brick94513-GoGoGo Mentor Group - Closed For Now! (Page 5)

The plans on BT work just fine.  What you need to remember though is that these plans are generic and not suited to you personally.  In other words, they don't address your specific areas of strengths and weakness like a custom tailored plan from a coach.  The plan, however, gives you idea of the volume you need to be training to have a reasonable expectaion of completing your chosen distance.  From there, you can fudge numbers to address weaknesses.

bad day for me on the final FTP test after another 8 week computrainer class.  I can't put a finger on what happened either.  I just sucked today.  I ate right, rested well, everything.  I had a goal of 270+ going in (I was 256 8 weeks ago when I started).  Did fine the first half.   I think I was above 280 20 minutes in and felt great.  Then I hit a wall, all of a sudden.  The last half was basically just me saving some watts.  I could barely pedal.  Dropped all the way donw to 251 by the end.

Whatever, another bad day in the books.  I moped around the house today doing yard work.  Proably not the best idea before Sylvan tomorrow, but all I can do is get out of bed, drive up there and hammer the best I can.   In the meantime I have to figure out a way to get more pumped up for the race tomorrow!!

This article was taken from Hammer Nutrition.  I have had great nutritional success following these guidelines.  I've tried to remove specific product referrences since I don't believe this is the proprer forum for such advertisement.  Please forgive me if I missed any.  Enjoy!

THE 10 BIGGEST MISTAKES....

1. Excess hydration

Optimal nutritional support for endurance athletics means consuming the right amount of the right nutrients at the right time. You can neither overload nor undersupply your body without compromising athletic performance and incurring detrimental results. The principle of avoiding both too much and too little especially applies to hydration, where serious consequences occur from either mistake. If you don’t drink enough, you’ll suffer from unpleasant and performance-ruining dehydration. Drink too much, however, and you’ll not only end up with impaired athletic performance, you may even be flirting with potentially life-threatening water intoxication.

One of the most respected researchers on hydration, Dr. Tim Noakes, studied the effects of thousands of endurance athletes and noted that the front-runners typically tend to dehydrate, while overhydration occurs most often among middle to back-of-the-pack athletes. Both conditions lead to hyponatremia (low blood sodium), but through different processes. Excess water consumption causes what is known as “dilutional hyponatremia,” or an overly diluted level of sodium and electrolytes in the blood. This is as bad as under-hydrating in regards to increased potential for muscular cramping, but has the added disadvantages of stomach discomfort, bloating, and extra urine output. And, as mentioned earlier, in some unfortunate circumstances, excess hydration can lead to severe physiological circumstances, including death.

Unfortunately, endurance athletes too often adopt the “if a little is good, a lot is better” approach. This can lead to significant problems when you’re trying to meet your hydration requirements. All it takes is one poor performance or DNF due to cramping and you start thinking, “Hmm, maybe I didn’t drink enough.” Next thing you know, you’re drinking so much water and fluids that your thirst is quenched but your belly is sloshing and you’re still cramping. Remember, both undersupply and oversupply of fluid intake will get you in trouble.

How much should one drink? One expert, Dr. Ian Rogers, suggests that between 500-750 milliliters/hr (about 17-25 fluid ounces/hr) will fulfill most athletes’ hydration requirements under most conditions. I believe all athletes would benefit from what Dr. Rogers says: “Like most things in life, balance is the key and the balance is likely to be at a fluid intake not much above 500 milliliters (about 17 ounces) per hour in most situations, unless predicted losses are very substantial.”

[Rogers, I.R. Fluid and Electrolyte Balance and Endurance Exercise: What can we learn from recent research?, Wilderness Medicine Letter, 18:3, USA (2001)]

Recommendation: We at Hammer Nutrition have found that most athletes do very well under most conditions with a fluid intake of 20-25 ounces (approx 590-750 milliliters) per hour. Sometimes you may not need that much fluid—15-16 ounces (approx 445-475 ml) per hour may be quite acceptable—sometimes you might need somewhat more, perhaps up to 28 ounces (approx 830 ml) hourly. Our position, however, is that the risk of dilutional hyponatremia increases substantially when an athlete repeatedly consumes more than 30 fluid ounces (approx 870 ml) per hour. If more fluid intake is necessary (under very hot conditions, for example) proceed cautiously and remember to increase electrolyte intake as well to match your increased fluid intake. You can easily accomplish this by consuming a few additional Endurolytes capsules.

2. Simple sugar consumption

We believe that fructose, sucrose, glucose, and other simple sugars (mono- and disaccharides) are poor carbohydrate sources for fueling your body during exercise. Also, for optimal general health you should restrict your intake of these simple sugars (see the article 146 Reasons Sugar Ruins Your Health).

For endurance athletes, the primary problem with fuels containing simple sugars is that they must be mixed in weak 6-8% solutions in order to match body fluid osmolality parameters (280-303 mOsm) and thus be digested with any efficiency. Unfortunately, solutions mixed and consumed at this concentration only provide, at the most, about 100 calories per hour, inadequate for maintaining energy production on an hourly basis for most athletes. Using a 6-8% solution to obtain adequate calories means your fluid intake becomes so high that it causes discomfort and bloating, and you may possibly over-hydrate to the point of fluid intoxication.

You can’t make a “double or triple strength” mixture from a simple sugar-based carbohydrate fuel in the hopes of obtaining adequate calories because the concentration of that mixture, now far beyond the 6-8% mark, will remain in your stomach until sufficiently diluted, which may cause substantial stomach distress. You can drink more fluids in the hopes of “self diluting” the overly concentrated mixture, but remember that you’ll increase the risk of over-hydration. However, if you don’t dilute with more water and electrolytes, your body will recruit these from other areas that critically need them and divert them to the digestive system to deal with the concentrated simple sugar mix. This can result in a variety of stomach-related distresses, not to mention increased cramping potential.

Bottom line is that simple sugar-based drinks or gels have to be mixed and consumed at very dilute and calorically weak concentrations in order to be digested with any efficiency. A simple sugar-based product used at a properly mixed concentration cannot provide adequate calories to sustain energy production. Any way you look at it, fuels containing simple sugars are inefficient and therefore not recommended during prolonged exercise.

Complex carbohydrates (polysaccharides) are the best choice for endurance athletes, as they allow your digestive system to rapidly and efficiently process a greater volume of calories, providing steady energy. Unlike simple sugars, which match body fluid osmolality at 6-8% solutions, complex carbohydrates match body fluid osmolality at substantially more concentrated 15-18% solutions. Even at this seemingly high concentration, complex carbohydrates (such as maltodextrins and glucose polymers) will empty the stomach at the same efficient rate as normal body fluids and provide up to three times more energy than simple sugar mixtures, which means you can fulfill your caloric requirements without running the risk of over-hydration or other stomach related maladies.

3. Improper amounts of calories

Too many endurance athletes fuel their bodies under the premise, “If I burn 500-800 calories an hour, I must consume that much or I’ll bonk.” However, repeating what Dr. Bill Misner stated earlier in The Guide, “To suggest that fluids, sodium, and fuels-induced glycogen replenishment can happen at the same rate as it is spent during exercise is simply not true. Endurance exercise beyond 1-2 hours is a deficit spending entity, with proportionate return or replenishment always in arrears. The endurance exercise outcome is to postpone fatigue, not to replace all the fuel, fluids, and electrolytes lost during the event. It can’t be done, though many of us have tried.” In other words, your body can’t replenish calories as fast as it expends them (ditto for fluids and electrolytes). Athletes who try to replace “calories out” with an equal amount of “calories in” usually suffer digestive maladies, with the inevitable poorer-than-expected outcome, and possibly the dreaded DNF (“Did Not Finish&rdquo. Body fat and glycogen stores easily fill the gap between energy output and fuel intake, so it’s detrimental overkill to attempt calorie-for-calorie replacement.

Keep this in mind if you’re doing ultra-endurance events, especially if you’ve had to “alter the game plan” and are unable to stick to your planned hourly caloric intake. For example, let’s say you’ve been consuming an average of 280 calories an hour, but the heat or other circumstances (such as climbing a very long hill) prevented you from maintaining that desired hourly average. DO NOT try to “make up lost ground” by consuming additional calories; it’s not only unnecessary, it may very well cause a lot of stomach distress, which will hurt your performance. Remember, during periods where fuel consumption may be less than your original hourly plan, body fat stores will effectively fill in the gap, thus eliminating the need to overcompensate with calories.

Recommendation: In general, an intake of 240-280 calories per hour is sufficient for the average size endurance athlete (approximately 160-165 lbs/approx 72.5-75 kg). Lighter weight athletes (<120-125 pounds/approx 54.5-57 kg) will most certainly need less, while heavier athletes (>190 pounds/approx 86 kg) may need slightly more, perhaps upwards of 300/hour.

4. Inconsistent electrolyte supplementation

Consuming sufficient amounts of calories and fluids during workouts and races is an obvious necessity. Consistent electrolyte supply is equally important. Just as your car’s engine requires sufficient oil to keep its many parts running smoothly, your body requires electrolytic minerals to maintain smooth performance of vital functions such as muscle contraction. Athletes who neglect this important component of fueling will impair their performance, and may incur painful and debilitating cramping and spasms, a sure way to ruin a workout or race.

However, this doesn’t mean that athletes should indiscriminately ingest copious amounts of one or more electrolytes; sodium (salt) is usually the most misused. Supplementing with only one electrolyte or consuming too much of one or more electrolytic minerals overrides the complex and precise mechanisms that regulate proper electrolyte balance. The solution is to provide the body with a balanced blend of these important minerals and in a dose that cooperates with and enhances body mechanisms. Salt tablets alone cannot sufficiently satisfy electrolyte requirements, and excess salt consumption will cause more problems than it resolves.

Remember also that electrolyte replenishment is important even when it’s not hot outside. Sure, you may not need as much as you would in hotter weather, but your body still requires consistent replenishment of these minerals to maintain the optimal performance of many important bodily functions. You don’t wait until you dehydrate before you drink fluids, or until you bonk before you put some calories back in your body, do you? Of course not. You fulfill those fueling requirements before the consequences of inadequate replenishment strike. The same principle applies to electrolyte replenishment. Going back to the engine/oil analogy, you don’t wait until the engine seizes before refilling the oil reservoir. The same is true for electrolytes, the body’s “motor oil,” in that you don’t want to wait until you start cramping before you replenish these important minerals.

5. No protein during prolonged exercise

When exercise extends beyond about two hours, your body begins to utilize some protein to fulfill its energy requirements, as you begin to derive glucose from amino acids. This metabolic process helps to satisfy anywhere from 5-15% of your energy needs. If you fail to include protein in your fuel, your body has only one other choice: your own muscle! Called “lean muscle tissue catabolism” or “muscle cannibalization,” this process devastates performance through muscle deterioration and increased fatigue-causing ammonia accumulation, and also negatively affects the immune system and recovery. The longer your workout or race, the greater these problems are compounded. So while carbohydrates are still the primary component of your fuel, it should include a small amount of protein when training sessions or races last longer than two to three hours.

We believe soy protein’s amino acid profile is ideal for use during exercise, which is why Hammer Nutrition’s Perpetuem and Sustained Energy contain soy as the protein source. For instance, compared to whey protein (which is ideal for recovery), soy protein has higher levels of phenylalanine, which may aid in maintaining alertness during ultra-distance races. Soy protein has higher amounts of histidine, which is part of the beta-alanyl l-histidine dipeptide known as carnosine, which has antioxidant/acid buffering benefits. Finally, soy protein has higher levels of aspartic acid, which plays an important role in energy production via the Krebs cycle.

Dr. Bill Misner writes, “Soy’s remarkable donation to endurance performance is deserving of our review. Soy has been observed to produce a higher degree of uric acid content than whey proteins. Uric acid is reduced by excessive free radicals produced during exercise. When uric acid levels are higher, that is an indication of less free radical release due to antioxidant influence of the isoflavones found exclusively in soy. This is one reason why soy may be the preferred dietary protein application during endurance exercise.”

6. Too much solid food during exercise

In the 1985 Race Across America (RAAM), Jonathan Boyer rode to victory using a liquid diet as his primary fuel source. Since then, it has become the norm for endurance and ultra-endurance athletes. Liquid nutrition is the easiest, most convenient, and most easily digested way to get a calorie and nutrient-dense fuel. Solid food, for the most part, cannot match the precision or nutrient density of the best liquid fuels. In addition, too much solid food consumption will divert blood from working muscles for the digestive process. This, along with the amount of digestive enzymes, fluids, and time required in breaking down the constituents of solid food, can cause bloating, nausea, and/or lethargy. Lastly, some of the calories ingested from solid foods are used up simply to break down and digest them; in essence, these calories are wasted.

Occasional solid food intake provides a welcome diversion during ultra-endurance efforts, but we don’t recommend it as your primary fuel source. In fact, our position is that NO solid food is necessary (even food as healthy as the Hammer Bar) during workouts or races in the 12-hour-or-under range. If, however, you choose to consume solid food during your workouts or races, even during ultra distance events, we suggest you take heed to these two recommendations:

• Choose foods that have little or no refined sugar or saturated fats. Don’t think, “I’m a calorie burning machine so I can eat anything I want& calories are calories.” Remember, what you put in your body greatly determines what you get out of it. The well-known phrase “Garbage in, garbage out,” fully applies here.
• Use solid food sparingly, and only as an exception or diversion. Maintain your primary intake through liquid/gel sources.

In summary, exercise diminishes digestive system function, so regular solid food intake should be limited in your fueling strategy. Solid foods increase the likelihood of lethargy and performance-inhibiting stomach discomforts such as bloating, stomach cramps, nausea, and vomiting.

Recommendation: In summary, exercise diminishes digestive system function, so regular solid food intake should be limited in your fueling strategy. Solid foods increase the likelihood of lethargy and performance-inhibiting stomach discomforts such as bloating, stomach cramps, nausea, and vomiting.

7. Using something new in a race without having tested it in training

The title is pretty self-explanatory; it’s one of THE cardinal rules for all athletes, yet you’d be amazed at how many break it. Are you guilty as well? Unless you’re absolutely desperate and willing to accept the consequences, do not try anything new in competition, be it equipment, fuel, or tactics. These all must be tested and refined in training.

8. Sticking with your game plan even when it's not working

Endurance athletes tend to be strong-willed and uncompromising. Most strive to have a “game plan” in place for their training program, which is, of course, an excellent idea. Smart athletes also have a game plan for their supplements and fueling. Having this nutritional game plan that you’ve honed during training is a big step toward success on race day, but don’t slavishly adhere to it during the race if it’s not working. What does fine in terms of fueling—your hourly intake of fluids, calories, and electrolytes—during training at a slower pace and lower overall energy output, might fail during competition. Athletes who stubbornly maintain the same fuel intake hour after hour, even when it’s clearly not working, end up with poorer results, if they finish at all.

Yes, it’s important to maintain consistent caloric intake during a workout or race, but if the weather gets hot, the body’s ability to process calories usually diminishes. It’s important to recognize this and to listen to your body. Continuing to force down “X” amount of calories an hour (the original “game plan&rdquo, especially under extreme conditions when your body cannot properly assimilate them, puts a burden on your stomach and can cause any number of stomach-related maladies, which will certainly hinder or ruin performance. During the heat, it becomes more important to stay hydrated and maintain adequate electrolyte levels, so be willing to cut back on calorie consumption. Body fat stores, which satisfy up to two-thirds of energy requirements during exercise, will accommodate energy needs during occasional breaks from regular intervals of fuel consumption. During the heat, fueling is still important, but the focus shifts towards maintaining hydration and proper electrolyte levels. Resume regular caloric intake when you start feeling better and your stomach has had some time to assimilate the fuel that it already has.

In a similar, but non-fueling vein, another time when it’s not a wise idea to stick to your training plan is after you’ve had a poorer-than-expected race. Many athletes think that the cure for a poor race is to train harder and longer. Instead of recuperating, many athletes will train themselves into the ground, oftentimes ending up not fitter, but over-trained, with a poorly functioning immune system. A better tactic is to recuperate completely after your race, evaluating what went right and what went wrong during the race, and adapting your training accordingly; training harder and longer isn’t necessarily your best option. Remember that recovery is as important a part of your training and the achievement of your athletic goals as the actual training session. Make sure that you take your recovery as seriously as your training.

Recommendation: It’s a good practice to have a game plan that includes a fueling protocol that you have refined during training, but you need to be flexible. Evaluate and adjust accordingly as race pace and weather dictate. Have a game plan, but write it in pencil, not in ink.

9. Inadequate post-workout nutrition

Performance improvement depends on a program of exercise that stimulates muscular and cardiovascular adaptation followed by a recovery period in which the body rebuilds itself slightly more fit than before. Thus, the real gain of exercise occurs during recovery, but only in the presence of adequate rest and nutritional support. Athletes who fail to replenish carbohydrates and protein shortly after workouts will never obtain full value from their efforts. So even though all you may want to do after a hard workout or race is get horizontal and not move for several hours, you must first take care of what might be the most important part of your workout: the replenishment of carbohydrates and protein.

Carbohydrate replenishment as soon as possible upon completion of the workout (ideally within the first 30-60 minutes) takes advantage of high glycogen synthase activity, imperative to maximizing muscle glycogen, the first fuel the body uses when exercise commences. Protein supplies the amino acids necessary to (a) maximize glycogen storage potential, (b) rebuild and repair muscle tissue, and (c) support optimal immune system function.

This is also an ideal time to provide the body with cellular protection support in the form of antioxidants. Because athletes use several times more oxygen than sedentary people, they are more prone to oxidative damage, which not only impairs recovery but is also considered a main cause of degenerative diseases. Consistent supplementation with a full spectrum vitamin/mineral supplement, along with any additional antioxidants, boosts and maintains the immune system and reduces recovery time.

The bottom line is that post-workout nutrition is an important component of your training, and properly done, allows you to obtain maximum benefit from your training.

Recommendation: Depending on a number of factors (such as body size and length/intensity of the workout), consume 30-90 grams of complex carbohydrates and 10-30 grams of protein (a 3:1 ratio of carbohydrates to protein) immediately after workouts.

10. Improper pre-workout/race fueling

Far too often, athletes put themselves at a “metabolic disadvantage” during a workout or race by fueling improperly prior to it. It’s also one that is easy to remedy. Let’s look at the three primary factors:

1. Over-consuming food the night before a race or workout in the hopes of “carbo loading” – It would be nice if you could maximize muscle glycogen stores the night before a race or tough workout; unfortunately, human physiology doesn’t work that way. Increasing and maximizing muscle glycogen stores takes many weeks of consistent training and post-workout fuel replenishment. Excess consumed carbohydrates the night before will only be eliminated or stored as body fat (dead weight).


2. Over-consuming calories in your pre-workout/race meal – The goal of pre-exercise calorie consumption is to top off your liver glycogen, which has been depleted during your sleep. Believe it or not, to accomplish this you don’t need to eat a mega-calorie meal (600, 800, 1000 calories or more), as some would have you believe. A pre-workout/race meal of 200-400 calories—comprised of complex carbohydrates, perhaps a small amount of soy or rice protein, little or no fiber or fat, and consumed three or more hours prior to the start—is quite sufficient. You can’t add anything to muscle glycogen stores at this time so stuffing yourself is counterproductive, especially if you’ve got an early morning workout or race start.


3. Eating a pre-race meal at the wrong time – Let’s assume that you’ve been really good – you’ve been training hard (yet wisely) and replenishing your body with adequate amounts of high-quality calories as soon as possible after every workout. As a result, you’ve now built up a nice 60-90 minute reservoir of muscle glycogen, the first fuel your body will use when the race begins. A sure way to deplete those hard-earned glycogen stores too rapidly is to eat a meal (or an energy bar, gel, or sports drink) an hour or two prior to the start of the race.

Recommendations: Don’t go overboard with your food consumption the night before a workout or race. Especially important for races is the adherence of these two rules:

If you're going to have a pre-race meal the morning of your race, you need to eat an appropriate amount of calories (don't overdo it), and finish your meal at least three hours prior to the start of the race. If that's not logistically feasible, have a small amount (100-200 calories) of easily digested complex carbohydrates 5-10 minutes prior to the start. Either of these strategies will help top off liver glycogen stores (which again, is the goal of the pre-race meal) without negatively affecting how your body burns its muscle glycogen.

1. Eat clean, which means no refined sugar (skip dessert, or eat fruit), low or no saturated fats, and no alcohol.
2. Eat until you’re satisfied, but not more.

If you’re going to have a meal the morning of your workout or race, you need to eat an appropriate amount of calories (don’t overdo it), and finish all calorie consumption at least three hours prior to the start of the workout or race. If that’s not logistically feasible, have a small amount (100-200 calories) of easily digested complex carbohydrates 5-10 minutes prior to the start. Either of these strategies will help top off liver glycogen stores (which again, is the goal of pre-exercise calorie consumption) without negatively affecting how your body burns its muscle glycogen.

HONORABLE MENTION
Overcompensating in the days leading up to a race

Far too many athletes overdo it in terms of calorie, fluid, and salt consumption in the days leading up to a race, thinking they’re getting a head start on their fueling needs come race day. Big mistake! Here are the fueling/diet-specific areas to focus on and our recommendations on how to avoid these commonly-made mistakes:

• FLUIDS – Don't drink excess amounts of water in the hopes of getting a head start on your fluid requirements for the race. Consumption of roughly .5 to .6 of your body weight is a good gauge in regards to how much water you should be consuming daily (example: 180-lb/approx 82-kg athletes should drink approximately 90-108 ounces of water daily). However, if you’ve not been following this recommendation consistently, don’t start now, as this will overwhelm your body with too much fluid too soon, which may increase the potential for hyponatremia.


• CALORIES – As discussed earlier, don’t stuff yourself with extra food in the hopes that you're “carbo loading.” The time period for carbohydrate loading (i.e., maximizing muscle glycogen storage capabilities) has, for all intents and purposes, passed. In essence, “carbo loading" is what you did in the 0-60 minutes after all your workouts leading up to the race. That’s when the glycogen synthase enzyme—which controls glycogen storage—is most active, and that’s how you topped off your glycogen stores. Any excess food you eat in the days leading up to the race is either going to be passed through the bowels or stored in adipose cells... neither of those things will benefit you.


• SODIUM – Don’t consume extra sodium (salt) in the hopes that you’ll be “topping off your body stores” prior to the race. Since the average American already consumes approximately 6000 to 8000 mg per day (if not more), an amount well above the upper end recommended dose of 2300-2400 mg/day, there is absolutely no need to increase that amount in the days prior to the race. (Hint: Adopting a low-sodium diet will do wonders for both your health and athletic performance). High sodium intake, especially in the days leading up to the race, is a recipe for disaster because it will greatly increase the potential for disruption of the hormonal mechanisms that control sodium regulation, re-circulation, and conservation. In the days leading up the race, be especially cognizant of the salt content in your foods, especially if you go out to eat. Dining out can easily increase your already-high salt intake dramatically (into double figures!).

On a non-diet/fueling note, avoid the temptation to train too much and/or too close to race day. You will not be able to positively influence your fitness level in the days leading up to the race; however, you can negatively impact your race by training during that time (training meaning anything of significant duration or intensity). As well-known coach Jeff Cuddeback states, " If you think you're going to further your fitness through training the week of your key race, you're sadly mistaken. If you are the type to train right up to the event, you will almost certainly under perform.”

Best performances in long-duration events are achieved by getting to the starting line well rested rather than razor sharp. In doing so, you may find yourself not hitting on all cylinders during those first few minutes. In fact, you might even struggle a bit. However, your body will not forget all the training you've done and it will absolutely reward you for giving it the time it needed to "soak up" all of that training.

Summary

As you probably have noticed, a number of these “Biggest Mistakes” violate the most fundamental law of fueling physiology: we must consume each component of fueling in cooperation with the marvelous machine that is the human body. In our efforts to help our body, we often overcompensate, and don’t realize until it’s too late that we’ve done more harm than good. Our body is our primary reservoir of all nutrients; ignore that concept and you will absolutely suffer the consequences.

We at Hammer Nutrition firmly believe that if you address these commonly-made mistakes and follow our recommendations, you’ll see noticeable improvements in the quality of your workouts and enjoy better race results.

OK Team, 

Finished the honey-do’s today in record time only to have Wifey say she wanted to visit the Carlsbad Flower Fields (after all it is Springtime here in San Diego).   I think to myself… Hmmm’ the Carlsbad 5000 Expo is happening today  so I hustle the girls into the truck in record time and haul azz to the coast.  Two hours at the Flower Fields complete with oohs’ & aahs’ and pictures, and; we are out of there headed to the village.  It was impressive seeing the race course being set up and watching some of the elites visiting with the AG’s.  I’ll definitely be doing “The Bad” next year.  Nice afternoon and evening with family and looking forward to the saddle and hill repeats tomorrow morning.

Brick: Sorry about the Weather up in NorCal.  We got lucky here today but it’s supposed to go to crap by Monday.  Unfortunately I’ll be back in the pool and inside on the TM then.  Thanks for the Nutrition focus too.  That’s always a concern of mine.  Although because I can only compete at the lower (sprint/oly) distance events due to my CECS I usually am focused on short duration and long-term diet and nutrition.  One of our Club Coaches always yells at us (with a smile on her face) that if we are not day-dreaming about food we are not working hard enough… ha-ha!

Muelen: I’m with Brick on this one Bro.  A test is a test and those tests have too many variables.  The magic happens on race day when it’s all about you.  Go kick it’s azz tomorrow and enjoy yourself!  Don’t forget the race report to motivate us still waiting for race day.

SAW: CONGRATS on your race today.  Enjoy your accomplishment Bro!  Looking forward to your race report… sounds bitchen’ so far!

Croix: CONGRATS on the new ride.  Toss up some Bike Porn for us!  I don’t know about you… but I love Brick Workouts.  I love to laugh at how my lower extremities don’t like to cooperate after a good bike ride.  Weird… I know.