Test for your sweat rate
Every IRONMAN competitor anticipates, experiments, and maybe stresses a bit (or a lot) about race day nutrition, starting with the foundation of fluid replacement. They appreciate that dehydration can slow you down, wreak havoc with your gastrointestinal system, and lead to overheating. On the flip side, over hydrating increases your risk for developing exercise associated hyponatremia, a fluid overload condition characterized by abnormally low levels of blood sodium that can be serious and even fatal. To find your own hydration sweet spot for race day—not too much and not too little—you can set up a process to check your sweat rate throughout your training season.
Got thirst?
You may have heard recently that thirst should drive your drinking. While this is safe and prudent for the recreational exerciser to prevent fluid overload, we can all appreciate that Ironman events are not casual, no matter your race day goals. Just as you have a planned race day pace, you should also have a paced plan for hydration during the bike and run. However, endurance athletes will need to be prepared to adapt and adjust on race day as well.
Getting started
Start by collecting your own sweat data. You can start anytime, but should do this throughout the training season to capture changes in your sweat rate that occur with increased fitness, acclimatization, increased training intensity, and of course the full smorgasbord of potential weather conditions. Creating a flow sheet for tracking is wise as this allows you to review data from the past as you develop and refine your hydration. Race day weather can differ greatly from recent training conditions due to travel to other climates and venues famous for labile weather conditions. Looking back at your records allows you to confidently tweak your race nutrition plan accordingly as the race day weather forecast emerges.
How to check your sweat rate
Begin to think of your sweat losses as an hourly rate specific to the bike and to the run. Fueling guidelines are also described at carbohydrates per hour, so this is a good base for your full race nutrition plan development.
While you are preparing for a long race, it is best to check sweat losses during shorter workouts- about 60 to 90 minutes. That’s because you burn stored fuel or muscle glycogen during exercise, contributing to the weight loss. Longer workouts mean more glycogen and water loss, so it throws off the data.
It is also important to be well hydrated prior to workouts when you are completing a sweat check. Weighing sweaty clothes and hair also throws off your calculations as does consuming solid or semi-solid products during the workout, so stick with liquids.
Originally from: http://www.ironman.com/triathlon/news/articles/2015/11/calculate-your-sweat-rate.aspx#ixzz4vFxTn93z
Originally from: http://www.ironman.com/triathlon/news/articles/2015/11/calculate-your-sweat-rate.aspx#ixzz4vFtJmQic
THE TEST
1) Weigh yourself nude right before a run (or bike).
2) Run at race pace for one hour, keeping track of how much you drink (in ounces) during the run (or bike).
3) After the run, strip down, towel off any sweat, and weigh yourself nude again.
4) Subtract your weight from your prerun weight and convert to ounces. Then add to that number however many ounces of liquid you consumed on your run (or bike).(1 pound = 1 pint or 16 oz. of water)
(For example, if you lost a pound and drank 16 ounces of fluid, your total fluid loss is 32 ounces.)
5) To determine how much you should be drinking about every 15 minutes, divide your hourly fluid loss by 4 (in the above example it would be 8 ounces).
Other Thoughts:
- Many factors affect the sweat rate! Check out the Electrolyte podcast for further educational information!
- Because the test only determines your sweat losses for the environmental conditions you run in that day, you should retest on another day when conditions are different to see how your sweat rate is affected. You should also redo the test during different seasons, in different environments (such as higher or lower altitudes), and as you become faster, since pace also affects your sweat rate.
Training Blocks
What is a training block?
A training block is a period of focused training that hones in on a specific discipline. During these blocks, you back off on the volume and intensity of the other two disciplines to allow more time and energy to be spent on the third, which in this case is the bike.
What are the benefits completing a training block?
First, we need to talk briefly about the concept of progressive adaptation. In a nutshell, a stressor is applied in the form of a training session. This taxes the body systems which, in turn, respond by coming back a bit stronger than they were before (achieved with proper recovery!) so that they can better handle these stressors the next time around. Rinse and repeat.
The tricky thing in multisport is that these stressors are spread across three sports and must be carefully balanced, and combined with appropriate bouts of rest and recovery, to avoid overtraining and injury. Throw life’s other demands into the mix and you’re left with a finite amount of stress you are able to apply within a given period.
By scaling back the intensity and volume of two disciplines, you are subsequently able to scale up these factors in your third discipline. When executed in a strategic, smart manner, this can yield incredible fitness gains in a much shorter time than one would see utilizing their traditional approach.
But won’t I lose fitness in other areas?!
Nope! Your aerobic fitness will maintain, if not increase, throughout this training block. By strategically interspersing shorter, technique-based sessions of the other two disciplines each week, you will maintain neuromuscular sharpness in these areas without cutting into your primary focus area.
So what now?
As we wrap up race season and roll into the “off season”, this is the prime opportunity begin addressing our limiters in preparation for next year. Training blocks are an epic tool to doing so.
So give it a shot! Switch things up, focus in and get ready to ROCK.
We have developed a series of training blocks with various foci for the 2017-2018 off-season that are fully customizable to meet your training goals. The cycling block begins Monday, October 2. Sign up to get in on the fun!
Eat better to sleep better
WHAT WE EAT MATTERS
We can set yourselves up for a night filled with rest by padding our diet with vitamins, minerals, and amino acids that support serotonin, a brain chemical that contributes to relaxation and sleep. Additionally, we can consume foods that naturally contain melatonin. Here is a quick run down of the biggest players in the sleep chemistry world.
- Magnesium: Almonds, cashews, dark chocolate, pumpkin seeds, salmon, yogurt
- Melatonin: Bananas, cherries, flaxseeds, orange bell peppers, raspberries
- Serotonin: Bananans, kiwis, pecans, pineapples, plums, tomatoes, walnuts
- Omega-3s: Eggs, flaxseeds, salmon, sardines, trout, walnuts, yogurt
- Potassium: Acorn squash, avocados, bananas, salmon, sweet potatos
- Tryptophan: Eggs, spinach, turkey
- Vitamin B6: Avocados, bananas, bulgur, pistachios, salmon, rice, sesame seeds
- Vitamin D: Eggs, mushrooms, salmon, sardines, turkey, yogurt
As you can see, this is a fairly easy list of foods to incorporate into your daily nutrition. And a big shout out to the green smoothie that I highly recommend. Info here …. www.bonniekissinger.com/greensmoothie, which contains a good amount of these foods.
Ironman Boulder 70.3 Race Review
[podcast src=”https://html5-player.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/5641824/height/90/width/480/theme/custom/autonext/no/thumbnail/yes/autoplay/no/preload/no/no_addthis/no/direction/forward/render-playlist/no/custom-color/88AA3C/” height=”90″ width=”480″ placement=”top”]SWIM: AG wave start, off the beach, standing waist deep start, buoys on your right, sunny on one side
BIKE: Not flat, maybe not fast, a bit of a challenge
RUN: Unpleasant. Mostly dirt roads and can be incredibly hot. Well supported.
#62 How Not to F Up Your Ironman Season, the biggest mistakes triathletes make
[podcast src=”https://html5-player.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/5633022/height/90/width/480/theme/custom/autonext/no/thumbnail/yes/autoplay/no/preload/no/no_addthis/no/direction/forward/render-playlist/no/custom-color/88AA3C/” height=”90″ width=”480″ placement=”top”]What will get in the way of a successful (successfully executed)
What is a Successful Ironman Season
- Healthier and happier in the other side
- Not divorced, family not disgruntled
- Evolved into the next version of yourself
- Meet goals
- Managed yourself well in training AND racing
Habits that Really Get in the Way of a Successful Ironman, and may result in a DNF
- Not doing it for yourself or the healthier whys. You are not “a real triathlete” until you do an ironman. Peer pressure. Doing it for Status. Unhealthy drive to do the really hard things to prove that you are good enough.
- Dreamboard or vision board. YOU HAVE TO REALLY WANT IT. For yourself for it to be enjoyable and “successful”. And not a shit show.
- Losing track of your why
- Dreamboard
- Not resting and recovering enough. Utilizing too aggressive of a plan, some plans cycle 3 weeks on and one recovery. Some (ours) do two weeks on, one easier.
- Acknowledge that recovery is mandatory and do it. (don’t complain about it)
- Have a plan that works for your lifestyle, life demands, etc
- Listen to your body, have a sounding board and alternative activities that are more “rest like” that are productive but won’t tear you down. Wear you down. Drag you down.
- Not be consistent and disciplined. Not get up in the am. Staying up too late. Have that 3rd glass of wine.
- Not learning the ever important nutrition discipline. You need to be very consistent with what you try and make small changes. Learn to ask your body specific questions in order to know how to fix the things that BEGIN to go sideways (before your yacking in the john)
- Not understanding the principles of hydration/electrolytes fueling
- Injury. How to communicate to coach (or …) and how to fix early before it becomes a big darn deal. THIS IS A BIG ONE.
- Lack of strength training and self care. Not fucking doing your yoga or stretching. Ironman is a lot of motion in one dimension → injury. Strength training keeps all joints CENTERED. Running, biking (in general) tend to not unless your form is PERFECT.
- Not honoring limitations
- Not preparing for course specifics such as bike elevation gain or hot runs, choppy water, wind.
- Not learning some technical aspects, mostly concerning the bike. Bike stations, tire changing, dropped chain and generally not having a lot of bike handling skills.
- Not training smart, like heart rate training.
- Driving too hard, working too hard.
- Not having a coaching. (Coral’s example of her first ironman. Sounding board, etc). Or expecting/thinking that you can travel the EXPONENTIAL LEARNING CURVE by yourself. The books and groups are awesome, however … if you are not perfect or slightly cra cra or identify with being a hot fucking mess … you might want to get a coach. Namaste. There are some great structure programs with support groups that provide great plans. However, they do not have tailored help and instruction for those that have specific needs. Do you have issues like swim anxiety or hip issues …. Because in ironman, little issues become big fat issues fairly quick. And might end a season or make a race a complete crap show.
#61 The All Day Energy Diet with Yuri Elkaim
[podcast src=”https://html5-player.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/5629708/height/90/width/480/theme/custom/autonext/no/thumbnail/yes/autoplay/no/preload/no/no_addthis/no/direction/forward/render-playlist/no/custom-color/88AA3C/” height=”90″ width=”480″]
Coach BK and Yuri Elkaim chat about how important nutrition and health eating is, especially when considering endurance athletes and female health.
Yuri Elkaim is a health and fitness expert, “energy nutritionist”, and author of The All-Day Energy Diet. He wrote this book for himself – he battled for 20 years with crippling health issues, which included extreme fatigue – as well as millions of everyday people for whom low energy is robbing their lives.
Now, serving over 250,000 people on a daily basis via email and with over 15 million Youtube videos watched, Yuri is most famous for helping people enjoy all-day energy and amazing health in a very short period of time without radical diets or gimmicks.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in Physical Education and Health from the University of Toronto and is a Registered Holistic Nutritionist. Yuri is also a former pro soccer player and served as the strength & conditioning and nutrition coach at the University of Toronto for 7 years. He’s on a mission to transform the lives of more than 10 million people by 2018. For more visit:
#60 Ironman Arizona Triathlon Race Review
[podcast src=”https://html5-player.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/5629149/height/90/width/480/theme/custom/autonext/no/thumbnail/yes/autoplay/no/preload/no/no_addthis/no/direction/forward/render-playlist/no/custom-color/88AA3C/” height=”90″ width=”480″]Coach BK of BK Coaching and Ironman Triathlete Nelson Rodriguez chat about Ironman Arizona. This is an excellent race as a first time ironman race and to the newer to triathlon athletes.
KEY POINTS
Swim:
- Self seeding rolling start in Temp Town Lake which looks like a canal.
- Athletes enter the water off a metal type dock
- The water temp is usually cooler with sleeveless wetsuits being just fine
Bike:
- 3 loop course with 2577 ft of gain
- Wind can pick up later in the day and turn into a head wind
- Roads are great and the support is excellent
Run:
- 2 loop course that is flat
- Just about the entire course is on pavement, which is very unforgiving
- The run has zero shake so make sure to understand how to protect yourself from the sun and heat
