As a dedicated marathon runner always chasing down a new PB / PR, I’m all over ergogenic aids and using food strategically to enhance my performance. For example, using caffeine and beet juice have turned out to be quite advantageous to my race results. So when I began my latest round of fat-loading (also a strategy that’s benefited my performance in the past), where I …
Fat-Loading for Race Performance (part 2)
Last year I began to explore the topic of fat-loading, a method used to enhance ones running performance in endurance events lasting longer than 2 hours. The purpose of fat-loading is to teach the body to burn its own fatty acids as fuel (to a greater extent than it already does), thereby conserving glycogen stores. Conserving glycogen stores as much as possible will …
Culinary Exploration: Herbs and Spices for Endurance Athletes
One of the easiest ways to transform your kitchen into a playground is to experiment with fresh and dried herbs and spices. Don’t dismiss these flavour additions as merely for taste, they are actually powerful performance aids! Aside from performance benefits, I also advocate the use of fresh and dried spices and herbs to flavour and season meals as a …
Run Faster with Caffeine
It was nearly one year ago, last April, that I did something you are NOT supposed to do on race day. I tried something that morning I’d never done before – I drank a short Starbucks Americano about 90 minutes before the gun was to go off (on top of the matcha I’d had about 30 minutes prior to that. Lucky for me it …