Seven years ago I found my way from marathons into ultras. A couple years later I wrote a post on How to Fuel an Ultra. Now 5 years later with extensive additional personal and client hands on experience, I have more to add. Plus I find it rather data and numbers driven – a good place to start, but often …
How to Use Nutrition to Manage Stress
I feel like we have all had an experience or two where you’re out there having a great ride or run and suddenly, you’re out of energy, or feeling crampy and nauseous or in a worst-case scenario looking desperately for somewhere to go the bathroom wishing you had a roll of toilet paper in your pocket.
Fear of these scenarios happening can lead us to limiting how much we eat pre-workout as well as not taking in enough nutrition during our training sessions or race. This is so unfortunate because we know we need to nourish our bodies for the workout that we are doing but even more importantly to support our recovery so we can make the adaptations we are working so hard for as well as set ourselves up well for our next workout.
Training Your Gut for Athletic Performance
I feel like we have all had an experience or two where you’re out there having a great ride or run and suddenly, you’re out of energy, or feeling crampy and nauseous or in a worst-case scenario looking desperately for somewhere to go the bathroom wishing you had a roll of toilet paper in your pocket.
Fear of these scenarios happening can lead us to limiting how much we eat pre-workout as well as not taking in enough nutrition during our training sessions or race. This is so unfortunate because we know we need to nourish our bodies for the workout that we are doing but even more importantly to support our recovery so we can make the adaptations we are working so hard for as well as set ourselves up well for our next workout.
Hydration and Athletic Performance
We have a tendency to think that if we are using liquid fuel options that that counts as hydration, and I suggest that you keep your fuel and hydration separate. An important consideration is, if the concentration of fuel that you take in, has a higher concentration than your bloodstream, you will not be able to absorb it, leading to lack of energy, cramps and eventual digestive distress. So, you want to make sure that you are hydrating as well as fueling.
Fueling Easy Runs vs Hard / Long Runs
While traditional advice for runners has long been to eat ~60-65% of your diet from carbohydrates, after working 1-on-1 with hundreds of runners and hearing from thousands over the past decade, I do not believe this often recommended high-carb advice serves the majority of runners. To maintain our health and prevent injury over the years, as well as ensure optimal …
Adaptogens: How they can support your performance through perimenopause and beyond.
The time when perimenopause begins is also a time in life when there are many other stressors that compound the stress effect. This is a time when many women have kids that are teenagers, or maybe a little bit younger, and they are going through things that put pressure on you. Your parents are getting older and may require more care and time. You may be at an important place in your career and of course you also have performance goals and expectations for your sport. All of these extraneous stressors compound and complicate some of the issues that you’re having with hormone fluctuation during perimenopause and the effects carry over into menopause.
Let’s discuss adaptogens that help mitigate those stresses on our body and our body’s response to stress.
Top 10 Nutrition Tips for Endurance Athletes
We know that nutrition is important to our endurance sport journey, but I’ve found that for some reason it can be the last thing we really focus on. The gains from a good nutrition plan aren’t always as drastic as doing a hard run or bike where the sweat rolling off your chin makes you feel like you’re working in the right direction, towards your goals. But what I have found for myself and many of my athletes is the nutrition can make or break your training and performance more than any structured training plan.
Metabolic Efficiency: How to Get There
Improving Metabolic Efficiency Series (PART 2) In my last post, part 1 of this series Metabolic Efficiency: Why You Should Care, I talked about what metabolic efficiency is, its benefits, how it’s related to our metabolism and how our body makes energy. Personally I’ve used metabolic efficiency to help me achieve my goals and perform well many times over – …
How to Train for a Half or Iron Distance Triathlon
As we start preparing for a new season of racing, I thought it would be a good idea to put together some thoughts on how to train for half and full distance triathlons. This should give you an idea of what is expected, what’s reasonable, and what’s necessary to get through your first half or full distance event.