food that has a low GI will produce a slower, more steady release of energy -- even though it may have a high carbohysrate content.
A food with a high GI will porduce a rapid release of energy -- even though the carbohydrate content will below.
So, while there is a lot of attention paid to whether a given carbohydrate is simple or complex, this is less important than its glycemic response.

Athletes will often consume low GI foods in the hours leading up to a race, especially a longer race, as the want the effects of slow, steady energy release. Pastas in general are low GI foods, which explains why pasta feeds the night before traithlons and marathons are so popular. Critics will say that the pasta that is eaten 12-15 hours before even the start of the race will not have any demostrative effect during the race, but supporters of pasta feeds obviously feel differently -- and this includes anybody who supports the idea of carbo-loading in the DAYS before a race.

High GI foods also have their purpose, especially for recovery and in emergency situations. For recovery, a bagel - high GI - is great, as it will boost blood glucose levels quite rapidly. (This explains why bagels are so often a featured part of post-race food spreads. And it also explains why a bagel is not a wise choice for a pre-race "meal", especially if it is about the only thing eaten!) In an emergency situation, well, that would be "bonking" or "hitting the wall", and the ideal escape from either of these is to consume a high GI product ASAP, and then follow it almost immediately with low GI product. (This is why it is wise to carry a gel at all times during a longer tri run, and it's why I will pick up a gel at an aid station at, say, mile 10 of a HIM run, even when my stomach is adamantly opposed to any food. It is for JUST IN CASE!!)

That's the nutshell (albeit coconut-sized) version, for now. I will track down a Glycemic Index list, and summarize some of the more common race-appropriate foods on it. I hope this is somewhat useful for at least one of you!



Edited by stevebradley 2009-02-20 9:53 AM

Can anybody come outside and play? I'm lonely.

Wanna play "Century Ride"?

How about a few rounds of "Track Intervals"?

Okay, guys, okay! If you want to do "Swim Ladders", I'll do them too. Sheeesh!

Boredboredboredboredboredbordboredbored -- BOOOOOOOOOOOORRRRREEEEDDDDDDD!!!!!

Harumph. I'm going over to Triathlon Talk and play there for a while!