Beer Drinker Appreciation Society - Open For Business (Page 77)

Creatine doesn't have much use to a triathlete. The recommended dose of Creatine on most products (usually 5g 3 times per day) causes muscles to retain water and become more 'bulgy' without enhancing performance (at least in terms of endurance). 2.5g per day, however, has been shown to not to increase weight or have any significant water retention but increase short term high intensity output (better 5 second sprint power). Because of that, I usually start dosing myself with 2.5g per day about a week before a big bike race. In general though, and for purely endurance activity like triathlons or running events, I don't bother with it. I infrequently take a multivitamin but the science on their effectiveness is inconclusive. Most studies show very poor absorption rates from multivitamins (vitamins in general) so I'm just not sure if they have any real benefit.

There are ways to get minerals and vitamins through regular diet though and I don't think most supplements are necessary if you're savvy about your food choices. 

Originally posted by firebert I suppose I should add - my diet is as whole/non-processed as is reasonable without going completely overboard. We cook most of our meals ourselves from whole ingredients. Our grocery shopping is almost entirely at Trader Joes so we know what we're getting. I'm definitely eating healthy (with a once/week break for restaurant food ). Given that, I don't really know if I'm getting, say, my manganese for the day, or my vitamin B6, without a bunch of research to figure out what foods are going to get me what vitamins/minerals. And then daily tracking of all of it to be sure I actually got them today. Ya know? The supplements are at worst a waste of money. But at least the one I am taking is research based and not just 'look we managed to cram 100% of a bunch of things into a convenient one a day even though you won't absorb most of it!'. It's quite possible that I'm getting what I need from my diet and don't need the supplement, but this way I'm more sure of where I stand.

Which multi-vitamin do you use? 

hmm... I'm still skeptical. I get the principle of having 1000% RDV because of how much is actually absorbed. The problem is, absorbed or not, the kidneys and liver still have to process it and a lot of the vitamins and minerals in multivitamins, while useful in the properly absorbed amounts, are really hard on the kidneys and liver in those quantities. If you do a brief search on some of the vitamins and minerals the body needs, the RDV values, and what common foods offer in terms of those, you'll probably find you're already getting more than enough. Take manganese for example, You get your RDV for manganese from 50g of sunflower seeds. 2 pieces of whole wheat bread is more than half the RDV for manganese. 67g of kale is over half the RDV. 85% of RDV comes from 1 cup of cooked spinach. And there a plethora of other typically consumed foods that contain enough manganese for the whole family. 

Multivitamins are a billion dollar business so it's easy to see why so many push their 'benefits' but numerous studies have shown that they really do nothing at all and can actually have negative effects on the body. 

Cadence is pretty significant in my opinion. I find that I don't run a certain cadence that I injure myself more frequently. About 180Bpm (90 per leg) is the recommended cadence. Higher cadence is actually better for your joints because by virtue of having to take more steps you must decrease stride length which lowers the impact on your body for each stride.

Speaking of HR, have you ever done a LTHR test for running? If you have, you should base your HR on what your LTHR pace is. There are zones for pace just like HR. Pace is often considered to be the running equivalent of power (in cycling). If you increase cadence your HR will increase slightly for the same effort. The same effect occurs in cycling as well. If you're using pace zones along with HR you can get a better grasp on how hard you're pushing. What I mean to say is if your HR jumps up when you increase cadence (but not necessarily pace) then that's okay. Don't worry about trying to lower your HR back down. Most studies show that a higher cadence run (or bike) increases HR but lactate build up in the muscles decreases. This why you noticed that you were able to run faster with lower perceived exertion. Keep practicing higher pace and slowly work towards doing it all the time. You'll probably find that that alone will increase your LTHR slightly and allow you to run a little faster in your marathons.