Ah, Cambridge, MD, home to Ironman Maryland! Obviously, 2020 race was cancelled, but I still decided to go and enjoy a little vacation. I already made all the arrangements, so why not, right?
I stayed in a hotel right off the Highway 50 and I was welcomed by a smell of deep fried food. It was as if somebody just deep fried the whole part of town. I saw fast food everywhere. I was a put off a bit by those circumstances and worried that my trip won’t be much fun. Fortunately, I was proven wrong.
Since we are talking about hotels: not many choices on that. I think there are two of them. On the other hand, pretty much every house is listed on Airbnb. I had a bad experience on this (the host reached out to me on Tuesday that how come I didn’t cancel and she can’t host me – I was arriving on Thursday), but I suspect this is just a pandemic thing and the rest of the year it’s just fine.
People who know me are familiar with my distaste for driving anywhere unless weather is awful or it’s otherwise impractical to walk/ run/ bike to my destination, I avoid driving. It’s not that I can’t drive or something. I just don’t enjoy it. Maybe it has to do with wasting years of my life on commuting in LA? Who knows… Either way: I walk everywhere I can. So when I got to Cambridge, I parked my car at the hotel with no intention of moving it until the day I leave. I made good on that threat, too.
Since I didn’t feel like working out after travelling, I decided to go for a nice, long walk. Not that it’s that awfully far – it’s a small town after all! I learned quickly that if you get even just a few hundred yards from Highway 50, it doesn’t smell like deep fried everything (although later I got to learn that a lot of Dorchester County smells like swamps and rotting fish, but that’s a whole another story).
Back to walking around: when I got off Highway 50, I noticed the streets looked like on the picture above. You probably can’t tell you what’s special about it, can you? Let me explain: red bricks are where cars can park, first lane next to it is a wide bike lane and then there is actual street. Yes, that’s right: cars can’t park where they would block sidewalks (European custom) or bikes and cars (American custom). Isn’t that amazing?
Happily, I found a place to have dinner that night and it was pretty nice. Something I figured out later: ask hotel or a local for where you can eat something ‘normal’. Fast food is ubiquitous in Cambridge, but there is plenty of regular food if you know where to look. Of course it’s hard to know where to look. Fortunately, locals are super friendly. And if you’re staying in a hotel, they have pamphlets with a list of local eateries. Well worth having! I actually ended up having dinner at the same place on Saturday and Sunday because their deep fried (I know – I just got done complaining about the smell of fried stuff, but they were soooo good!) soft shell crabs.
Now off to the subject of training!
Here is a picture of some water. It was actually originally a video on my phone. I didn’t see any jelly fish, which is probably for the best. I wouldn’t want to be scarred by those before race day and have a full year to get anxiety over the issue!
The area around the water didn’t look overly beachy (maybe I didn’t look carefully enough?), but the water was there and it looked pretty nice. As in clean. For all the trash I have seen on the roads and generally in the area, water looked pretty good. I ended up not going in – I haven’t had many opportunities to swim since the beginning of the pandemic and being alone in open water sounded like a bad idea. And by the next day, I saw an announcement that open water is out of a question due to large waves. That’s just bad timing, but it looks like a fabulous place for some swim practices!
Now off to running and biking. It was amazing! The road most of the time looked like this:
And regularly even better. It’s a mix of rural areas and a state park. It’s gorgeous! And flat. I have seriously never seen this much flat in my life. I swear the sea and the ocean have more hills than Dorchester County! If you want to train on hills, this is not the place for you. Except for that one bridge I found. I took a wrong turn and somehow rode off to another island… That bridge was seriously steep!
One warning though: within like a mile from town, you are in total middle of nowhere. Translation: bring whatever you will need with you, as you may be far away not only from shops and such, but also just any human being. I haven’t checked if it’s possible to get an Uber around there. I didn’t see a single cab or sticker saying Lyft/ Uber or anything of the sort.
As I mentioned earlier, Cambridge had nice bike lanes and ample space for working out outdoors.
Dorchester County is so far to the side that traffic is minimal at all times. My favorite part about traffic there though: people give runners and cyclists wide berth. Like REALLY wide. I noticed quickly that when there was no bike lane (and on larger roads there was, even if in shape of super wide, separated by uneven pavement, shoulder), cars would move over out of your lane. Yes, you read that right: both runners and cyclists on the road get an entire lane to themselves. People are nice, they will smile at you, wave and give you time to do whatever you need to do. I’ve never felt this safe on a road! There was a guy in white truck who honked at me and seemed mad. I am like 99% sure he wasn’t a local.
Ok, so this is subject worth mentioning. It’s windy in there. And I mean WINDY!!! Temperatures and rain are normal, but the wind! I got blown all over the place! My favorite moment on that was when I was riding up to Harriett Tubman Center. I thought ‘Oh, I need to turn, let me stop pedaling!’ That was the worst idea ever! I came close to full stop in a matter of yards and I had to pedal extra hard to make it to the turn! I am happy I got to experience these conditions before the race day. I am not trying to discourage anybody, just make sure you are prepared.
I actually realized on my Sunday run: I knew which way the wind was blowing. Why did I ride in direction that had me going into the wind on the way back???
Obviously, I have the race next year there…
That’s not all though. I looked at hoses for sale around there. It’s so tempting! I want to retire there! I did notice a lot of houses with signs ‘vote for broadband internet’ in their front yards, so this may be a bit of work in progress, but I am sure they can make it happen by the time I retire. Who wouldn’t want to have an option to get access to the internet???
So: if you are a triathlete or a cyclist or just want to feel welcome, Cambridge, MD is the perfect place to be!
Welcome to the third installment in the nutrition for endurance athletes series! You should already know how to eat on the every day basis to fuel your training and how to prepare for the race ahead of time. Stage three: refueling during the race.
Before you decide if you should plan on fueling during your run, you need to figure out if it’s long enough for that. For example, you can do a 5k without being weighed down by a bottle of water. How about a 10k? You’ll probably need water, but it still would be too early for eating while running. Cycling is probably even ‘worse’, since it’s not quite as intense as running. Your body can store up enough glycogen to fuel up between an hour and hour and a half of moderate effort race/ workout. So here is your first answer: if you’re planning to be on the road for over 90 minutes, plan on refueling.
You’re tempted to say ‘I’ll just have some iso after an hour and a half’, aren’t you? That’s actually not the case though. Your body has limits to how much it can absorb at once, especially during running. It’s better while you’re cycling, which is part of the reason why triathletes focus on their refueling on the bike. I am pretty sure for like 99% of population saying ‘and it’s all downhill from here’ when you get to half or full marathon sounds ridiculous. I haven’t done a full ironman yet, so I can’t speak to that, but I definitely had that feeling when I was doing the 70.3. It may have helped that biking is my weakness, while I feel pretty confident at running. I was just grateful to be off the bike 😉.
Basic strategy is to consume your fuel every 10-15 minutes starting from the moment you start. You should be doing it as often as you can, but nobody can bike efficiently while sipping slowly though a straw in their aerobars 😜.
Start early, do it often.
During an Ironman, I sure will need to start my refueling immediately in T1! They say you have enough glycogen for no more than 90 minutes stored in your muscle. I will probably need about that much for the swim portion… Ugh! I will be starting from behind!
So you’re supposed to consume your fuel pretty much continuously. But what is a good fuel for your endurance endeavors? Sugar. Carbs to be more accurate, but while you are working out, you want it as easy to absorb as possible, so basically sugar in liquid form (combined with electrolytes – but I already talked about that in the hydration post). If you’re planning on being done within 150 minutes, 30-60 grams of carbs per hour should suffice. If you’re going for longer than that, you’re going to need 60-70 grams per hour. As long as you can stomach it, try for 90 grams per hour for those really long distances – this may be easier done on a bike, when your metabolism is not cranked up as high as during a run.
So: carbs in form of sugar.
This is definitely a hard question, especially since it involves personal preferences.
Your first line of defense consists of sports drinks. You can buy them at any grocery or convenience store out there. They are ok, but I find their taste too intense when I’m on a long ride and need both water and sugar. A huge advantage of buying specialized powders to mix your own drinks? They are easy to pack and travel with. I also tend to mess with concentration (since sometimes I want to taste them, while sometimes – not even a bit). My biggest issue with sport drinks: they work for like a marathon, but during longer rides and races, I want something to bite into. I have always found food in liquid form to be deeply unsatisfying.
I feel like these are an acquired taste… I find that they engage my gag reflex. On the other hand, they are easy to carry and light. You buy them in small packs, so it’s easy to tell the amount you are consuming. My personal preference to the side, you will need to wash them down with water, but that’s easier to find during a long workout or in a race.
I think I need to try these for runs! I usually just go with gummy bears 😅. Easy to store, carry and dose. But you will need water to wash them down.
What you consider real food is debatable, but after spending all day on a bike, I can definitely vouch for wanting to eat something that looks like a meal I may have while not working out. Obviously, some are better, like bananas and fruit pouches than others like donuts. Don’t laugh… This is was a rookie mistake and a hard lesson during my first marathon. They were giving away free donut holes. So I grabbed one and shoved it in my mouth. I ended up over a trash can trying to spit it out because I didn’t have enough saliva to even chew it effectively. I won’t be doing that again…
I hope you are now all ready for your next long run, ride or are planning your nutrition for that next big race. I will see you out there!
Do you like carb loading? I sure do… I get to enjoy it relatively frequently, since I enjoy long rides and run.
Some people argue in favor of keto diet and such. I am not into that, so I will focus on the carb-loving part of endurance sports community. If you want to talk about fat-adapted training and racing, please talk to somebody who is well-informed on the issue. I am not and many who claim to be are not. It’s easy to hurt yourself this way.
Carbs in this case are glycogen. And loading is exactly what you think – storing them in your muscle and liver. So it basically means that you eat in a way to ensure maximum storage of glycogen in your body. When I was reading up on carb loading before one of my marathons, I learned that you store three times as much water as glycogen (by weight) when you carb load. Isn’t it awesome? You are carrying your energy and hydration with you!
Because that’s exactly what glycogen is: potential energy you take with you for the race. Next week, I will be discussing refueling during a race, but before you can refuel, you need to fuel up.
I once heard of a family friend who signed up for a 5k and the night before, he made a ton of pasta, ate it all and ended up suffering GI issues the whole night. So many things wrong with this story…
Let’s address the simplest issue first: who should carb load? The answer is anybody who intends on exercising for over 90 minutes. So probably not a 5k… Anything that calls for short bursts of energy (like weight lifting) is also not a reason to carb load. Think more of cardio exercise sustained for a long time.
In the simplest terms: it makes sure you don’t run out of energy. Well, maybe at least not right away. As your body releases glycogen, it will produce energy and allow you to keep going. Are you familiar with the concept of ‘the wall’ (usually talked about in the context of marathons, but totally applicable to cycling and swimming)? That’s when you run out of energy. The goal of carb loading (and next week’s article on refueling) is to avoid this problem. You have enough problems during the race, don’t let running out of fuel to burn be one of them.
Speaking of the wall: carbs are not your only source of energy. You can use fat, too. The wall is when your body switches from glycogen to fat. Unfortunately, fat is harder to access and slower to burn. That’s why you start feeling sluggish when you switch.
Ah, the famous pasta parties the night before… Those are both a yes and a no… If you haven’t started carb loading until the night before the race, you are in deep trouble. It takes body way longer than one meal to properly absorb and store that much glycogen. Currently, prevalent opinion says it should be about 3 days before the race. If you try to do it all at once, see my friend’s story above again…
Did you think this is a license to eat whatever you want? Not so fast! As they say in the Ironman community: nutrition is the fourth discipline (I would argue that transition is the fifth…).
Carb loading means giving your body enough carbs, which is about 4 grams of carbs per day per pound of body weight. That’s a lot of food, isn’t it? Sad part is that this should come at the expense of everything else, especially fats. Carbs should become 85-90% of your food. Sad, but true.
What sort of carbs should I eat? I’m glad you asked! If you like pasta, white bread and such, this is your time to shine! You want things that are easy to digest and won’t fill you up too fast. Make smart choices, including a low fiber foods. Who would have known that there is a time when ‘low fiber’ is considered a smart choice!
As mentioned before: not all carbs are created equal. During carb loading period, you are focusing on low-fiber, easily digested carbs. On the regular basis, though, this is not exactly what you’re looking for. Carbs turn into blood sugar and choosing poorly can mess with your body badly.
All carbs have something called Glycemic Index (GI) and it describes how fast sugar will get released into your bloodstream after eating it. Low GI means that it will give you low, sustained stream of energy. This is where your broccoli, tomatoes, apples and brown rice live. And then your have high GI foods, like doughnuts, baguettes and soda.
In general, you should aim for low GI foods, so you stay full longer and your body can maintain energy levels. You don’t want to be like a little kid who ate ice cream, then bounced off the walls for a while and then crashed, do you? However, there are cases in which you want high GI foods. Most obvious: if you have depleted your body sugar and need some thing RIGHT NOW. You know, like when you hit that wall on mile 20 of the marathon..
So as always: get out there, stay safe and keep fighting on!
I don’t think this is the first time I’m addressing this issue, but it’s clearly still relevant and now more people are telecommuting, so they find time for a workout before starting their work.
Days are growing shorter and with that, more people are on the road before sunrise or after sunset. It can be nice, watching nature before it gets scared off by crowds and avoiding the crowds. However, if it’s not broad daylight, please MAKE SURE YOU ARE VISIBLE!!!
Can you see a cyclist in here? Maybe. Do you think you can safely avoid him/ her? Yeah, you need your lights!
Can you see anybody in this picture? That’s what I see of a lot of people on a starless night. There aren’t any lights on trails around here. Please don’t rely on the other person’s light. They may have decided not to wear one, just like you.
Here is a responsible cyclist! Lighting path ahead and making sure they are visible from behind! Many places require this if you’re ever on the road, too.
Make sure everybody in your group is visible! I know the stroller is usually in front of you and should be fine. Still, isn’t it nice to add some cool lights? Kiddo may appreciate! As to dogs: they have to wear lights. Remember that they move around, frequently in unpredictable ways. We all want the puppers to stay safe, so please give them a light, too!
Nutrition for endurance athletes can be divided into four categories:
I am going to split this subject into four different posts. Let’s start with the first step: your every day nutrition.
Have you ever heard somebody say ‘I train x hours per day, so I can eat whatever I want’? Yeah, this is so untrue… At the very least you may end up overeating and gaining weight, but that’s an issue for a whole another post (coming in near future on this blog 😉).
I once saw my coach post on Instagram how people don’t really need that much carbs in their diet. It took me a while to remember, but I finally asked her how I should reconcile that with carb loading instructions. Her response can be best described at ‘you’re not normal people; go eat your pasta’.
Well, normal people get about 45-65% of their calories (or should…) from carbs. The rest is split even-ish between fat and protein. Since these are nutrients that get stored in your muscle as glycogen, endurance athletes need more than an average person, so shift your meal composition accordingly. The good news is that you don’t need to eat it all in form of bread and pasta. Fruit is full of carbs – sugars are carbs! A lot of veggies abound in carbohydrates as well. It turns out tomatoes here are superstars! This might explain my love for pasta with tomato sauce 😜.
Conclusion for this section: make sure you eat plenty of carbs. I promise to talk way more about this macro nutrient in an upcoming article about carb loading for a race (or a long training run/ ride).
As a kid, I believed that protein can come only from meat. I think it’s appropriate for a meat-and-potato culture that hasn’t discovered vegetarianism at that point. During communist times, you eat what was available and ‘picky eater’ wasn’t really a thing. That has changed since and now non-meat-eaters have options. I have also learned that there are many plant-based sources of protein, like beans, nuts, broccoli or quinoa. This is not an all-inclusive list (I am not sure such a thing is even possible!), but you can always look it up if you need ideas. Americans tend to love their peanut butter, but I can’t get past the smell 🤢.
Depending on what sports you do and your current training phase, your protein requirements will vary. If you are working on bulking up or spending off-season on focusing on weight training and gaining power, then you will need about 2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day. When you are doing actual endurance training, you will be looking at 1.4 grams. For comparison, ‘normal’ people should consume about 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram per day. Going back to note on plant-based protein – they are considered ‘incomplete’ protein, as they don’t have all essential amino acids and you will need to eat more protein.
Endurance athletes run higher risks of heart damage and plaque build-up in the arteries. As much as I never thought of the plaque, heart damage sort of makes sense. I knew that endurance athlete’s heart looks a bit different due to all the punishment it’s put through. Between that and the inflammations we are prone to, limiting meat is not a bad idea. Try fully plant-based if you are up to it, but if not – at least consider some meatless meals. It’s better for the environment, too!
It’s not a dirty word, really. I swear current society is obsessed with avoiding fat! There are reasons for that and yes, you should probably avoid fat in form on grease on your fries. Those are saturated fats. On the other hand, fatty fish, avocado, nuts, olive oil and eggs are good for you. Ok, the scientists go back and forth on eggs, so don’t overdo it. I mean everything can be bad if it’s done in excess, right? You need fats to give you energy, balance your hormones and form your brain and nervous system. There is one thing that only fat can do for you that’s super important: you need it to absorb some vitamins, like A, D, E and K, which don’t dissolve in water.
I am not a fan of dietary supplements and anybody who knows me knows I believe in real food (which is an issue I will discuss when it comes to mid-race fueling). Hopefully, you can get everything you need from your diet. There are some items though that you should check and supplement if necessary.
My coach makes me take it. It’s good for your skin, increasing your muscle mass, prevent bone loss and helping your joints. I wonder if it’s related to me being injury-prone… She swears by it and I decided a long time ago to trust her (and she gives me plenty of reasons to do so).
Endurance athletes do need more of it, especially women. If you are a meat-eater, it’s not that bad. But for all you vegans and vegetarians: consider it. I took iron in rather large doses when I was pregnant, so I have one warning: it’s not easy on your stomach.
I hope you read my post about cramps… Please make sure you eat enough of them and if not, supplement.
Unless you are lactose-intolerant, isn’t drinking a glass of milk or having a chunk of cheese better?
I did read advice before that eating fish speeds up recovery. I prefer fish to pills, but to each their own.
This is an interesting thing I learned about during the lockdown. I read about a study questioning using vitamin C to improve your immune system. According to it, extra doses gave low marginal benefits to ‘normal’ people, but they did help endurance athletes. Extra long workouts deplete your stores of vitamin C. I am pretty sure it’s one of the reasons why endurance athletes get sick more often soon after a race (and they say your immune system is weakened by workouts longer than two hours of intense exercise).
No. Just no. You have to make sure you have fuel to do your training. We will talk about changing your weight while you’re training in a couple of weeks, so if you are thinking about dieting, make sure to subscribe and you’ll get a notification about that post soon.
